---
title: "Second-storey additions in Clarington"
url: "https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/second-storey-additions/clarington"
description: "Second storeys in Clarington as of October 2026: 10.5 m in R1, the Bowmanville overlay's limits, the $17.73 per m2 rate, $2,280 variances and three CAs."
publisher: "Jarvis Contracting"
dateModified: "2026-11-02"
---
# Second-storey additions in Clarington

**How high can a second storey go in Clarington, and does Bowmanville's Neighbourhood Character Overlay change the answer?**

Clarington's R1 zone allows 10.5 m under Zoning By-law 84-63, but inside Bowmanville's Neighbourhood Character Overlay a pitched-roof house is capped at 8.5 m and a flat-roofed one at 7.5 m, measured from the ground at the middle of the front lot line, as of October 2026. A house over 1.5 storeys there also needs a 1.8 m interior side yard, which the Municipality of Clarington's Committee of Adjustment can vary. (Checked 2026-10-05.)

## Key takeaways

- Clarington's Urban Residential Type One (R1) zone allows a building height of 10.5 m, under section 12.2 of [Zoning By-law 84-63](https://media-003-ca.cdn.govstack.com/clarington-018-ca/media/hq0jc0up/zoning-by-law-84-63-aoda.pdf).
- Inside Bowmanville's Neighbourhood Character Overlay, a Clarington house is limited to 8.5 m with a pitched roof and 7.5 m with a flat one, under [section 12.2.1](https://media-003-ca.cdn.govstack.com/clarington-018-ca/media/hq0jc0up/zoning-by-law-84-63-aoda.pdf).
- The overlay asks for a 1.8 m interior side yard once a house is over 1.5 storeys, against 1.2 m for a bungalow, per [section 12.2.1](https://media-003-ca.cdn.govstack.com/clarington-018-ca/media/hq0jc0up/zoning-by-law-84-63-aoda.pdf).
- Clarington received 14 new minor variance applications in all of 2025, by its [quarterly planning data](https://www.clarington.net/planning-and-development/municipal-planning-data-report/), and a residential minor variance costs $2,280 under [User Fee By-law 2026-057](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=455554&dbid=0&repo=Clarington).
- Clarington's Group C rate in [Building By-law 2024-006](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=438584&dbid=0&repo=Clarington) is $17.73 per m2, so a 90 m2 second storey is a permit fee of about $1,596 (our arithmetic).

## Permits for this work in Clarington

| Item | What applies | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where to apply | Service Clarington portal (service.clarington.net) | [www.clarington.net](https://www.clarington.net/homes-and-property/building-or-renovating/building-and-demolition-permits/) | 2026-10-05 |
| Addition permit fee | $17.73 per m2 | [weblink.clarington.net](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=438584&dbid=0&repo=Clarington) | 2026-10-05 |
| Conservation authority (1) | Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) | [www.cloca.com](https://www.cloca.com/about-us) | 2026-10-05 |
| Conservation authority (2) | Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) | [www.grca.on.ca](https://www.grca.on.ca/) | 2026-10-05 |
| Conservation authority (3) | Kawartha Conservation | [www.kawarthaconservation.com](https://www.kawarthaconservation.com/about-us/) | 2026-10-05 |
| Zoning by-law | Zoning By-law 84-63 (lands between Lake Ontario and the Oak Ridges Moraine) and Zoning By-law 2005-109 (Oak Ridges Moraine lands) | [www.clarington.net](https://www.clarington.net/planning-and-development/official-plan-and-zoning/current-zoning-by-laws/) | 2026-10-05 |
| Minor variance (Committee of Adjustment) fee | $2,280 flat | [weblink.clarington.net](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=455554&dbid=0&repo=Clarington) | 2026-10-05 |

Fees and rules as published by Clarington and the agencies linked, checked 6 October 2026. Confirm with the building department before you apply.

## The nearest finished jobs

- [West Lynde: a Whitby bungalow made two storeys in 4.5 months](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects/west-lynde): Whitby, 21 km away, 2023. New second storey of about 800 sq ft with two bedrooms, a walk-in closet and a bathroom; new kitchen, two new bathrooms, floors, stairs and trim below.
- [Greenwood: a new top storey and rear extension in Toronto](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects/greenwood): Toronto, 58 km away, 2026. Top floor replaced with a new storey, rear extension, basement enlarged, full interior design and build.

## What it costs

| Work | Range (CAD) | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second-storey addition, 600 to 1,200 sq ft | 300000 to 800000 | GTA, 2026. The new floor; a kitchen or bathrooms below add to it. Before 13% HST. | Our 2026 price |

Our 2026 ranges, not quotes: every job is priced after a site visit.

