Permitting, Planning, Licensing, & Compliance System

These pages are designed to help applicants use our new Online PPLC system for Planning & Development.  The following information will walk you through setting up and account, the Planning & Permitting Processes and what you can expect to see on your customer portal. 

Getting Started

To use our online system you will require a free Customer Portal Account. 

Registration is easy and a How to User Guide (PDF) and video have been created to support you through the steps. 

For information about navigating the customer portal we have prepared How to Navigate the Customer Portal/Dashboard (PDF) or watch the video.

The following resources may help you better prepare your application Before You Begin (PDF) Checklist and  Before You Begin (Video).

If you are new to Planning & Development, please explore our site for more information.

You’ll notice there are many types of permits. You can find a lot of helpful information on the permitting pages. 
For Planning Approvals (examples:  Rezoning, Development Agreement, Subdivision Approvals, Zoning Confirmation Letter) visit our Planning & Subdivision pages.

 

Common Questions & Troubleshooting

Q. How can I provide feedback about the Self-service website?
A. You can email your feedback us or call the Municipal 311 Contact Centre.

Q. Are there any charges for using the Self-service website?
A. No. The Halifax Regional Municipality does not charge you for creating and/or using an account.

Q. Does my employer create a customer portal account for me?
A. The customer portal account belongs to you as an individual. Within the customer portal account you can manage your profile information such as contact email address. If you wish to use a work email address you can. It can be edited at any time. How To Register for a Customer Portal Account (PDF). Within your customer portal account you can create and manage your contractor profile and apply for permits on behalf of your employer. Create a Contractor Profile (PDF). 

Contractor/Professional Profile

 Once you have your personal customer portal account, if you apply for permits or planning approvals on behalf of your organization or clients, you must also create a Contractor Profile. Setting up a Contractor Profile is easy, here are the steps for How to Create a Contractor Profile (PDF) or watch the video.
For the purposes of the PPLC system, Contractor means a Company/Professional that applies for applications as part of their work, or on behalf of their clients. Please note the system only allows you to associate with one contractor (company) at a time. 

Contractor Functionality
Those individuals who have created a contractor profile can apply for permits and planning applications on behalf of the company or clients but retain the option to also use their account to apply for personal applications as a homeowner. 

Those without the contractor profile can only apply  as a homeowner. 

Contractor Profile Manager
The Contractor Profile Manager (CPM) is a setting within the contractor profile that allows you to see associated contractor (another way of saying co-worker) in applications. 

The CPM by default is the first person to register the contractor account for a company. All others will associate to the profile the CPM created using a PIN. The CPM controls the PIN and distributes it to authorized co-workers so they can create their contractor profiles and make applications on behalf of the company. 

The CPM can assign the CPM role to any or all other associated contractors through their profile settings. The CPM is responsible for removing employees from the associated contractor list of employees if they are no longer authorized to submit applications for the company. 

As an associated contractor with CPM role you can:
•    Make applications under the name of the company.
•    See all applications (yours and co-workers) within your company. 
•    Apply for inspections on any applications under that contractor name. 

Other Contractors listed on the application, even if they are not the applicant or an associate can:

• See the permit once issued
• See all planning applications
• Request inspections on the permit

ROW Contractors

All types of work impacting the municipal right of way require an “approved ROW contractor”. Contractors must provide a current Certificate of Insurance that meets the requirements of By-law S-300 to be designated an “Approved ROW Contractor”. 

If the insurance meets our criteria, the policy number is recorded as the license number and forms part of the contractor profile. The contractor will be validated in the system up to the date of expiry of insurance. Once validated, applicants will be able to select the ROW approved contractor for ROW permit applications. 

Bonds / lines of credit or a security deposit are required in advance of certain types of Right-of-Way work as part of the application and are paid at time of submission. These deposits are paid to the municipality and refunded only when work is completed to our satisfaction and has passed the warranty period (typically 2 years) to our satisfaction. Note to Contractors: Please submit your certificate of insurance to permitapps@halifax.ca with the contractor account name.

Common Questions & Troubleshooting Tips 

Q. If I am the Contractor Profile Manager (CPM) for my organization can I assign the role to someone else?
A. Yes, the CPM role by default goes to the first person who registers the company in the new system, however, the CPM role can be assigned at any time to individuals who are associated with that contractor account. 

Q. Our firm has two companies. Will I be able to schedule inspections for either company from one account?
A. No. You will need a separate Customer Portal Account with a new Contractor Profile for each company.

Q. I work for multiple companies; can I associate to multiple contractors at a time?
A. No. At this time you can only associate to one contractor at a time. You must disassociate from one contractor before you can associate with a new one.

Project Functionality

Within the customer portal there is a feature called ‘Projects’ that allows the owner of the account to group and organize applications in the way that best suits them. Project functionality is like a file folder that can hold applications and can be grouped by site, by type, by geographic region etc. 

Project folder numbers are autogenerated and the system uses the numbers to organize project folders. Each project folder is given a name by the account owner such as “15 Willow Drive “or “Deck Permits 2021”. 

Applications can be added to an existing project folder at the time of creation or can be added to a project folder later. The Project folder must be created before applications can be added to it. 

The use of project folders does not impact the  application as staff do not use the project information in their assessment. Project folders are solely for use by customers to organize applications for the account owner. 

The project name project number and project folder creator are listed within the application file. Anyone who can see the file (for example, associated contractors with CPM role, listed contractors after the permit is issued, and municipal staff) can see that it belongs to a project folder. However, only the project folder creator can see the entire folder contents and add or remove applications from the folders. Project folders are not shareable between associated contractors. 

For additional help please choose one of the following: