Property maintenance in Collingwood, from 22 C heat to short stay licences

Property Standards By-law 2016-040 wants a heating system able to hold 22 C in every habitable room, interior living space and unfinished basement space from September 15 to May 31, read 1.5 m above the floor and 1 m in from an exterior wall (sections 6.5.1 to 6.5.3). Hot water at a fixture tops out at 49 C (section 6.4.3). The season opens in the middle of September, so a cold unit in the third week of that month is already a by-law matter, and a no heat message is booked as an emergency: Plumbing, electrical, major appliance and heating or cooling failures, lockouts, and a door that will not lock.

The trade opens with a photo of a thermometer at the by-law's height and distance from the wall, display legible and the time stamped, and closes with the same photo once the unit holds 22 C. A hot water call records the temperature at the tap, not the dial on the tank. Section 6.11.1 stops an owner, or anyone acting for one, from cutting heat, water, light, refrigeration or cooking facilities in a tenanted home for longer than a repair needs, so a planned shutoff goes out with a start and an end time before anyone arrives. See heating season repairs.

From November 1 to March 31 the Town bars parking on its streets between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. An overnight call to a house with no driveway notes where the trade's vehicle can stand.

Collingwood runs its own water. Under Water By-law 2016-066 the Town keeps the service stub from the main to the property line, and thaws it when it freezes. Everything from the property line to the meter, the private main and the meter pit is the owner's, leaking or frozen, and a defect the Town reports in writing and nobody repairs within seven days can end with the water shut off. A unit left vacant or unheated is the owner's to shut off and drain. So a frozen line starts with one question about which side of the property line it froze on, and the report carries a photo of the meter, the shut-off and the break. See frozen pipes in a rental.

The Town's wastewater page puts the sewer lateral, from inside the building to the connection with the Town sewer, on the owner, including the stretch on Town property. Public Works does the Town side after the owner signs a work order, at 50 percent of time and materials to a maximum of $6,000 under By-law 2020-015, and wants a call once the lateral is exposed at the property line so it can confirm the road section is clear. Sewer Use By-law 2009-118 adds a clock to that: where roots in the joints of the Town main or faulty construction caused part of the cost, section 9.7.1 pays out only if the owner tells the Town immediately and lets it investigate before further work. A backup call therefore runs in this order. The drain contractor cameras the line and photographs what it finds, the owner or manager tells the Town at once if the cause looks like roots or the main, and Ontario One Call's free sewer safety inspection comes before any machine goes outside the walls.

The same page asks that sump pumps and roof downspouts discharge onto the lawn or into the ground, never into a basement floor drain, and section 4.4 of the by-law prohibits storm water and groundwater discharge to the sanitary sewer. A sump found piped to a floor drain is written up with one photo of the pump and one of where its pipe ends. See waterproofing.

Zoning By-law 2010-040 allows up to three additional residential units on a residential or rural lot, four dwellings in all (section 4.40), each with its own way out to the exterior. Since January 1, 2022 the Town asks for a zoning certificate before a residential building permit application, and on a septic property it wants the system evaluated by a certified septic designer first (Town ARU page). Its Housing Incentive Pilot Program offered up to $70,000 per affordable additional unit in an intake that ran from July 8 to September 8, 2026.

Section 4.40.1.8 keeps units off natural hazard lands unless the Conservation Authority agrees, and the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority lists foundation works and adding an in-law suite among the projects near the Georgian Bay shoreline, rivers and wetlands that need its permit. A repair in a basement suite puts back what was there. A job that would create a unit, enlarge a building or touch a foundation stops at the quote and comes back to you, with the zoning and Authority questions answered before material is ordered. See basement and secondary suites.

In the Downtown Heritage Conservation District, and on any individually designated property, the Town's Heritage Permit comes before exterior work, painting, windows and doors included. A repair there is quoted after the Town says whether it needs one, and the before photos fix the colour, profile and material that stay.

Collingwood licenses any rental of 28 consecutive days or less under By-law 2024-078, in force since January 6, 2025. Operating or marketing without a licence is barred (sections 4.1 and 4.3), the unit has to be in the licensee's principal residence or an additional unit on the same property (section 4.6), and the Town issues no more than 200 licences (section 6.1). Schedule B asks for a letter from a licensed electrical contractor, dated within 365 days, confirming the premises meet the Electrical Safety Code, with completed fire safety and property standards checklists. The Town's own application checklist says the same.

For an owner who holds or is applying for one of these licences, the electrical visit is booked as a job, the dated letter goes into the report, and the alarm check the by-law expects after each guest (section 8.7) and the extinguisher it requires on each floor (section 8.6) go on the turnover record with a photo of each device. See turnovers and inspections.

Plumbing is done by licensed plumbers and drain work by licensed drain contractors. Gas work is done by TSSA registered contractors. We only use ECRA/ESA-Licensed Electrical Contractors. Pest control is done by licensed exterminators.

To send a Collingwood job, request work.