Can drywall go up before the City inspects the insulation in Ottawa?

On permit work, no: the board should not go up before the City has inspected what it covers. The City of Ottawa lists framing, insulation and vapour barrier, and a final inspection among its inspection stages, and says that missing an inspection may mean having to uncover and expose the work.

The City asks that inspections be booked 48 hours in advance. On a job where drywall is part of permit work, such as a wall that is added or moved, the board goes over insulation and a vapour barrier that the City has not yet seen until that inspection is done, so the booking dates belong in the plan before the board is delivered. The City lists no inspection stage for the drywall itself.

Questions to settle with the contractor before work starts:

• who pulled the permit, and who books each inspection
• how you will know the insulation and vapour barrier inspection has passed
• what happens to the schedule, and the price, if board has to come off because an inspection was missed

Ontario's Building Code adds one rule that touches the finishing: in cold weather, heat must keep the space at not less than 10 °C for 48 hours before taping and finishing, and for not less than 48 hours after (O. Reg. 163/24, 9.29.5.10.(1)). These are Building Code minimums for new work; ask the City how they apply to your renovation.

Insulation and vapour barrier work itself belongs to an insulation contractor (ottawainsulationcontractors.ca); the drywall goes over it once it is inspected.

Before you commit to a start date, ask the contractor who is booking the insulation and vapour barrier inspection and how the result will reach you before the first sheet goes up.