Does my Ottawa mason need the hardscaping licence for new steps?

Steps are named in the City of Ottawa's hardscaping licensing by-law, so the licence question is real and worth asking directly. Whether your contractor needs it depends on how the City reads the scope of your job.

The hardscaping licence (By-law 2002-189, Schedule 36, as amended by By-law 2025-415) covers businesses installing or altering hard landscaping features on private property, and steps are among the named features. The by-law does exclude "minor repairs or minor alterations" under By-law 2026-222, but we found no definition of what counts as minor. New steps are not the same as a small repair, so that exclusion may not apply, but the City decides, not us.

A few things to sort out before you hire:

• Ask the contractor directly whether they hold the City hardscaping licence. For 2026 it costs $319 and expires October 31; the City's licence page lists its insurance and other requirements. You can also check the City's published list of hardscaping licence holders.
• Ask the City whether your specific job, new steps rather than a patch repair, falls under the licence requirement or the minor-repair exclusion.
• On permits: entrance steps can trigger a building permit where the structure provides access to the building or where there is more than 600 mm difference in elevation between adjacent surfaces. Ask the City whether your steps need one before work starts.
• The Building Code (9.8.9.2.(3)) sets foundation depth requirements for exterior steps; ask the contractor how the steps will be supported below frost.
• If the property is designated or in a heritage conservation district, heritage approval may also be required before any work begins.

For the written quote, ask that it spells out the materials, how the base is prepared and supported, mortar type, cleanup and disposal, and who is responsible for confirming permit and licence requirements with the City.

The most useful question to put to any contractor before signing: can you show me your City hardscaping licence and confirm in writing who will pull any required permits?

To move things forward, have two masons come to the site and look at the existing steps and grade before you compare quotes.