Introduction to Stage 1: Foundations and Site Prep

Reviewed by a working tradesman with 17+ years in the field.

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The complete foundation and footing guide for Canada, from the permit to the backfill, with the tools and gear for every step.

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Tap your level and the boxes below open to the advice for you. Remembered on this device.

Stage 1 in plain words

Stage 1 is the structural beginning of every build. It covers everything that sits at or below grade: the permits, the plans, the ground, the forms, the steel, and the footings, foundation walls, slabs, pads, retaining walls, stairs, sidewalks and driveways poured on top of it. The quality of this stage decides how everything built above it performs, and almost nothing here can be redone cheaply once the concrete is in.

Three ideas run through every lesson. Concrete forming is production work, so a well-stocked belt keeps the crew moving. Ground conditions change every decision: moisture, soil, compaction, frost depth and the season all affect how a foundation is built, and across Canada they differ a lot between the wet coast, the dry Interior, the Prairies, the Shield, the Atlantic provinces and the North. Precision pays: accurate layout, prepared soil, correct forming, consistent rebar and controlled placement matter far more than speed.

Six-panel drawing of the typical inspection order for a foundation: excavation, footing forms and rebar, wall forms and rebar, damp-proofing and perimeter drain tile, under-slab gravel and vapour barrier, and backfill. — **The typical order of inspections.** Do not pour or cover anything until the stop before it has passed. Your building department sets the real list, and it is printed on the permit.

Who it is forHome DIYers, laborers, apprentices, journeypersons, lead hands, contractors and new business owners.

Where it appliesAll of Canada, written to NBC 2020 Part 9 and adjusted by province.

How it is writtenBy a working carpenter. General education, not engineering, legal or code advice.

The one ruleYour drawings, your engineer and your building department always come first.

By the end of Stage 1 you can

Work out which permits and inspections a foundation job needs, and who to ask.
Read foundation plans and turn them into layout, forms and a concrete order.
Prepare, form, reinforce and pour footings, walls and slabs in the right order, with the right numbers.
Keep water out of the foundation, backfill it correctly and tie it to the building above.
Spot the stop-work triggers early, and know which decisions are never yours to make.

Six rules for the whole stage

Every lesson in Stage 1 repeats these where they apply. They are on this page first because they are the ones that hurt people or ruin pours.

Stay out of deep trenchesDo not enter a trench or excavation deeper than 1.2 m (4 ft) unless its walls are sloped back, benched, shored or boxed. Some provinces set the legal trigger at 1.5 m, for example Alberta and Manitoba. The 1.2 m rule is the one we teach, and your province's regulation is the one that applies (Confirm).
Call before you digContact your province's one-call locate service and wait for the marks before any ground is broken. Then expose the line by hand before a machine goes near it.
Never add water at the truckExtra water makes concrete easier to place and permanently weaker. If a load is too stiff, the supplier fixes it.
Keep steel off the dirt and the formRebar always sits on chairs, spacers or blocks, with concrete all the way around it.
Park machines, back up spoilA machine is parked and shut down, with its bucket on the ground, well back from the edge. Spoil, lumber and tools stay back from every excavation edge.
Stop when the drawings and the ground disagreeYou do not decide. You stop, make the area safe and call the engineer or designer.

The route through Stage 1

The lessons follow the order the work happens on site. Read them in order the first time. Jump around after that.

Permits and approvalsFind out what you need before you price the job, and which inspections to book.
Plan readingTurn foundation plans, sections and details into a layout you can build from.
Ground prep and excavationSoil, bearing, layout, trench safety, water control and where the spoil goes.
Footing, wall and slab formsBuild the forms that decide the shape, level and position of the concrete.
RebarPlace, support and cover the steel so it works inside the concrete.
Concrete placement and finishingOrder, test, place, vibrate, finish and cure.
Waterproofing and drainageKeep water out of the foundation and away from it.
Backfill, compaction and insulationPut the ground back in layers, and protect the foundation from frost and heat loss.
Anchoring and structural tie-insConnect the foundation to everything built on top of it.
Tools, gear and safetyWhat to carry, what to wear and how to look after both.

