How do I check if previous electrical work in my Toronto home was properly permitted?

You can check whether electrical work was properly permitted by searching the ESA's online permit lookup tool at esasafe.com, which shows the history of electrical permits and inspections at any Ontario address. This is a free search that any homeowner can do, and it is one of the most important steps when buying a home or inheriting a property with an unknown electrical history.

The ESA's database contains records of electrical permits going back many years, though the completeness of records varies — permits from before the ESA's digital record-keeping era may not appear. When you search your address, you will see a list of permits with their status: closed means the work was inspected and passed, open means a permit was pulled but no inspection was completed (a significant red flag), and you may also see permits marked as having deficiencies that were never resolved. An open permit from years ago suggests that an electrician started work, pulled the permit, but the work was never inspected — meaning it may not be code-compliant.

Beyond the ESA database, there are physical signs in your home that can indicate unpermitted work. Look inside your electrical panel — if there are breakers or circuits that are not labelled, wiring that appears to be different ages or types mixed together, or connections that look amateur (electrical tape instead of proper wire nuts, inconsistent wire colours, wires entering the panel without proper connectors), these are signs of work that may not have been professionally done or inspected. In older GTA homes — particularly pre-war houses in neighbourhoods like the Annex, Leslieville, or Cabbagetown — decades of incremental electrical additions by previous owners are common, and much of it predates modern permitting requirements.

For a thorough assessment, the best approach is to have a licensed electrician perform an electrical inspection of your home. This is different from an ESA inspection — it is a private service where an electrician evaluates your entire electrical system, identifies any code deficiencies, flags likely unpermitted work, and provides a written report. In the GTA, a comprehensive electrical evaluation runs $200 to $500 depending on the size and age of the home. This is particularly valuable if you have recently purchased a home, if your house was built before 1970, or if you suspect previous owners did DIY electrical work.

If the assessment reveals unpermitted work, your electrician can apply for a retroactive ESA permit ($100 to $400) to have the work inspected. If the unpermitted work meets code, the inspector will issue a Certificate of Inspection and the issue is resolved. If it does not meet code, your electrician will provide a quote to bring everything into compliance. The cost depends entirely on the scope — minor corrections might be $500 to $1,000, while extensive substandard work requiring significant remediation can run several thousand dollars.

If you are a Toronto homeowner who wants to check the permit history and overall safety of your electrical system, Toronto Electrical Repair can match you with a licensed electrician for a professional assessment through the Toronto Construction Network.