Early accessYou found us early — Done By the Book is free while we finish testing, and the app tells you plainly what's still being verified.
Get your St. Albert basement permit ready
the first time.
Below: everything St. Albert asks for, researched from the municipality's own pages. Better: a free tool that reads a photo of your hand-drawn plan and tells you what's missing — before the permit counter does.
Why bother getting it right first
The paperwork is the cheap part
1 in 5
permit applications audited in Toronto were missing required documents at intake — and cities everywhere are cracking down on incomplete files
$1,200–$8,000
what permit consultants and design firms charge to do this thinking for you
$0
to find out if your own drawing is ready — the free tier covers the whole planning stage
Sources: Toronto Auditor General building-permit audit, Feb 2024; published GTA consultant rate guides. Alberta has its own version of the same problem — that's why St. Albert's list below matters.
The official list
What St. Albert asks for
Researched from stalbert.ca on 2026-07-19. Not yet independently verified — requirements change, and the municipality's own page always has the final say. No fees listed on purpose: fee schedules change, so check the municipality's page for current amounts.
- 1
Building / Development Permit application form
One combined form covers both permits — and St. Albert requires BOTH: the Planning and Development Branch approves the development permit first, then a building inspector reviews against the building code.
- 2
Two copies of a scaled floor plan
Labelled rooms with dimensions, window locations, ceiling heights, door sizes, stairs, opening windows, furnace, water heater, electrically connected smoke alarm(s), light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, and fireplaces — preferably at 1/4-inch scale. Inspectors may ask for more detail depending on the work.
- 3
Separate plumbing, gas, and electrical permits
Contact Building Inspection Services at 780-418-6601 — trade permits are separate applications from the building permit.
- 4
Permit fee
Set by the city's Master Rates Bylaw — see the city's fee schedule for current amounts, including any card-payment processing charge.
How to apply
Email the completed application and documents to BIS@stalbert.ca, or apply in person at St. Albert Place, 5 St. Anne Street (2nd floor). The city's online permit portal doesn't take basement applications yet — it currently covers new-home types only.
Here's the part nobody else does
A list is nice. A checked drawing is ready.
Every item above has to actually appear on your drawing — and missing items are exactly how applications bounce. Done By the Book closes that gap in three steps:
Print the free worksheet
A drawing worksheet built for permit drawings — measurement checklist on one side, sketch grid on the other. Pencil and paper. No signup.
Photograph your sketch
Snap it with your phone. The app reads your hand-drawn plan — room labels, dimensions, windows, the works.
See exactly what's missing
A readiness report, item by item, in your municipality's own terms — with where to write each missing thing on your drawing. Fix, re-scan, repeat until it's ready.
Then it walks the whole build with you
The app won't open the construction stage until your permit is issued — on purpose. After that: a stage-by-stage walkthrough in build order, with inspection checkpoints so nothing gets covered up before it's inspected.
And it shops your materials list around
Quantities from your measurements, priced at real stores from their own listed prices — one-stop totals, plus the cheapest-per-item route. On our test basement it found $703 in savings just by splitting the list across three stores.
Who inspects in St. Albert
City of St. Albert Building Inspection Servicesmunicipal
Phone: 780-418-6601 · website
Call 780-418-6601 at least 24 hours ahead — inspections are done by city-employed safety codes officers
7 money programs may apply to a St. Albert basement or suite project
Every program on our list is checked against its official page, with the date shown — including the closed ones that ads still sell. Most of them require a permitted, inspected project, which is exactly what this app gets you.
See the verified money listShow up to the St. Albert counter ready
Sketch it tonight, scan it tonight, and know what's missing tonight. Free to start, works on your phone, in 8 languages — and it never pretends to be the municipality: the final say is always theirs.
Start my St. Albert project — freeDone By the Book is independent, source-linked guidance for homeowners. It is not affiliated with the municipality and never guarantees approval — it helps you show up prepared. Permits in Alberta are required under the Safety Codes Act before regulated building, electrical, plumbing, gas, and HVAC work.