Can I build my own house in BC as an owner builder?

What the answer means

A new home in BC is built by a licensed residential builder with home warranty insurance, or by an owner builder: someone BC Housing has authorized to build one home for their own use without either. The authorization comes before construction starts, and its obligations stay with the house for ten years.

What it is

On application to BC Housing's registrar, a person who intends to build a new home for personal use may be authorized as an owner builder, and for that home needs neither home warranty insurance nor a residential builder's licence (Homeowner Protection Act s. 20 (1), (3)). Personal use means living in it yourself, not renting it out (Regulation s. 1). Where a council issues building permits, it may issue one for a new home only on evidence that a licensed builder with warranty insurance or an owner builder will build it (Act s. 30 (1)).

Who qualifies

An individual who intends to live in the home for at least a year from first occupancy; who holds the land in fee simple, as a life interest or under a lease of 15 years or more and will keep it that year, or is a director of a family farm corporation that does; who will build, arrange or manage all or substantially all of the work; who has passed the registrar's exam; and who hasn't made a false statement in an earlier application or broken the sale, disclosure or home type rules (Homeowner Protection Act Regulation s. 4.1 (1), (2)).

How often

After a first authorization, a second can't be issued until 18 months after first occupancy of the home built under it; after two, 3 years; after three or more, 5 years. The wait counts for everyone living with you: a household member who doesn't meet it bars you too (Regulation s. 4.1 (2) (c), (d)).

What you may build

A detached home under one legal title, or a single home in or attached to an existing building, or to a new non-residential building with no other home in it; it may include a secondary suite, subject to local bylaws (Regulation s. 19). Not a duplex or a strata (our reading).

The exam

100 multiple choice questions in 100 minutes on construction basics and the owner builder's duties under the Act, with 70% to pass and one attempt per application, taken online with a remote proctor or at a proctoring centre; BC Housing publishes an exam guide (its exam page).

The fees

$50 to apply and $375 when the authorization is issued (Regulation Schedule 1 ss. 4.1, 4.2), plus $100 to apply for permission to sell early (s. 4.3). The building permit, step code and connection costs are the council's and the utilities'.

Building it

You must build or directly manage the construction yourself, and you are personally liable for construction defects in the home for 10 years (BC Housing's Become an Owner Builder page). After first occupancy you tell BC Housing the date and the trades who worked on the home (Regulation s. 4.1 (3) (e)).

Selling it

An owner builder may not sell or offer to sell the home while it's being built, or within 12 months after (Act s. 20.1 (1); Regulation s. 4.1 (4)); BC Housing's bulletin says that year runs from the occupancy permit, with no renting it out meanwhile. The registrar may permit an earlier sale for undue hardship (s. 20.1 (2)). Within 10 years of occupancy, the owner builder and every later seller must give a prospective buyer BC Housing's disclosure notice saying whether the home has warranty insurance, before a purchase agreement (Act s. 21 (2); Regulatory Bulletin No. 5).

What a later buyer has

No warranty insurance, unless a voluntary policy was bought (the notice says). The owner builder is deemed to promise the home free of defects in materials and labour for 2 years, in the building envelope for 5 and in the structure for 10, from the occupancy permit or first occupancy; the promise passes to each owner in that time, can't be waived, and is enforced by suing within the 10 years (Act s. 23). It is a claim against a person, not an insurer (our reading).

What it means for a buyer

Look the home up on BC Housing's New Homes Registry, which shows whether it was owner-built and has warranty insurance, ask the seller for the disclosure notice, and have the house inspected: nobody but the building inspector, where there is one, checked the work. A home sold within its first year without the registrar's permission is a question for your lawyer.

Our summary of the Homeowner Protection Act (SBC 1998, c. 31, ss. 20 to 21, 23, 30) and the Homeowner Protection Act Regulation (B.C. Reg. 29/99, ss. 1, 4.1, 19 and Schedule 1) on BC Laws, BC Housing's Become an Owner Builder and exam pages and its Regulatory Bulletin No. 5, read 2026-10-23. BC Housing's registrar decides each application.

Sources (read 2026-10-23; summarised in our own words unless noted): Homeowner Protection Act, SBC 1998, c. 31, ss. 20 to 21, 23, 30; Homeowner Protection Act Regulation, B.C. Reg. 29/99, ss. 1, 4.1, 19, Schedule 1; Become an Owner Builder, BC Housing; Owner Builder Authorization Exam, BC Housing; Regulatory Bulletin No. 5, Buying or Selling an Owner-Built Home, BC Housing (January 2016); Using the New Homes Registry, BC Housing (read 2026-10-23).

Before you buy: who to ask

BC Housing's Licensing and Consumer Services

Do I meet the owner builder criteria, and does anyone living with me hold an authorization that would make me wait?

The local government

Does this area have building inspection, and what does a building permit for a new house need here?

The seller or their agent

For a house under 10 years old: who built it, and can I see the owner builder disclosure notice or the warranty policy?

Your lawyer or notary

What does the statutory protection leave me if a defect shows up, and was the home sold within the owner builder's first year?

Look up the lot above: its report names the zone, our summary of what it allows, and links the official records to search.

See also building on bare land, step by step, building permits, new home warranty, the energy step codes, GST and the new home rebates and owner-built and unpermitted work.