Steel Building Permits in Alberta: Development Permit vs Building Permit

Every Alberta municipality must pass a land use bylaw, and the Municipal Government Act lets that bylaw regulate and control the use and development of land and buildings. The Act defines development to include constructing or placing a building, and says that, except as the land use bylaw provides otherwise, no one may start a development without a development permit.

The development permit is where the planning rules apply: the land use district, whether the use is permitted or discretionary, setbacks from property lines and roads, building height, the size and number of accessory buildings on a parcel, parking and landscaping. Many land use bylaws exempt some buildings from a development permit, often small accessory buildings or certain agricultural buildings, but the exemptions differ from one bylaw to the next.

The Act also sets timelines. A development authority must decide within 20 days whether an application is complete, and must make a decision within 40 days after the applicant receives acknowledgement that the application is complete, unless the applicant and the development authority agree in writing to extend that period.

Development permits always come from the municipality: its development authority, planning department or development officer.

Building permits come from whoever administers the Safety Codes Act in that area. Under the Act, the Minister can designate a municipality as an accredited municipality, authorized to administer all or part of the Act within its boundaries. An accredited municipality issues its own building permits. Where a municipality isn't accredited for a discipline, the Safety Codes Council's Alberta Safety Codes Authority issues permits through contracted agencies, and the Council offers a 'Where to get a permit?' tool to find the right one.

Around Calgary, the cities, towns and counties each run their own process. Springbank, Bearspaw and Balzac are communities inside Rocky View County, not separate municipalities, so their permits come from Rocky View County. Our location pages for Calgary, Rocky View County and Foothills County set out each office's process.

Farm buildings are treated differently. The Safety Codes Council says the building code does not apply to farm buildings associated with the operation of a farm on agricultural designated land, used for things like housing livestock, storing or maintaining farm equipment, or storing materials or produce, and having low human occupancy, which it describes as 1 person or less per 40 m2 of floor area. Its 2024 notice on the new codes says farm buildings remain exempt from the building, energy and fire codes in Alberta. The Permit Regulation defines a farm building by reference to agricultural land and an agricultural operation under the Agricultural Operation Practices Act.

Three cautions apply. First, the exemption is about use, not about the building's look or the parcel's zoning alone: a steel building on farmland used as a commercial shop, a storage business or a venue is not a farm building. The Council also notes that residential garages and any building open to the public require permits. Second, the exemption covers the building code; it does not remove the development permit, which depends on the municipality's land use bylaw. Third, permit issuers decide whether a building qualifies, so confirm it with them before you rely on it. Our agricultural buildings page covers farm use in more detail.