What if a BC house never got its occupancy permit or final inspection?

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Where a building bylaw applies, new or altered work may not be occupied until it passes its final inspection; without one, the permit is still open or has lapsed, and the building file says which. An occupancy permit, which many building bylaws now call a final inspection notice, is the building official's word that the work passed its last inspection. Each council's or regional district's building bylaw sets when one is needed, and the work may not be occupied before it. Where none was issued, the permit was left open or has expired: the local government's property file shows which. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Who issues it: A council regulates buildings by bylaw, and where its bylaw needs a permit before a building is occupied, it may withhold that permit until the work meets the Provincial building regulations, its bylaws and other health and safety rules (Community Charter ss. 8 (3) (l), 53, 54 (2)). A regional district board may require an occupancy permit before a building is occupied after construction or alteration, or a change in its class of occupancy, but only where it runs a building inspection service (Local Government Act ss. 297, 298 (1) (d)). Where no building inspection reaches the land, there is no permit to get (see building permits on rural land). What the bylaws say: The two building bylaws we read both bar occupying a building or any part of it until the building official has issued a final inspection notice for it: the District of Lantzville's (Bylaw No. 182, s. 2.3 (b)) and the Peace River Regional District's (Bylaw No. 2542, s. 4.8). Before issuing one, both want every part of the work that needs inspection inspected and accepted, the professionals' letters of assurance where they're required, and a surveyor's building survey where the bylaw or the official asks (Lantzville s. 5.2; PRRD s. 9.9). When a permit lapses: A permit expires, and the owner's rights under it end, if the work doesn't start in time, stops for too long or isn't finished in time: within 365 days, for 365 days and within 3 years under the PRRD's bylaw (s. 8.17), and within 180 days, for 180 days and within 2 years under Lantzville's (s. 3.8). Both let the building official extend it, up to a year, on a written request made at least 30 days before it expires (PRRD s. 8.9; Lantzville s. 3.9, once). A new owner and an open permit: The PRRD's bylaw lets a permit be transferred only once the owner has told the building official in writing and the official has agreed in writing, and a transfer doesn't extend it (ss. 8.15, 8.16). Finishing work under an expired permit most often means a new application, inspections of what can still be seen, and opening up or a professional's report for what's been covered (our reading): ask the building department what it would need. A note on title: Where a building inspector finds that something needed a permit or an inspection and the permit wasn't obtained or the inspection wasn't satisfactorily completed, the council may, after hearing the owner, have a notice filed against the land's title. It stays until the inspector reports the condition fixed or the council cancels it (Community Charter ss. 57, 58; for a regional district, Local Government Act s. 302). See charges on title. A permit promises nothing: Both bylaws say a permit, a plan review or an inspection doesn't relieve the owner of full responsibility for doing the work to the Code and the bylaws (Lantzville s. 1.5; PRRD s. 4.14 (a)); the PRRD's adds that none of them is a promise that the Code or the bylaws were met, and that no one may rely on a permit as showing it (ss. 4.14, 4.15). The home warranty: On a new home under home warranty insurance, the terms start at the earliest of first occupancy, the occupancy permit or the home being ready (see the new home warranty). What it means for a buyer: Whether a final inspection was done is in the local government's property file, not on an open map (see official records on a property). A lender or insurer may ask about an open permit (our reading): ask yours. Work done with no permit at all is a different case (see unpermitted work).

What if a BC house never got its occupancy permit or final inspection?

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