How a lesson works

Every lesson has the same parts, in the same order, so you always know where to look.

At a glanceWhat the lesson is, what it is not, and the one rule to remember.

What you can doThree or four things you will be able to do by the end.

Stop and read firstThe safety rule that applies to this step.

Steps and numbersThe work in order, with the sizes and counts that matter.

Worked exampleThe math done out loud, so you can copy it.

Mistakes to avoidWhat goes wrong on site, and why.

Check yourselfQuestions with answers, to see if it stuck.

Gear for this stepMust have, rent it, nice to have, and our picks.

Who can do thisWhat each level, from home DIY to business owner, should and should not do.

By provinceWhat changes across Canada.

SourcesWhere each fact came from, with links where the source is public.

Tap your level in the Who can do this box and it tells you what you can safely do, what you should watch and when to hand the job to someone else. Tap the + on any tool, gear or material and it goes on your job list, so you can see everything you need in one place.

How we check the facts

This site is general education written by a working carpenter. It is not engineering, legal or code advice. Your drawings, your engineer, your local building department and the current codes always come first.

What Confirm means

Where a number or rule has not yet been checked against the source for every province, the page marks it Confirm. Do not skip those. Check them with your own building department or regulator before you act.

Every lesson ends with a Sources list and a Last reviewed date. Where the source is public, it links to it. Where a standard is behind a paywall, the page says so and names what we cross-checked it against.

The detail here is deepest for British Columbia because the author works in BC. Other provinces and territories are added as each fact is verified.

Some tools and gear on this site have affiliate links. We earn a commission if you buy through one, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes what we recommend. Read the Disclosure page for the details.

Words you will meet

Twenty terms that come up in Stage 1. Each one is explained again where it matters.

Bearing soil: Undisturbed natural soil, or compacted fill, that carries the weight of the footing.
Footing: The wide concrete base that spreads the load from a wall or column onto the soil.
Foundation wall: The wall that rises from the footing and carries the building above grade. Also called a stem wall when it is short.
Grade: Ground level. Finished grade is the final surface after backfill and landscaping.
Spoil: The soil dug out of an excavation and piled aside.
Formwork: The temporary mould that holds concrete to shape until it has hardened.
Whaler: A horizontal member that stiffens a wall form and takes the pressure of the wet concrete.
Rebar: Ribbed steel bars cast into concrete to carry the pulling forces that concrete is weak against.
Cover: The thickness of concrete between the steel and the nearest surface.
Lift: One layer: of concrete placed in a wall, or of backfill placed and compacted before the next.
Slump: How stiff or fluid fresh concrete is, measured in millimetres.
Bleed water: Water that rises to the surface of fresh concrete after it is placed.
Cold joint: The joint where fresh concrete meets concrete that has already started to set. It is a weak plane.
Curing: Keeping concrete moist and warm enough for long enough that it gains its strength.
Perimeter drain: A perforated pipe around the footing that carries water away. Also called drain tile.
Backfill: Soil or gravel placed back against a foundation wall after the wall is built.
Sill plate: The lumber fastened on top of the foundation wall that the floor framing sits on.
Benchmark (BM): A fixed reference point of known elevation that all your levels are measured from.
Batter boards: Horizontal boards on stakes just outside the corners of the building that hold the string lines.
Locate: The marks that utility companies paint or flag to show where buried lines run.

✅ Check yourselfTap a question

The drawings say one thing and the ground says another. Who decides?

Not you, and not the crew. Stop, make the area safe and call the engineer or designer. That is the stop-work trigger for journeypersons and lead hands in every part of this stage.

How deep can a trench get before you must not enter it unprotected?

This guide teaches 1.2 m (4 ft). Some provinces set the legal trigger at 1.5 m, so read your own regulation. Either way, sloped, benched, shored or boxed walls are what let people work below it.

What is the first thing you do before any digging starts?

Check the permit and call your province's one-call locate service. Wait for the marks and expose the lines by hand.

Why does rebar sit on chairs or spacers?

So concrete wraps all the way around it. Steel touching soil or a form face has no cover, and cover is what protects the steel and lets it work.

