Venture Pacific

Free PDF guide

Building or renovating a home in Metro Vancouver

The decisions behind a custom home or major renovation in Metro Vancouver: renovate or rebuild, contract structure, the permit and construction sequence, builder licensing and warranty, heritage status, and energy performance.

46 pages, 7 parts, 12 sources. Written by Mark Van Ek. Figures re-verified 2026-09-06.

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Building or renovating a home in Metro Vancouver

PDF, 46 pages

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What is inside

  1. Overview

    Building or renovating a home in Metro Vancouver.

  2. Part 1

    Renovate, add on, or rebuild: how the decision actually gets made

    Keeping the house, extending it, or starting again.

  3. Part 2

    Fixed price or cost plus: how a construction contract decides who carries the risk

    Fixed price against cost plus, and who carries the risk in each.

  4. Part 3

    From first drawing to occupancy: the sequence a build actually follows

    The order the work runs in, and where schedules slip.

  5. Part 4

    Licensing and 2-5-10 warranty: the protections British Columbia gives you

    Builder licensing, mandatory warranty coverage, and what each covers.

  6. Part 5

    Heritage and character homes: what protection means before you renovate

    Heritage status, the permit path it sets, and what drives the work.

  7. Part 6

    Energy performance: what the Step Code asks your house to do

    Step Code targets, how compliance is proven, and where cost lands.

Key points from the guide

  • The renovate-or-rebuild decision is settled by the existing foundation and framing, current zoning, and whether the scope triggers a broader code upgrade.
  • A fixed price contract puts cost variance on the builder; a cost plus contract puts it on the homeowner and shows the invoices.
  • Under the Homeowner Protection Act, a person must not carry on the business of a residential builder in British Columbia unless licensed.
  • New homes built by a Licensed Residential Builder carry 2-5-10 warranty coverage: 2 years on materials and labour, 5 on the building envelope, 10 on structure.
  • A renovation where 75 percent or more of the structure above the foundation is new is treated as a new home requiring registration.
  • Step Code requirements depend on the building permit date and the municipality, because local governments may require higher steps by bylaw.
  • Heritage status comes in three distinct legal forms, and which one applies decides the permit path before anything is designed.
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