UPDATE 2022 - this process described below is quite outdated, thanks in large part to the CICBA and internal city procedures are improved. Not much point in reviewing this post as shown below, despite this post attracting repeated web traffic.
UPDATE 2018 July - this post is now out of date, the City has created an online permit application system for the demolition permit. While much of the process of collecting signatures for the utility shut offs remains the same, most of the work can now be done without going to City Hall. This is a major improvement and saves the builder a lot of time and money!
We recently posted a lengthy entry on how to get a demo permit in Calgary. One of the key findings was that three trips to City hall and the endless paperwork seems to be a little too much effort just to get permission to bulldoze your own property. There must be a better way to get a demo permit in Calgary. We have explored various techniques to reduce the effort necessary to get the permit, and the commentary below is the outcome of our journey.
Since I applied for a demo permit just a few weeks ago, the lengthy process is quite fresh in my memory. I improved the process somewhat to eliminate one of the two preliminary City hall visits for my new demo application. What you have to do is email the water department to get a service kill quote before you take any other action. Since the service kill quote is always $4250 the staff is quick to reply with your quote. I did this Monday night before midnight and had a reply at 7 am Tuesday. Why you need to get a service kill quote when the estimate is always the same $4250 is just another peculiarity of dealing with City hall. Even more frustrating is it does not cost $4250 to do a service kill. I am waiting for the day when I get a service kill quote for $4250, and then get a quote to do the kill for $4251. Under that scenario I won't do the service kill and let the City deal with it themselves.
Back to my new and improved demo permit strategy. With the service kill quote and cheque prepared and in your back pocket, the applicant then can proceed to the 3rd floor application counter with the actual demo permit paperwork. This includes the demo fee, asbestos document (completely pointless because you don't need asbestos clearance until later), tree report, colour photos, and two copies of the survey (rpr works great here), and the name of your demo contractor (if you don't have a contractor, don't let this stop you, just make up a name and use that, and change it later. The key with this demo permit process is to keep it moving, not get bogged down in the detail).
Upon successful submission of the demo permit paperwork, the service disconnect worksheet is printed at the permit counter and given to you. You can now pay the $4250 (different payment window - no logic here for another line and payment window because you just paid for the demo permit on your credit card at the permit counter, this is yet another peculiarity of dealing with City hall).
Having completed the paperwork stage, you can now call 311 and request a water meter removal appointment. This will go into the system as soon as the $4250 is processed. The City will call you in a couple days to arrange an appointment to shut off the water. Most time the response of 'the City will call you to book an appointment' is a frightening concept to the home builder. Possibly the City may not decide to call you for months. Rest assured this department is pretty quick to call you, generally we only wait 2 business days max for the appointment to be arranged.
The next call you can make is to Enmax to request a permanent electrical disconnect. As with any abandoned house you will have to create an electrical account in order to cancel the service.
(side note 1 - given the strong likelihood that your tenant abandoned ship without paying the utilities, the electricity is likely now shut off by enmax. Once you take over the account the power will turn on, and this may light up the entire house in the middle of the night, and cause the neighbour to call the police to say that someone is breaking into the house. You will have to go to the house turn down the furnace - currently set at full blast, close the fridge doors and turn off all the lights, hopefully you have a functional key or this will be a fruitless exercise. Yes this happened to us and no we did not have a key that opened the door.)
(Side note 2 - when you buy a house with suspect provenance, you should try the key you are provided with to determine that it works. We have bought multiple houses without the proper key being provided. Since you are unlikely to collect any rent from the tenants anyway, you may want to have vacant possession an condition of sale).
Creation of an Enmax account can be a lengthy process unto itself, possibly requiring a cash deposit upfront (no doubt Enmax is constantly being scammed, so it is wary of initiating new accounts to suspicious characters like home builders). This is typically a lengthy process but there is a workaround. I always keep an Enmax business account current because the process is way faster if you are in the business stream (shorter hold times) rather than the residential retail stream on the phone system. If you have a business account, Enmax will create an new electicity account for you right away, and also put in place the process to cancel the account you just created. This may not sound sensible to you, but this will save considerable time when pursuing the electrical disconnect by being a business customer. The business customer also can opt into a variable rate bill.
(Side note 3 - Enmax has changed its account offering to no longer offer a residential customer a variable rate electricity bill. Why have they done this? Well, the variable rate is about 1.5 c/kWh, whereas the residential fixed rate is 3-4x higher. Go with the variable rate every time by being a business customer).
On the way back from City hall you can drive to the far northwest and visit atco to do the gas meter removal application. This application is seemingly impossible to do on line (I did try once and failed, the best practice is to drive up north and take the last exit before the ring road to the atco office and get the form at the front desk). Atco is a private enterprise, so it has an entirely unique process for service disconnection. None of this information is important to you, just get the paper filled out and handed in and you are in good shape for the gas disconnect. Remember, the gas disconnect involves digging up the alley and exposing the high pressure gas main, not something that can be screwed around with by anyone except Atco trained crews.
(Side note 4 - Atco is building a massive new office complex near Currie Barracks on Crowchild and Glenmore. This office will be within cycling distance - next time we need a gas disconnect we will attempt to bike to the office and will report back on how easy this can be done).
This demo permit application technique gets all the paperwork done in one intensive morning of minimized effort and aggravation. Now you can wait for all the issuing authorities to make the appointments for disconnect and do your asbestos sampling during this interim period. The asbestos removal racket is likely the subject of an entirely long blog diatribe. You would be safe to assume I have some opinions on the asbestos game that is played in Calgary. Here is one interesting piece of asbestos removal racket trivia - what days of the week do provincial asbestos inspectors work, and what days (i.e. Saturday/Sunday) are asbestos inspectors off duty?
The permit issuance phase - If you are lucky there will be no asbestos and you can return to city hall with the signed off disconnect sheet and pick up the demo permit. Keep in mind atco is taking five weeks to remove gas connections so you must do this well in advance of when you want to start the demo job.
Hopefully this improved set of instructions saves someone the headache of repetitive trips to City hall that don't accomplish much. We don't have another demolition permit to do for another year at least. Time to focus on building again rather than demolition.
(Side note 5 - more than likely your neighbours are going to be pleased that the house is going to be demolished - try and use this goodwill to buffer you against the turmoil created by the eventual reconstruction of the new housing you will be building).