What happens during review, and how to answer a reviewer quickly
Once an application is accepted, it moves through several reviewers rather than one. Building staff check code compliance. Planning staff check zoning. Engineering checks servicing. Where the lot needs it, fire, parks, and environmental staff each look at their own part. Surrey is explicit that its processing clock does not begin at submission, and instead starts after referrals are complete, site servicing is reviewed, or major deficiencies are resolved. Understanding that sequence is what lets an owner tell a normal wait from a stalled file.
Part of Building permits in Metro Vancouver. Figures re-verified 2026-09-23.
Key takeaways
- Surrey's published processing time starts after referrals, servicing review, or resolution of major deficiencies, rather than at submission.
- An application is reviewed by several departments, each with its own conditions.
- Each round of reviewer comments and applicant response adds calendar time.
- Answering every comment in one complete response is faster than answering them one at a time.
- Design changes made after submission restart parts of the review.
- Where a development permit is also required, its conditions can carry into the building permit.
The file goes to several desks, not one
A building permit application is circulated to the departments with an interest in the project. Building reviewers check the design against the British Columbia Building Code. Planning reviewers check it against the zoning bylaw, including setbacks, height, floor area, and lot coverage. Engineering reviews servicing, which covers the water, sanitary, and storm connections, and the condition and capacity of what already serves the lot.
Depending on the property, the file may also go to fire prevention, parks for tree matters, environmental staff where a watercourse or steep slope is involved, and transportation where access onto the street changes.
These reviews are called referrals, and they run in parallel where a city is organised to do that. Each referral can return conditions, and conditions from one department sometimes conflict with conditions from another. Resolving that conflict is the applicant's job, not the city's.
When the clock actually starts
Surrey publishes its current processing times alongside an important qualification: the timeline does not begin at application submission. Depending on the permit type, it starts after referrals are complete, after site servicing has been reviewed, or after major deficiencies have been resolved.
That distinction explains a common frustration. An owner reads a five week processing time, submits, and finds that eight weeks later the file has not entered the window the city was describing. Nothing has gone wrong. The published figure measures the review stage, and the file was still in the stage before it.
The useful conclusion is to ask two questions of the city rather than one. Ask what the current processing time is, and ask what has to be finished before that clock starts on this application.
The correspondence cycle, and how to shorten it
Reviewers issue comments. The applicant responds with revised drawings or written explanation. The reviewer checks the response. Each pass through that loop takes as long as the reviewer's current queue, which is why two rounds of comments cost far more than twice one round.
Three habits shorten it. First, answer every comment in a single coordinated resubmission rather than sending answers as they are ready, because a partial response returns to the back of the queue without closing the file. Second, respond to what was asked rather than arguing the point, and where you disagree, provide the code reference or the professional's opinion that supports your position instead of asserting it. Third, keep one person responsible for the response so the architectural, structural, and energy answers stay consistent with each other.
Venture Pacific manages this loop on behalf of its clients, because the response quality depends on knowing what the reviewer is actually asking for, and an owner seeing these comments for the first time is at a disadvantage that costs weeks.
Changing the design after you have applied
A design change after submission sends the affected drawings back through the departments that care about them. Moving a window is minor. Moving a wall changes the structure, the energy compliance calculation, and possibly the setback compliance, so it touches three reviewers at once.
This is the mechanism behind a rule that sounds arbitrary until you see it: finish the design decisions before applying, including the ones that feel cosmetic. Selections that affect wall assemblies, window sizes, and heating systems all reach the drawings the city is reviewing.
Where a development permit is also in play, its conditions can carry into the building permit, so a change that satisfies a building reviewer can conflict with a condition planning staff already imposed. Checking both before revising avoids solving one problem by creating another.
Frequently asked questions
Does the city's published processing time start when I submit my application?
In Surrey it does not. The City states that its processing timeline begins after referrals are complete, after site servicing is reviewed, or after major deficiencies are resolved, depending on the permit type. Other Metro Vancouver municipalities measure their figures in their own way. Ask the city both what the current processing time is and what must be finished before that clock starts on your file.
What is a referral in a building permit application?
A referral is the circulation of your application to another city department for its own review. Engineering examines servicing, planning examines zoning compliance, and fire, parks, environmental, or transportation staff review their areas where the property calls for it. Each referral can return conditions, and conditions from different departments sometimes conflict, which the applicant then has to resolve.
How should I respond to a reviewer's comments?
Answer every comment in one coordinated resubmission rather than sending responses as each becomes ready. A partial response typically returns to the back of the reviewer's queue without closing the file, so it costs a full cycle and resolves nothing. Where you disagree with a comment, provide the code reference or the professional opinion supporting your position rather than restating the original design intent.
How many rounds of comments are normal on a building permit?
There is no published standard, and the number depends on how complete and coordinated the original submission was. Each round costs the length of the reviewer's current queue, so two rounds cost more than twice the time of one. This is the arithmetic behind the advice to complete a submission fully before filing it rather than filing early and correcting afterwards.
Can I change the design after the permit application is submitted?
You can, and the affected drawings return to the reviewers whose areas the change touches. Moving a wall alters the structure, the energy compliance calculation, and possibly setback compliance, so it reaches several reviewers at once. Where a development permit also applies, its conditions can carry into the building permit, so confirm a change satisfies both before submitting it.
Who should manage communication with the permit reviewer?
One person, holding the whole file. Responses combine architectural, structural, and energy information, and answers sent separately by different consultants can contradict each other, which creates a further round of comments. Venture Pacific manages this correspondence for its clients because the speed of a response depends on recognising what the reviewer is asking for, which is difficult for an owner seeing the comments for the first time.
What does engineering review look at on a house permit?
Engineering reviews servicing: the water, sanitary sewer, and storm connections serving the lot, their capacity, and their condition. An undersized water service or an aging sewer lateral can require an upgrade at the owner's cost. Because this review can change the budget rather than only the schedule, it is worth establishing the condition of existing services during feasibility rather than at permit review.
Can conditions from two departments conflict with each other?
Yes, and resolving the conflict falls to the applicant rather than the city. A tree protection requirement from parks staff can compete with a servicing alignment required by engineering, for example. The practical response is to identify the conflict early, bring both conditions to the departments involved together, and propose a design solution rather than asking the city to choose between its own requirements.
Does a development permit condition affect the building permit?
It can. Where a development permit applies, its conditions cover form, exterior finish, landscaping, and site layout, and those conditions carry forward into what the building permit drawings must show. A change made to satisfy a building code reviewer can breach a development permit condition, so check both before revising drawings that are already through planning review.
Is it faster to apply early with partial drawings?
No. Richmond does not accept incomplete applications and Surrey rejects applications missing required documents, so an early partial submission does not hold a place in the queue. Where a city does accept a thin submission, it enters the correspondence cycle immediately and each round costs the reviewer's queue length. Completing the package first is the faster route in both cases.
Go deeper in the Journal
Sources and references
Rate and regulation figures on this page were re-verified on 2026-09-23. Construction cost ranges come from Venture Pacific's own Metro Vancouver projects and are described as such wherever they appear.
- Permitting TimelinesCity of Surrey. Figures published 21 September 2026. Accessed 23 September 2026.
- Building Approvals, frequently asked questionsCity of Richmond. Accessed 23 September 2026.
- General Building InformationCity of Burnaby. Accessed 23 September 2026.
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