How do I legalize a basement suite in BC?

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Where the zone allows a suite, with a building permit that brings it up to the BC Building Code's secondary suite rules; otherwise it is decommissioned, under a permit too. Many BC houses have a suite that was never permitted. A council can't approve one the zone doesn't allow; where it does, the owner applies for a building permit and brings the suite up to the BC Building Code's secondary suite rules, which ask less of an existing house than of a new duplex. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. The zone first: Every guide we read starts with the zone: a suite is legalized only where the zone permits one, with its parking and size limits (Quesnel's, Prince George's and Fort St. John's suite guides). A local government's house zones must allow a secondary suite or a detached second home (Local Government Act s. 481.3 (3)), with exceptions (see a suite or a second home). Was it permitted?: Coquitlam, for one, treats a suite as unauthorized unless its building and plumbing permits were issued and a final inspection done, and adds a larger utility surcharge for a home with an unauthorized suite than for one with an authorized suite; Fort St. John asks owners to contact the City to confirm that building permits were issued for the suite. Ask the local government for the property's permit file (see official records on a property). An inspection, then a choice: Quesnel's guide asks the owner of an occupied suite to book an inspection by the building inspector; once no immediate safety concern is found, the owner either applies for a building permit to recognize the suite and build it to the codes, or for a permit to decommission it. Prince George and Fort St. John describe the same two routes, an inspection first. The permit: The application shows the suite's floor plan, entrances, required egress, the fire separations and off-street parking (Quesnel's and Prince George's guides). A plumbing permit may be needed for new fixtures, by a licensed plumber in Prince George. Where the suite doesn't meet the Code, the owner makes the renovations and books a re-inspection (Fort St. John). What a secondary suite is: The BC Building Code's secondary suite is a self-contained dwelling unit in a building of only residential occupancy that holds only one other dwelling unit and common spaces, both units a single real estate entity (Division A, Article 1.4.1.2): a suite can't be strata titled (see stratifying a house). Fire separation: In a house with a secondary suite, the units are separated from each other and from shared spaces by a fire separation of at least 15 minutes when every smoke alarm in the house is photo-electric and interconnected, 30 minutes with added interconnected photo-electric alarms, 45 minutes without either, and none if the building is sprinklered (Division B, Sentence 9.10.9.16 (4)). Quesnel's guide gives an extra layer of drywall as one way to get there. For the alarms, see smoke and CO alarms. Ways out: Each bedroom needs an outside window or door that opens from inside without keys or tools; a window gives an opening of at least 0.35 m² with no side under 380 mm, and a window well 760 mm clear in front of it, unless the suite is sprinklered (9.9.10.1). A unit's egress rules depend on how its doors open onto shared stairs or passageways (9.9.9). Shared heating and ventilation: Quesnel's guide says a suite should preferably have its own heating and ventilation; ducts serving both units need smoke detectors that shut the system down and fire dampers where they pass through the separation, a central vacuum can't serve both, and a suite needs its own mechanical ventilation. Decommissioning: Taking a suite out means removing what makes it one: the stove's circuit, cut back by an electrician, the range hood or the kitchen sink, and the lock or wall between the units, so the house works as one home, then an inspection (Quesnel's, Prince George's and Fort St. John's guides). Coquitlam asks for a gas or electrical permit from Technical Safety BC to remove a stove, or for the locks between the units to come off so the suite stays open to the house. What it means for a buyer: A suite with no permit is the buyer's to legalize or remove once the sale completes (our reading; see unpermitted work). Insurers and lenders can ask about a suite: ask yours. A report names the zone where the local map is open and, for the bylaws we've summarised, how many homes it allows.

How do I legalize a basement suite in BC?

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