What does the word Confirm mean on this site?

It marks a number or rule that has not been checked for every province. Check it with your own building department or regulator before you use it.

🧰 Gear for this stepMust-haveRent itNice to have

Must-haveReading and records: a printed, current set of drawings, a notebook or clipboard, and a phone or camera for dated photos.
Must-haveLayout and measuring: 8 m (25 ft) and 30 m (100 ft) tape measures, a laser or builder's level with a grade rod, string line, stakes, marking paint and a chalk line.
Must-haveDigging and forming: shovels, a digging bar, a 1.2 m (4 ft) level, a framing hammer, a speed square and a reciprocating or circular saw for the forming stage.
Must-haveHead and eyes: hard hat (CSA Z94.1) and safety glasses (CSA Z94.3).
Must-haveFeet and hands: safety boots with the green triangle (CSA Z195) and work gloves.
Must-haveDust and noise: a respirator rated for the dust (CSA Z94.4) and hearing protection when cutting or running machines.
Must-haveVisibility: high-visibility apparel wherever machines or trucks move.

👷 Who can do thisTap your level

Home DIY

Read the guide, talk to your building department, take photos and help with layout and clean-up. Do not enter any trench or excavation deeper than 1.2 m (4 ft), do engineered concrete, or do electrical, gas or plumbing work unless your province allows it and a permit is in place. Hire a pro when a permit, an engineer or a licensed trade is required.

Laborer or helper

Start with clean-up, hauling, material handling and holding the tape. Never enter a trench or excavation deeper than 1.2 m (4 ft) that is not protected, and never decide a hole is safe. Ask your lead what each step is for, and speak up if anything looks wrong.

1st-year apprentice

Learn to read the plans, hold a tape, set stakes and keep the site safe. Work under supervision on forming and rebar. Ask before you cover or pour anything.

Apprentice, 2nd to 4th year

Take on layout, forming and rebar tasks with less hand-holding, but keep checking with your journeyperson before you cover or pour. You do not sign off on bearing soil, inspections or engineered work. Learn the stop-work triggers in this stage so you can spot them early.

Journeyperson

You own the layout, the quality of the forming and the readiness for inspection. Your stop-work triggers are soft or wet bearing soil, standing water in the dig, and a conflict between the drawings and the ground: stop and call the engineer. Know your province's differences.

Lead hand or foreman

Run the morning briefing, assign tasks by skill, and enforce the daily check and every stop-work trigger in this stage. Keep unqualified workers out of open excavations. You do not override an engineer, and you stop the crew when the drawings and the ground disagree.

Contractor or business owner

Price permits, inspections, locates and weather delays. Check your licence, workers' compensation and liability insurance requirements in your province before you take the first job. Document every pour and inspection with dated photos. Confirm who carries the liability with your lawyer or insurer.

Starting a new business

Before your first job, learn how permits, inspections, locates and the By Province box apply where you work. Confirm with your provincial workers' compensation board, your building department and your insurer what registration and insurance apply, and what work you should hire out. Start with small, well-documented jobs.

By Province:

Most provinces and territories adopt NBC 2020, or a version based on it, with their own changes. The code edition you build under depends on where you are.

Full comparison in the lesson Canada by Province. Always confirm with your local building department and provincial regulator.

Sources:

National Building Code of Canada 2020, Part 9 (National Research Council of Canada).
CSA Group standards Z94.1, Z94.3, Z94.4, Z195 and Z259. These are paid documents, so check the current editions with CSA.
BC Building Code 2024; National Building Code 2023 Alberta Edition; Saskatchewan Construction Codes Act; Manitoba Building Code (M.R. 78/2023); 2024 Ontario Building Code (O. Reg. 163/24); Quebec Construction Code, Chapter I Building, and NBC 2020 (amended); New Brunswick Reg 2021-2; Nova Scotia Building Code Regulations (2024-198); PEI Building Codes Act Regulations (EC2024-179).
Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut building rules: to be confirmed against current territorial pages.

Last reviewed October 2026. General information, not engineering or legal advice.