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 Sylvan Lake basement permit ready
the first time.
Below: everything Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake's list below matters.
The official list
What Sylvan Lake asks for
Researched from sylvanlake.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
Residential building permit application
Has a dedicated homeowner's-signature line — homeowners can pull their own permit.
- 2
Floor plan of the new layout
Showing the layout of new walls, bathrooms, bedrooms, windows, and doors.
- 3
Two copies of construction plans, drawn to scale
- 4
Fire safety plan — only for projects over $5,000
- 5
Permit fee
Based on project value per the council-adopted Safety Codes Services fee bylaw.
How to apply
Hard copy only: mail, courier, or drop off at the Municipal Government Building, 5012 - 48 Avenue. No development permit is needed unless the work changes the exterior (new entrance or windows). Permits expire if work doesn't start within 90 days. Before you dig or drill: Utility Safety Partners, 1-800-242-3447.
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 Sylvan Lake
Superior Safety Codes Inc.private accredited agency
Phone: 403-358-5545 · website
You book every required inspection yourself — minimum 48 hours notice (403-358-5545)
Inspection agencies can change — confirm the current agency with the municipality before booking.
7 money programs may apply to a Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake 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.