How to apply for a road cut permit

Municipal consent is required prior to applying for a road cut permit. Contact Right-of-way approvals at ROW_Permit_Office@Ottawa.ca .

If it is on a road classified as Collector, Arterial, Highway or on a bus route you MUST include a Traffic Management Plan and ensure that the Traffic Management Section in the application form is filled out.

Resources:

• OC Transpo -
• geoOttawa for road classification
• Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM) Traffic Layout

Exception – Traffic Management Plan is not required for City work, however, the D005 MUST be included with the application submission.

Approvals:

• MC#
• Commence Work Letters along with Project Manager/Contact from the City authorizing the work.
• Municipal Approval
• Traffic Management Plan (if applicable)
• Temporary Road Closure Request Form (if applicable)

Proof of insurance:

A certificate of insurance must be supplied to the ROW_Permit_Office@Ottawa.ca and meet the following criteria.

• Commercial General Liability insurance acceptable to the City and subject to limits not less than five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) inclusive per occurrence for bodily injury, death and damage to property including loss of use. Such insurance shall include, but is not limited to, premises, property and operations; products and broad form completed operations; broad form property damage; personal injury; blanket contractual liability; owners’ and contractors’ protective coverage; medical payments; employees as additional insured; non-owned automobile; contingent employers liability; occurrence property damage; cross liability and severability of interests clauses
• MUST be in the name of the Permit Holder and shall name the City of Ottawa as additional insured thereunder
  City of Ottawa
  100 Constellation Crescent
  Ottawa, Ontario
  K2G-6J8
• MUST be maintained for two (2) years following the date of final reinstatement of the highway.
• MUST contain an endorsement to provide the City with thirty (30) days written Notice of cancellation
• MUST contain a description of operation of work for which the policy covers (ex: Road Cut and Road Activity)

Securities:

Every applicant for a Road Cut permit shall provide a security in an amount acceptable to the General Manager to guarantee that the applicant will carry out and maintain the work authorized by the permit and that the Highway is left in a proper state of repair. Securities MUST be in the name of the PERMIT HOLDER and may be submitted in one of the following amounts.

• $3,000.00: valid for a single Road Cut 
• $50,000.00: valid for up to 20 Road Cut Permits within their warranty period
• $100,000.00: valid for an unlimited number of Road Cut Permits.

Securities may be provided in the following formats:

• Credit Card (Visa, Master Card, or American Express) for amounts less than $5,000.00
• Certified Cheque or Bank Draft
• Letter of Credit

The City holds the security for a period of two (2) years following the date of final reinstatement (Submission of the Road Cut Completion Report), as a guarantee that the highway is left in proper state of repair for the duration of the two (2) year warranty period. The City will not pay interest on any monies held as a security.

Permit requirements

How to apply for a road cut permit flyer [ PDF 262 KB ]

Road cut permit requirements [ PDF 568 KB ]

Be advised that a Temporary Emergency Construction Restriction Zone is in effect along certain streets to protect the integrity of the City’s water distribution system. All Road Cut Permit Applications for work on a street subject to the Temporary Emergency Construction Restriction Zone must be accompanied by approval to proceed with the proposed work. All applications without approval will be denied. To request a review and approval of the work, please email tecrp_prtut@ottawa.ca.

To see the location of the Temporary Emergency Construction Restriction Zone please visit geoOttawa and turn on the “Temporary Emergency Construction Restriction Zone” sublayer under the “Water Infrastructure” layer.

• Application Form
• Fee
• Proof of insurance
• Municipal Approval
• Bond/Securities
• Traffic Management Plan (if applicable)
• Temporary Road Closure Request Form (if applicable)

Sign the application form and date it.

Include ALL approvals, MC#, Commence Work Letters along with Project Manager/Contact from the City authorizing the work.

Submitting the application form

Make sure all your documents are attached, Application Form, Approvals/Commence Work Letters, Traffic Management Plan, and/or D-005 (where applicable)

Submit Application to ROW_Permit_Office@Ottawa.ca if there is a Road Closure with the application cc: Inspection_Office@Ottawa.ca

Email subject lines must read as follows:

Road Cut Application Standard:
Type of Permit – Street Name
Example: Road Cut – Constellation
** If you have a reference # and you would like to quote it (optional) you can after the street name

Road Cut Application for City Project:
City Reference Number (CP0) – Permit Type - Street Name
Example:  CP000123 - Road Cut – Constellation

Road Cut Application with Road Closure:
Indicate Road Closure first – Street
Example: Road Closure and Road Cut – Constellation

Where to apply

Right of Way Permit Office
100 Constellation Drive, 6 East
or electronically at ROW_Permit_Office@Ottawa.ca
Pick up only at Client Service Centres.

Who to contact

Right of Way Permit Office, 613-580-2424, ext. 16000 or 3-1-1

Road Cut Fees and Securities - Schedule A

1. Road Cut Permit Fee: $296.00 per street segment (a city street from intersection to intersection)
2. Note: The winter inspection fee is eliminated as of January 1, 2022.

Pavement Degradation Fees

Pavement Degradation Fee based on the greater of the size of Road Cut or five (5) square metres.

