Auto & Garages · 6 min read · Last updated
Garage B1 is the widest of Hamilton's repair classes. It covers a motor vehicle repair shop that includes body and fender repairs, which means a single licence for a shop doing mechanical work and collision work together. That breadth is why B1 carries a fire inspection as well as a parking inspection.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “GARAGE B1 is a building or place used as a motor vehicle repair shop including body & fender repairs.”
Who needs this licence?
Garage B1 applies to a building or place used as a motor vehicle repair shop including body and fender repairs. The words to focus on are including body and fender: B1 is the class for a shop whose work spans both mechanical repair and collision repair.
If your shop deliberately excludes body work and sticks to mechanical repair, Garage B2 is the narrower class that describes you. If you do collision work and nothing else, Garage B3 is the class defined for body and fender repairs only. B1 is the class that lets one premises do both without holding two licences.
This is a premises licence, so it is the shop that is licensed, not the technicians. Adding a second location means a second licence for that address, and taking over an existing shop means applying in your own name rather than inheriting the previous holder's licence.
What documents do you need?
The B1 checklist runs to five items and then hands the file to two inspectors.
You submit the completed business licence application, then prove the business is real and current with a business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year of applying. The entity named there is the entity that gets licensed.
Zoning verification confirms that a repair use including collision work is permitted at your address. The Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check, dated within 36 days of application and issued by the police service board in your city of residence, covers the person behind the business. Third party clearances will not be accepted, so a report from a commercial background-check website is not a substitute.
The scaled plot plan carries the most weight in a repair file, because it shows the whole property: structures current and proposed, parking and manoeuvring spaces, exits and entrances, adjacent utility lines, landscaping, fencing, fire hydrants, and the roads and sidewalks around the site, with a north point. Two different inspections are eventually read against that drawing.
Zoning and premises requirements
Zoning is verified for the address before the licence is issued, and it is charged separately from the licence itself. The Zoning Verification Certificate confirms that a motor vehicle repair shop, including body and fender work, is a permitted use at that location.
Where the same category of business was licensed at the address within the past year, a Zoning Addendum may be completed instead of a full certificate. Taking over a repair shop that has been operating continuously is the classic case for the addendum route.
Be careful about scope creep between zoning and class. Zoning approval for general repair use does not necessarily settle the question of collision work at a site, so raise body and fender work explicitly when you order the certificate rather than after.
Inspections and approvals
Two inspections are required for a new Garage B1 licence: a fire inspection and a parking inspection. Both are arranged after your application has been received, with the Licensing Team circulating the requests.
The fire inspection is what distinguishes the repair classes from the rest of the public garage family. Repair premises hold flammable materials and do hot work, which is why the City looks at fire safety on the site before licensing it and keeps looking at it afterwards.
The parking inspection covers the property itself, the same ground your plot plan describes: where vehicles enter, where they wait, and how they manoeuvre on site. A repair shop with vehicles queued outside is exactly the situation this inspection exists to look at.
How much does it cost?
A new B1 application carries four charges: a processing fee, the licence fee, a fire inspection fee and a parking inspection fee. HST applies to the processing fee and both inspection fees, while the licence fee is untaxed.
The fire inspection fee is by some distance the largest of the inspection charges, and it is the main reason a repair-class application costs more to open than a storage or washing class.
Zoning verification or an addendum is charged on top when you need one, which is why the City quotes B1 totals both with and without it.
Renewal is the licence fee, plus the fire inspection fee every three years. A late renewal adds a licence re-instatement fee. Current amounts come from the City's fee schedule and are confirmed while your application is processed.
How to apply
Confirm zoning for the address first, and be explicit that the shop will include body and fender repairs. This is the step that determines whether the project is possible at all.
Pull your business registration or corporate profile and book the criminal record check with the police service where you live, timing it so it is less than 36 days old when you submit.
Have the scaled plot plan prepared covering the entire property, including fire hydrants and the surrounding road and sidewalk network, with a north point.
Submit the application with the full package and pay the processing and licence fees plus the inspection fees. The Licensing Team circulates the fire and parking inspection requests, and the licence follows once both are satisfied.
Renewals and staying compliant
At renewal, Declarations A and B need to be completed and the licence fee is paid. Nothing about the original plot plan or police check is repeated as a matter of course.
The fire inspection returns on a three-year cycle, and its fee comes with it. Plan for a heavier renewal every third year rather than being surprised by it, particularly if you also budget for equipment servicing in the same period.
If the renewal is missed, the licence is reinstated rather than renewed and a re-instatement late fee applies. Running a repair shop on an expired public garage licence is not a paperwork technicality, so keep the renewal date visible.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. What distinguishes Garage B1 from the other repair classes?
B1 is defined as a motor vehicle repair shop including body and fender repairs, which is what lets one premises do mechanical and collision work under a single licence.
2. Which inspections does a new Garage B1 application require?
The B1 checklist lists both a fire inspection and a parking inspection, circulated by the Licensing Team once the application is received.
3. How often does the fire inspection come back around for a Garage B1 licence?
The renewal requirements list the fire inspection on a three-year cycle, so its fee applies at every third renewal rather than annually.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Hamilton, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.