Can you build your own multiplex in BC as an owner builder?

This question tends to come from capable landowners: tradespeople, engineers, owners who have renovated a house before. The zoning on their lot now allows three to six homes, and they would rather run the build themselves than hand it to a builder.

For a new multiplex, B.C.'s rules answer the question before anyone looks at a drawing. BC Housing does not authorize owner builders to build one. A narrower path does exist for owners of older houses, covered below.

What an owner builder is allowed to build

Under the Homeowner Protection Act, a new home in B.C. must either be built by a licensed residential builder with home warranty insurance, or be built under an Owner Builder Authorization issued by BC Housing. That applies everywhere in the province, including areas that do not issue building permits.

The authorization covers a single dwelling unit, for the owner's personal use. BC Housing lists three types:

• A detached home under a single title, which is what most owner builders build.
• One dwelling unit in or attached to a pre-existing building older than 10 years. BC Housing's examples include adding a unit to convert a detached home to a duplex, or a duplex to a triplex.
• One dwelling unit in or attached to a new non-residential building, such as a caretaker suite or a home above a family-run store.

Then comes the sentence that decides the multiplex question. In BC Housing's words: "We don't issue Owner Builder Authorizations for single dwelling units that are in or attached to new, multi-unit residential buildings."

A new triplex, fourplex or sixplex is a new multi-unit residential building. Living in one of the units does not change that.

The conversion path for older houses

The second item on that list is the one owners sometimes miss. If your house is more than 10 years old, you may be able to add one dwelling unit to it as an owner builder, turning a single-family home into a duplex, as long as you meet the other conditions.

That is one unit per authorization. It works for an owner who wants to add a suite-sized home to a solid older house and live in it. Before you count on this path, confirm three things. The existing building must be older than 10 years. Your city's zoning must allow the added unit. And you must intend to live in the property for at least a year after the new unit is first occupied. The building permit is a separate process with the city, and the new unit has to meet the BC Building Code like any other home.

This path does not reach the three- to six-unit buildings that the province's small-scale multi-unit housing rules now allow on most lots in Vancouver, Richmond and Coquitlam. And the older house has to be worth keeping, which is its own assessment. We go through that decision in renovate or demolish: how the decision gets made.

You have to run the job yourself

Owner builder status comes with a condition that changes the plan for most people. The owner builder must build, or directly manage, all or substantially all of the construction themselves.

BC Housing is direct about what happens otherwise. If an owner builder hires a builder, construction manager, project manager or any third party to perform those functions, both the owner and the person hired are committing an offence under the Act.

Naming yourself as owner builder while a contractor runs the site is prohibited. If you want someone else to manage construction, you need a licensed builder. We cover what a construction manager does on a job, and why that role cannot be added to an owner builder project.

The other conditions

BC Housing's eligibility checklist also requires that the applicant:

• Is an individual with a registered interest in the land (fee simple, a life interest, or a registered lease of at least 15 years). A company cannot apply, apart from a director of a family farm corporation.
• Intends to use the home personally for at least one year after first occupancy.
• Does not offer to sell, sell or transfer the land during construction or for at least one year after the home is built.
• Passes the Owner Builder Authorization exam with 70 percent or higher, with one attempt per application.
• Has not held another authorization in the waiting period: 18 months from first occupancy after a first owner-built home, three years after a second, and five years after that.

Everyone aged 16 or over who normally lives in the owner builder's home is treated as the same owner builder for these limits.

Ten years of personal liability

An owner builder does not need a licence or third-party warranty insurance. In exchange, they carry the warranty obligations personally.

Unless they arrange a voluntary home warranty policy, an owner builder is responsible to later buyers for defects in the home for 10 years from first occupancy: two years for materials and labour, five years for the building envelope, and 10 years for structural defects. That obligation cannot be waived by agreement. BC Housing's own FAQ points out why it matters: its research found that owners, on average, live in their homes for four years, so many owner builders sell inside the 10-year period. It also notes that structural and building envelope defects can be costly to fix, and those are the defects covered longest. Anyone who sells an owner-built home in that period must give buyers an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice, and the home is marked as owner-built on BC Housing's public New Homes Registry.

Where the jurisdiction issues occupancy permits, the occupancy permit date starts the 10-year liability, the one-year personal use period, and the wait before any further authorization.

What a new multiplex needs instead

A new multiplex is built by a licensed residential builder and enrolled in home warranty insurance, unless another exemption applies. The main one is BC Housing's rental exemption for purpose-built rental buildings, which has its own conditions. We compare the two in the 2-5-10 home warranty on a multiplex.

A landowner with building skills can still stay involved. On our partnership projects, owners take part in design decisions and follow the site, the schedule and the costs, while the licensed builder carries the licence and the warranty. If you are still choosing who that builder should be, how to hire a custom builder you can trust covers what to check.

Note on sources: the eligibility details above come from BC Housing's Owner Builder FAQs (October 2018) and Regulatory Bulletin 04 (revised September 2018), which its owner builder page still points to. Check the current application portal before you apply, since fees and forms are updated there.

Before choosing a route, answer these questions:

• How many new homes do you want on the lot: one added unit, or a new building of three or more?
• Is the existing house more than 10 years old, and is it worth keeping?
• Will you build or directly manage every part of the work yourself, with no hired builder or project manager?
• Will you live in the home for at least a year, and are you prepared to carry 10 years of liability to any later buyer?
• If you plan to sell units, what will buyers and their lenders expect to see on warranty?

Frequently asked