What moves the number:
- Whether the foundation and walls can carry the new floor, or need reinforcing
- A full storey or a partial one
- Whether the main floor is redone at the same time
- The roof design and how it meets what's left
- Engineering, drawings and the permit
- Finish level, and 13% HST on top

## What does Bowmanville's overlay do to a second storey?

The overlay, added by By-law 2020-050, covers R1 lots shown on Schedule 3 of By-law 84-63, and it changes three numbers that matter when you build up.

The first is height: the overlay caps a house at 8.5 m to the midpoint between eaves and ridge, or 7.5 m for a flat roof, and starts measuring at "fixed grade": the ground level at the middle of the front lot line. If your lot climbs from the street, the house starts above that point and loses height; if it drops, you gain some.

The second is the side yard: a house of 1.5 storeys or less needs 1.2 m; anything taller needs 1.8 m. A bungalow sitting legally 1.2 m off the line would, on our reading, need 1.8 m once it becomes two storeys. Where Ontario's 90% setback rule applies, the figure drops to 1.62 m, still more than the bungalow has. The choices are stepping the new storey in from that wall or asking the Committee of Adjustment.

Coverage is the good news. The overlay cuts it to 35% on lots under 650 m2, 30% from 650 to 799 m2 and 25% over 800 m2, which squeezes rear additions hard. A second storey adds no footprint at all.

## What if my house is outside the overlay?

The rest of Clarington's R1 land works to 10.5 m, 40% coverage and a 7.5 m rear yard. Height there is measured from the lowest finished grade beside any wall, so on a walkout lot the low side sets the start. Clarington has the highest share of detached houses among Durham's five lakeshore towns: 77.7% of its occupied homes in the [2021 Census](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&DGUIDlist=2021A00053518017) were single-detached houses. The Municipality warns its posted by-law text is out of date, so we confirm the zone with planning staff first.

## What will the permit and a variance cost?

Schedule B has no separate line for an addition. The $17.73 per m2 Group C rate is our inference from how the schedule charges by occupancy, so confirm it with the Building Division. A 90 m2 storey works out to about $1,596 at 2026 rates. Fees rise 3% each 1 January, which takes the rate to about $18.26 in 2027 (our arithmetic). If the engineer changes the design after the permit issues, a revision costs $182.03 an hour, one hour minimum.

A residential minor variance is $2,280, filed online through Service Clarington since October 2025. The Committee holds a public meeting and decides within 30 days of a complete application, with a 20-day appeal period. Only 14 new applications came in during 2025 (7, 2, 3 and 2 by quarter). That says the Committee isn't backed up; it says nothing about how second storeys fare there.

Clarington is split between three conservation authorities: CLOCA in the west, Ganaraska Region from Wilmot Creek east, and Kawartha Conservation where the north drains to Lake Scugog. Under [O. Reg. 41/24](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/240041), a storey that enlarges a building in a regulated area needs that authority's permit.

## Who has done this work near Clarington?

The nearest second storey we've finished is [West Lynde](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects/west-lynde), in Whitby about 20 km west of Clarington's centre: a bungalow taken to two storeys in about 4.5 months on site, under one single-slope roof instead of the valleys on the drawings. [Greenwood](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/projects/greenwood), our rear extension and new top storey in Toronto, is about 58 km away; there we protected a double-brick side wall by removing and rebuilding floor sections in stages.

## How the job runs in Clarington

1. **Meet James.** James meets you at the house, hears what you want and gives you a rough estimate on the spot. The first estimate is free.
2. **Proposal and contract.** If the estimate works for you, James prepares a detailed proposal. The whole project is priced, and the contract signed with a 10% deposit, before any design work begins.
3. **Design onboarding.** Our designer sends you an onboarding email with some homework: your style, how your family uses the house, and what you need and want. You share Pinterest boards, then go through them together on a Zoom call: what you like in the pictures, and what you don't.
4. **Measure and floor plans.** The designer measures the house and draws the floor plan: which walls come out, where the stairs land, how new space joins the old. We go through it with you until it's confirmed.
5. **Drawings and 3D rendering.** With the plan confirmed, she draws the elevations and the millwork, then puts it all into a 3D rendering, so you see the rooms before anyone orders a cabinet.
6. **Finishes presentation.** We don't take you round the stores: there are too many options. Using what she learned in onboarding, the designer narrows the tile, flooring, quartz, plumbing fixtures and the rest to a few choices that suit your style, collects the samples and presents them to you in our office. If a selection changes the price, the change goes through a change order you sign.
7. **Permits and engineering.** We prepare the permit drawings, bring in the structural engineer wherever a beam or a load changes, and apply to the municipality. If the plan changes after the permit is issued, we file the amendment. In Clarington, applications go through the town's online permit portal.
8. **Construction.** Our crew and trades build it, with one point of contact from demolition to the last coat of paint. Our site supervisors write a job log every day, which you can follow in our online app. When we open a wall and find a problem, you hear about it, and what it costs, before we fix it.
9. **Inspections.** The municipal building inspector checks the work at each stage the permit sets, before it gets covered up. Inspections are booked with Clarington's building department.
10. **Handover.** We walk the finished house with you and put right anything that isn't. On one job a stair stain didn't match the new floor, so we refinished the stairs.

