Property maintenance in Georgina, from septic beds to basement suites

Schedule E of the Property Standards By-law asks for 20 C at 1.5 m above the floor in habitable rooms, recreation rooms and laundry rooms. It names no heating season. Two lines in the same schedule matter on a cottage rented through the winter: a portable heater cannot be the permanent primary source of heat, and the owner keeps fuel supplied on a continual basis in adequate quantities, unless the lease puts fuel on the tenant and the supply stopped over arrears.

On a no-heat call the first question is the tank gauge or the meter. An empty gauge is photographed and sent to you as a supply question, not a repair quote. A failed furnace or boiler goes to a licensed trade, and the report lists what failed and what was replaced.

The same by-law sets hot water at no less than 43 C and treats a landlord supplied appliance, a hot water tank included, as something the owner keeps in safe working order. A tank job closes with the before and after photos and the parts on the report, which is the file you hold if a tenant complains to the Town.

The Town's sanitary sewers serve Keswick and Sutton. On that system a backup starts with a call to Service Georgina at 905-476-4301. An operator checks the maintenance holes along the line, and only when the main is clear does the owner sign a sewer service agreement and the Town send its contractor. The agreement is the owner's to sign, so the job record shows who approved it and when, the same as a quote. If the blockage sits between the property line and the house, the owner pays all of it, and misuse on your side of the line moves the Town side of the repair to you as well. We ask for the CCTV finding from after the blockage is cleared and file it beside our photos, because the cause decides who pays.

Where a property is off the sewer, any septic system within 100 metres of Lake Simcoe, or of a river or stream in its watershed, is on a five year inspection under the Town's Maintenance Inspection Program. Before a drain trade goes to such a house we ask for the last pump out report, a fact the Town's inspectors also ask for, and the Town's septic tips say to get a report on the tank's condition each time it is pumped. The trade gets the lid and bed locations from the owner, or from the septic plan the Town issues on request, and parks off the bed, because the Town warns that vehicles compact the soil.

A rental on a private well is the owner's to test. The Town says residents on private wells are responsible for the quality of their water, with sample bottles from York Region Public Health. Its flooding page tells well owners to make sure the supply is safe after a flood, so a flooded basement is reported to you with that reminder. The same page lists what sends water toward a house: compacted soil, a blocked side yard or swale, a blocked private catch basin, bad grading. It asks owners to check the sump pump and discharge it high on the lawn, and the Town's sewer page recommends a backwater valve and sump pit installed under a building permit, so a quote for either names the permit. See waterproofing for basement apartments.

The Town's ARU Guide allows up to two additional residential units on a lot, only one of them detached, and each must be registered with the Town. Some approvals are paperwork for suites that already exist: of 45 in 2023, 13 legalized an existing unregistered unit, and of 32 in 2024, 5 did (Town ARU background report). The Town lists fire separations, exits and interconnected smoke alarms for a suite, so a repair that opens a wall or ceiling between the suite and the house is photographed open and again closed, and an inspection tests every alarm with a photo and the date. See basement and secondary suites.

The Town's ARU Renovation Program pays 50 percent of eligible costs up to $15,000 on an existing unit, and its Creation Program 50 percent up to $30,000. Only costs incurred after approval qualify, and the dwelling must be at least five years old. Funding is released after the final inspection and written confirmation that the unit is not a short term rental, the Guide says. If you apply, send the approval date with the job and the quote and invoice dates show which costs came after it.

Near the water the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority has a say. In a regulated area its permission is needed to build or reconstruct a structure, add dwelling units, grade a site, or place or remove material. A regraded yard, a rebuilt deck or a new suite on a lakefront lot is looked up on LSRCA's regulation map before a quote goes out.

A cottage let by the night adds a licence of its own. A short term rental needs one under By-law 2019-0061 (LI-3), and renewal comes with an annual fire inspection. A unit inspection ahead of that date puts a dated photo of every room and a test of every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm on file. It is not a Fire Code inspection and does not replace the Town's.

From November 15 to April 15 the Town bans parking on most streets from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. On snow lift days parking is also banned on the affected streets from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a declared Winter Maintenance Event takes every parked vehicle off Town roads for its length. A heating failure is a night call, so at booking we ask the tenant where the trade's truck can stand, a driveway or a lot, and the answer goes on the job. Emergencies are answered around the clock, and the list includes heat: Plumbing, electrical, major appliance and heating or cooling failures, lockouts, and a door that will not lock.

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 Georgina job, request work.