Custom Homes & Renovations in White Rock

A new house in White Rock needs a building permit from the City of White Rock. The City takes an application only at an intake appointment with a Building Official, booked by phone at 604-541-2149. At the appointment, staff check basic zoning, whether the documents are complete and whether the supporting applications are in. If anything is missing, the application is not accepted and the owner books another appointment. The City's permit page lists City Hall at 15322 Buena Vista Avenue, open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

The City's checklist for a new house (February 2025 version) asks for two originally sealed topographical surveys from a BC Land Surveyor, a land title search dated within 30 days, sealed structural drawings, sealed sprinkler drawings with hydraulic calculations under the City's Fire Sprinkler System Bylaw No. 1683, and a 3-page BC Energy Step Code compliance report. Two more applications go in alongside it: a lot servicing application and a tree management permit application.

We put that package together with the design team and check it against the City's list before the appointment is booked.

When the City rewrote its zoning in 2024 for the provincial small-scale multi-unit housing law, it kept the name RS-1 for lots of 742 square metres (7,987 sq ft) or more. Lots under 742 m² moved to RS-2. In RS-1, a single house on a lot of at least 742 m² is a permitted use under Zoning Bylaw 2024, No. 2506, section 6.1.

Buildings may cover at most 40% of the lot and the house may be at most 7.7 m (25.26 ft) tall. The house sits 6.0 m back from the front lot line, with 7.0 m for any storey above the first, and 6.0 m from the rear and 1.5 m from each interior side line. Residential floor area is limited to 0.75 times the lot area. On a 742 m² lot that is 556.5 m² (5,990 sq ft).

What counts toward that floor area is set by the bylaw's definition for these zones. It counts every storey, and excludes covered patios and decks up to 37 m², a stairwell up to 13 m², a crawlspace, a carport or garage up to 46.5 m², and elevator shafts. A basement is not on the list of exclusions. We check each design against that definition in the first review, before drawings begin.

A one-unit house can carry a registered secondary suite and a detached accessory dwelling unit, such as a coach house, on the same lot. The detached unit may be 7.0 m tall with a roof slope of 6:12 or steeper, or 6.0 m tall with a lower slope. It stays out of the front and side-street yards, at least 3.0 m from the house, and 1.5 m from the rear lot line.

White Rock protects trees under Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2407, adopted on December 14, 2021. A tree management permit is needed to remove a tree with a trunk 20 cm or more across, measured 1.4 m above the ground, and every demolition permit and building permit needs one. Arbutus, Garry oak and Pacific dogwood are protected at any size. For a house the permit is Type 3, with an arborist report that includes a tree protection plan and a tree replacement plan, and a tree survey by a BC Land Surveyor. The survey covers trees within 4 m of the lot line, including trees shared with a neighbour.

The City's tree guide lists a $3,000 security for each retained tree up to 50 cm across, and replacement of 2 trees for each tree removed up to that size. Amounts can change, so we confirm them with the City when we price the work.

The checklist also asks whether the property sits in the City's Geotechnical Assessment Area. If it does, the application needs a geotechnical report written to the Engineers and Geoscientists BC guideline for legislated landslide assessments, with an Appendix D landslide assessment assurance statement, and sealed shoring and excavation plans. The flood plain, the ravine and significant trees area, and the watercourse area each call for a development permit under the Official Community Plan.

On smaller RS-2 and RS-3 lots, the plans must show an angle of containment on the south side: no part of the building, apart from open balcony guards, may rise above a 45 degree line that starts 6.0 m above natural grade at the middle of the base of the southerly wall (Zoning Bylaw section 4.9). The civil plan must also show a driveway crossing between 4.5 m and 6.0 m wide, rising at least 2% from the road edge to the property line, and no steeper than 15% from the property line to the garage slab.

Ocean Park is a neighbourhood of the City of Surrey, as the REW neighbourhood guide lists it. A house there follows Surrey's permit and energy rules. Our Surrey page covers what the City of Surrey asks for, and we build in both cities.

Crescent Beach, our whole-home renovation in Surrey, won the 2026 HAVAN Award for Best Kitchen Renovation. The photos show its kitchen island, living room and dining room.