## Credentials

- Written warranty: 1 year workmanship and materials, 2 years plumbing, heating, electrical and building envelope, 7 years structural
- BBB Accredited Business: Accredited by the Better Business Bureau since November 2025 (https://www.bbb.org/ca/on/ajax/profile/general-contractor/jarvis-contracting-inc-0107-1416595)
- Durham Region Home Builders' Association: Member, Renovators (https://www.drhba.com/Sys/PublicProfile/99587295/5125036)
- RenoMark: RenoMark renovator, through the DRHBA (https://renomark.ca/find-a-renovator/)

## Questions

### Can I add a second storey on Beech Avenue in Bowmanville?

You can apply, but it goes through heritage review first. Beech Avenue is Clarington's only Part V Heritage Conservation District, per the Municipality of Clarington, and additions there need a heritage permit, which carries no fee. The district plan says "upper storey additions should not be out of scale with neighbouring buildings.".

### Which conservation authority covers my Clarington house after February 2027?

It depends on which side of Clarington you're in. On 1 February 2027, under the Conservation Authorities Act, CLOCA becomes part of the Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority, while Ganaraska Region and Kawartha Conservation join the Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority. Courtice and Bowmanville lots in CLOCA's area and Newcastle or Orono lots east of Wilmot Creek will deal with different authorities, and permit applications already in progress carry over to the new body.

### How fast does Clarington's Committee of Adjustment decide a minor variance?

Clarington's minor variance page says a public meeting is held and a decision made within 30 days of a complete application, followed by a 20-day appeal period. The residential minor fee is $2,280 under User Fee By-law 2026-057, and applications can be filed online.

### How do I know if my Bowmanville house is in the Neighbourhood Character Overlay?

The overlay applies to R1 lots shown on Schedule 3 of Clarington's Zoning By-law 84-63. The Municipality's zoning page warns that the posted texts and schedules are out of date and its eMap is consolidated only to 1 January 2024, so ask planning staff to confirm before you design to the overlay or ignore it.

## Sources

1. [Municipality of Clarington, Zoning By-law 84-63 (s.12.2 and s.12.2.1)](https://media-003-ca.cdn.govstack.com/clarington-018-ca/media/hq0jc0up/zoning-by-law-84-63-aoda.pdf)
2. [Municipality of Clarington, Building By-law 2024-006, Schedule B](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=438584&dbid=0&repo=Clarington)
3. [Municipality of Clarington, User Fee By-law 2026-057](https://weblink.clarington.net/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=455554&dbid=0&repo=Clarington)
4. [Municipality of Clarington, municipal planning data report](https://www.clarington.net/planning-and-development/municipal-planning-data-report/)
5. [Conservation Authorities Act (merger on 1 February 2027)](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c27)
6. [2021 Census](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&DGUIDlist=2021A00053518017)
7. [O. Reg. 41/24](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/240041)
8. [Municipality of Clarington: Building and demolition permits](https://www.clarington.net/homes-and-property/building-or-renovating/building-and-demolition-permits/)
9. [CLOCA: About us](https://www.cloca.com/about-us)
10. [grca.on.ca](https://www.grca.on.ca/)
11. [Kawartha Conservation: About us](https://www.kawarthaconservation.com/about-us/)
12. [Municipality of Clarington: Current zoning by laws](https://www.clarington.net/planning-and-development/official-plan-and-zoning/current-zoning-by-laws/)

## How this page was made

Written by Jarvis Contracting. Municipal facts checked 2026-10-06. Fact-checked by Space & Story on 2026-10-05.

## Keep reading

- [Second-storey additions: all areas](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/second-storey-additions)
- [Building in Clarington](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/areas/clarington)
- [Second-storey additions in Oshawa](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/second-storey-additions/oshawa) (14 km away)
- [Second-storey additions in Whitby](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/second-storey-additions/whitby) (21 km away)
- [Second-storey additions in Durham Region](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/second-storey-additions/durham-region)
- [How much does a home addition cost in Ontario in 2026?](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/home-addition-cost-ontario)
- [How much does a second-storey addition cost in Ontario in 2026?](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/second-storey-addition-cost-ontario)
- [Is it cheaper to build up or out? 2026 Ontario costs](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/build-up-or-out)
- [Ontario HST relief for owner-built homes and big renovations, 2026](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/ontario-hst-relief-substantial-renovation)
- [Should we add on or move? Costs compared for 2026](https://www.jarviscontracting.ca/guides/renovate-or-move)