Outlined in By-law 325 (1903), the duties of the Building Inspector included the examination of construction of buildings and repairs, making the Office of the Building Inspector a likely candidate for the responsibility of the Fort William building permit registers. Through reviewing annual reports (Series 16) it appears that the office of the Building Inspector came under the direction of the Fire Water and Light Committee.
Arranged numerically by year and permit number, registers (Between 1912 and 1972) generally include the following details:
permit number, date, owner, information on the location of the building including lot, block, plan, street and address, a description of the building including construction details of walls, foundations and roof, the names of architect/contractor and plumber/electrician, the costs of the construction, any fees charged and the purpose of the permit. Monthly summaries give the
totals for different categories of construction such as duplexes, single dwellings, sheds, commercial and institutional buildings.
The earliest building permits (1907-1911) do not include details regarding the contractor, builder, plumber or electrician, but still provide a description of the purpose of building and value attached to the construction.
This series consists of bound volumes with details of construction completed under a permit number. There is no index to permit numbers, by name or property. Researchers must know the approximate year of the construction for a property in order to search, page by page, for the street address.
