To obtain or renew a Residential Rental Unit Licence in the City of London, Ontario, property owners must submit a complete application package that meets strict municipal and provincial standards. The licensing requirements for rental units are governed by the City's Residential Rental Units Licensing By-law R-1 (CP-21).
1. Floor Plan Requirements (Schedule A of By-law R-1)
When applying for your licence, you are required to provide a scaled floor plan for every level of the rental property. The City of London Municipal Compliance division rejects hand-drawn single-line sketches or unscaled smartphone estimates that omit egress paths or window measurements.
- Habitable Room Labels: All rooms clearly labeled with their intended use (e.g., Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2, Kitchen, Living Room, Unfinished Utility).
- Window Locations & Dimensions: The exact location and opening dimensions of all windows, especially bedroom egress windows.
- Primary & Secondary Egress Routes: All entrances, exits, stairwells, and emergency escape pathways explicitly marked.
- Wall Geometry & Total Floor Area: Accurate wall locations, fire separations, and square footage per level (<5cm LiDAR tolerance).
Plans must be drawn to scale with each floor level on its own dedicated sheet. Submitting inaccurate or incomplete floor plans is the #1 cause of application holds. RentReady Media uses commercial LiDAR scanning to generate guaranteed-compliant 2D schematic PDFs in under 60 minutes on-site — even while your tenants are home and without any cleanup required.
London By-law R-1 & OBC Egress Window Self-Checker
Test your basement or bedroom window against Ontario Building Code (OBC) Sentence 9.9.10.1.(1) & City of London By-law R-1 before your inspection.
✓ 4 bedrooms is within the standard City of London residential rental licence bedroom cap.
Your window opening meets both the 0.35 sq. m. (542.5 sq. in.) minimum unobstructed area and the 380 mm (15.0 in.) minimum dimension threshold.
*Self-check estimates clear opening geometry. Our on-site LiDAR technician verifies exact wall, window & egress geometry to <5cm accuracy.
2. Egress Requirements (Ontario Building Code 9.9.10.1)
Egress (emergency exit) requirements are mandated by the Ontario Building Code (OBC), which the City of London enforces strictly during the licensing process. If your rental unit includes a bedroom — particularly in a basement apartment or near-campus student house — it must have a compliant emergency exit.
- Window Specifications: Every floor level containing a bedroom must have at least one window that can be easily opened from the inside without tools, keys, or special knowledge, and remains open without props.
- Unobstructed Area Requirement: The openable portion of the window must provide an unobstructed open space of at least 0.35 sq. m. (3.77 sq. ft. / 542.5 sq. in.).
- Minimum Dimension Rule: No dimension (width or height) of the unobstructed window opening can be less than 380 mm (15.0 inches). Even a very wide window fails if its vertical opening is only 13 inches!
- Window Well Clearance: Where a bedroom window opens into a window well, there must be a minimum of 550 mm (21.7 inches) of clear projection in front of the window, and the sash must swing open without obstructing escape.
3. Permits, Bedroom Caps, and Municipal Inspections
If you are adding or modifying a basement unit (including cutting concrete to install new egress windows to meet code), you must obtain a City of London building permit before starting work. Attempting to license an unpermitted unit or exceeding the standard bedroom limit without established legal non-conforming status can trigger municipal compliance orders.
Operating a near-campus student property near Western University (Old North, Broughdale) or Fanshawe College (Oxford East, Fleming Drive)? Read our dedicated London Student Rental Floor Plan & Turnover Guide, or explore our Property Manager, Lawyer & Inspector Partner Portal for 5+ door portfolio rates.
How RentReady Media Guarantees Your Floor Plan Approval
By booking a LiDAR floor plan with RentReady Media (starting at $129 CAD, delivered next business day), you ensure that the architectural drawing portion of your City of London Rental Licence application is 100% compliant on submission day. Backed by our City Approval Guarantee, we revise any plan at zero cost if requested by a municipal licensing officer.