What does my Gloucester carpenter need from the designer before cutting?

Before your carpenter picks up a saw, they need a complete set of documents from the designer that tells them exactly what to build and how the structure will carry load after the cut.

What the designer's package should contain

The core document is a dimensioned plan or drawing showing the new opening: its width, the beam or header spanning it, the posts or columns carrying the beam down to the next bearing point, and where the load path continues below. Without that, the carpenter cannot confirm they are building what was designed, and the City cannot inspect against it.

Beyond the drawing, the carpenter needs:

• The beam specification: species, grade, size and whether it is built-up lumber, glulam or steel, so they order the right material.
• Post and bearing details: the designer's notes on how the beam bears at each end, including the minimum 89 mm of end bearing the Ontario Building Code requires, and what sits below each post to carry the load down.
• Stud requirements at each side of the opening: the Code requires doubled studs beside a lintel up to 3 m and tripled studs beyond that, so the drawing should call that out.
• Any note about engineered members: if the beam or existing floor framing includes I-joists or LVL, the carpenter needs the designer's direction before cutting near them, because we found no general notching or drilling limit for engineered members in the Code's section 9.23.5.
• The temporary support plan: the designer and carpenter decide together where temporary supports go before any load-bearing member is cut. That plan should be in writing before work starts.

The designer producing these documents is a person with Building Code designer qualifications and a BCIN registration, a licensed engineer, a licensed architect, or you if you are the owner of the house and are taking design responsibility for it yourself.

One practical note: if the existing framing turns out to differ from what the designer assumed, such as a beam in an unexpected location or joists running a different direction, the carpenter should stop and go back to the designer before continuing. Ask the carpenter upfront how they handle that situation and who they call.

Once the package is complete and a permit is in hand, the carpenter has what they need to build to the design.

Before work starts, confirm with the City of Ottawa Building Code Services whether a permit is required for this opening, and ask the designer whether the existing structure below the beam has been checked as part of the design.