Calendar years since road construction, last reconstruction or last resurfacing

• 3 or less
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $ 61.70

• >3 to 5
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $ 55.10

• >5 to 10
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $ 46.40

• >10 to 15
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $ 35.40
• >15 to 20
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $ 25.80
• More than 20 years                                          
  • pavement degradation fee (per m2) $17.70

5. Minimum amount of Security under section 7(1) per Road Cut Permit:

• For work in the roadway: $3000.00 
• For work in the boulevard: $3000.00 
• Minimum amount of Security under section 7(2) for up to 20 Road Cut Permits within their warranty period: $50,000.00 
• Minimum amount of Security under section 7(2) for an unlimited number of Road Cut Permits within their warranty period: $100,000.00 

6. Minimum amount of Security per square metre for a resurfacing under section 7(3): $50.00 per square metre 

7. Minimum amount of Security under section 1(3): $3000.00 per vertically divided unit. 

Methods of payment

• By Phone: Visa, Mastercard or American Express
• This service is currently not available in person due to COVID-19 closures. In Person: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Debit, Cheque

Approximate timeline

• 10 business days (exception to this turn-around time may occur in high seasons – timelines subject to change daily based on volume and season).

Notice of Work Commencement:

The Road Activity By-law requires under Section 5 that:

1. All Road Cut Permit Holders must provide:
   1. notice to staff before beginning work
   2. notice to the public before beginning work

Use the Road Cut Notification Flow Chart to determine when notice must be given to the City, and to residents, tenants and businesses beside and near the work.

In some cases, a Road Cut Permit Holder must provide notice to the Ward Councillor. To find out who the Ward Councillor is, use geoOttawa. Instructions on how to access this information on geoOttawa are provided below.

A list of the Ward Councillors, and their contact information, can be found here.

2. All persons undertaking Road Activity (i.e., work on a road that does not involve a Road Cut) provide:

1. Notice to staff before beginning work, if the work is on a road classified as collector, major collector, arterial or Highway 174 and the work will impact motor vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian traffic
2. Notice to a tenant or business located on a property that will be affected by the Road Activity, in particular where access to the property will be affected.

Use the Road Activity City Notification Flow Chart to determine when notice must be given to the City, and to residents, tenants and businesses beside and near the work.

All notices provided to the public must be in writing, must be bilingual and must provide:

1. The plan for the work and its location
2. The anticipated start date
3. The duration of the work
4. The name of the permit holder and the person undertaking the work
5. A telephone number that will be maintained and answered at all times (24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week) from the date of the notice until the completion of the work.

A bilingual notice template can be downloaded here.

After a road cut permit has been issued, the permit holder must:

1. Notify City staff before starting work
2. Notify the public and the Ward Councillor before starting work
3. Comply with the Road Activity By-law and the conditions of the Road Cut Permit during work
4. Submit a Road Cut Completion Report once reinstatement is complete

Notify city staff of start of work

City staff must be notified at least 10 business days BEFORE starting work that involves:

• The full closure of at least one direction of vehicle traffic
• The re-routing of OC Transpo buses
• The closure of a sidewalk
• A duration of at least seven (7) calendar days.

In all other instances City staff must be given at least two (2) business days’ notice.

All notifications to the City must include:

• The location of the work
• The scheduled start date and estimated duration of the work
• The Road Cut Permit number
• Any changes to the Traffic Management Plan, or if work is on a local road, the closure of any vehicle lane, bicycle lane or sidewalks.
• Notifications must be sent to inspection_office@ottawa.ca.
• For questions related to traffic control conditions or set-up, contact the Traffic Management Inspector.

Notify residents, businesses and Ward Councillor of start of work

• Bilingual notification in writing must be provided to residents and businesses beside or near the work BEFORE work starts.
• Notice must be provided at least 10 business days before the work is scheduled to begin if the work involves:
• The full closure of at least one direction of vehicle traffic
• The re-routing of OC Transpo buses
• The closure of a sidewalk
• A duration of at least seven (7) calendar days. The Ward Councillor must also be notified.

In all other instances, residents and businesses beside or near the work must be given at least two (2) business days’ notice.

Public Notices must include:

• A brief description of the work and its location
• The anticipated start date and duration
• The name of the Permit holder and contractor
• A description of any mobility or access impacts
• A 24/7 maintained telephone number.

If work is stopped for longer than three (3) months City staff, residents, businesses and the Ward Councillor must be re-notified before work restarts. The same timelines and notification requirements apply.

Comply with by-law and road cut permit conditions

Permit holders must comply with the Road Activity By-law and the conditions on the Road Cut permit.

This includes respecting peak hour work restrictions during 7 to 9 am and 3:30 to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, except on holidays or where permission has been granted.

Work under a Road Cut permit must begin within 60 days of permit issuance. Otherwise an application to renew the permit must be submitted to the ROW Permit Office.

Submit road cut completion report

Permit holders must submit a Road Cut Completion Report within 10 business days of final reinstatement of the road cut.

The Road Cut Completion Report can be downloaded.

Project Sign

All Road Cut Permit Holders must display at the job site an easy to read sign showing:

1. The name of the permit holder,
2. The name of the person making the road cut;
3. The name of the entity for which the road cut is made (if different than the permit holder);
4. A brief description of the work; and,
5. A telephone number that will be maintained and answered at all times (24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week) during the period of the work.

A project sign template can be downloaded here.

Right-of-Way Inspectors

The Right-of-Way Inspector for a given area can be found on geoOttawa. Instructions on how to access this information on geoOttawa are set out below.

Traffic Management Inspectors

The Traffic Management Inspector for a given area can be found on geoOttawa. Instructions on how to access this information on geoOttawa are set out below.

All Road Cut Permit Holders must submit a Road Cut Completion Report within 10 working days of the final reinstatement.

A copy of the Road Cut Completion Report can be found here.

The completed Road Cut Completion Report must be submitted to developmentinspections@ottawa.ca.