Secondary suite regulations have recently been changed in the BC Building Code. As of December 12, 2019, many rules regarding how secondary suites can be constructed have been relaxed. Prior to this, secondary suites had a restrictive limit on the size and scope of the suite in general and in relation to the principal residence. Also, for basement suites, certain height regulations made some unfinished basements not viable to convert to a legal suite. In today’s real estate and rental market, there is a demand for not only more suites, but more livable suites. Many people cannot afford to buy and therefore rely on the rental market. With a small to medium sized family living in a suite, the restrictive size limit was becoming a burdensome. On top of that, secondary suites were restricted to certain structures only. These new suite relaxations are the topic of today’s blog and we will go into detail of the most prominent changes.

The main relaxation and most dynamic change to secondary suites is the allowable size that the building code states. Prior to the change, the building code was very strict on the size limit of secondary suites, stating that the maximum floor area was 90m2 –about 950 sq/ft. Also, the secondary suite could not be more than 40% of the principal residence, what ever is lesser; if 40% of your main residence is 80m2, you are limited by that lower amount instead of 90m2. Because this was a building code regulation, no municipality could override this limit and all legal suites in all locations were built in accordance with this limitation. The new change to the building code for secondary suites has completely removed this limitation. There is no longer a limit on the size of secondary suites in the building code. This is huge. The power to regulate the size of secondary suites has been shifted from the province to each local municipality based on the needs of their respectable markets. As a designer, when I designed a secondary suite, I noticed that with the existing limitation, I could only create a livable 2 bedroom suite. A 3 bedroom was possible, however, it would be crammed and I did not recommend it. Prior to the change, people living in suites with two or three kids were crammed. Bedrooms, especially in basement suites, could get small. Now, thanks to the change, a livable 3 or even 4 bedroom suite is possible, which in my opinion, is a huge positive change for both the tenant and the home owner.

Another relaxation that will have a huge effect on new basement suites is the lowering of the minimum ceiling height inside the suite. Prior to this change, the minimum ceiling height was actually 6’-10” which was odd because a standard door height is 6’-8” and the minimum height above stairs is 6’-4 ¾”. This height seriously limited people’s ability to convert their unfinished basement to a legal suite for rent in today’s rental climate. The change has lowered the ceiling minimum to 6′-5”, therefore, converting an unfinished basement into a basement suite is now more obtainable. In my experience, most people who are converting their unfinished basement into a legal suite live in an older home. In the time that their house was built, the unfinished basement was rarely 6’-10; it was used for mechanical and storage. This would leave people with very few options, either lift the house, dig down and underpin (both expensive) or push people to the unsafe option of creating the suite illegally. Now with this change, the height regulation is more in line with the reality of unfinished basements and how they can be converted into secondary suites, giving the home owner more options. Also, one of the trickiest parts of a basement suite was figuring out how to deal with beams and ducting. Almost always, on top of the low ceiling height, there was an even lower height under the beams which usually were in the center of the basement. On top of that, in older homes, the unfinished basement housed the hot water tank, plumbing stacks, furnace and ducting. This means that ducting ran along the ceiling to service the upper floor with heat, causing lower ceiling height in these areas as well. Thankfully, the building code change has addressed this issue. In company with the minimum ceiling height change, a minimum height under beams and ducting is now addressed. For both beams and ducting, the new minimum height under these items is now 6’-1” which is a huge relief for potential basement suites. One of the hardest elements to deal with for basement suites was a strange beam in a bad location. Now, a lot of these headaches are gone with this new relaxation and suites overall can be constructed with lower heights.

The last relaxation we will talk about is which structures were and are now allowed to incorporate a secondary suite within them. Prior to the change late last year, a secondary suite could only be in a single-family dwelling. This regulation has been altered to allow secondary suites inside of duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes — as long as they are side by side . The revision states specifically that “The building may contain other dwelling units or occupancies that are horizontally adjacent; they may not be located above or below each other.” The change still limits secondary suites from condominium buildings where units are stacked on top of each other, however, now new multi-unit structures can be designed with secondary suites in mind, adding more potential living arrangements for Greater Victoria.

There are a few other changes that have to do with the technicalities of fire and sound transmission ratings that I will not dive too deep into. One interesting item is, as long as the entire structure is interconnected with photo-electric smoke alarms, regulations have been relaxed on locations of windows and doors for the non-suite dwelling. To learn more about all the changes you can read this PDF document located here.

These changes to the building code for secondary suites are, in my opinion, huge and full of potential for both tenants and home owners. Not only can more family-oriented suites be constructed in new homes throughout Langford and Sooke, but unfinished basements throughout Saanich and Victoria can be more easily converted into legal suites for rentals, relieving some of the tension felt throughout the city. I am very excited about these changes and am enjoying designing larger, more tenant friendly and overall more interesting secondary suites throughout Victoria.

Thanks for reading!

Knowing the professionals that may be required for your project is important. When people have the desire to renovate or build new, they may not yet realize the different professionals that will be needed for their project. Many different people, from the design stage to occupancy, will be involved in the project. These professionals will do vastly different things — all for the purpose of completing the project and obtaining a legal occupancy permit with the municipality/region.

In this blog entry, we will be discussing the different professionals that may be needed in your project. Your project may not need all the professionals listed here. Generally, the bigger or more complex the project, the more professionals will be needed to ensure adequate documentation is presented to the building inspection department and for the general contractor. The different professionals often rely on each other for accurate information in order to perform their own job accurately. Also, each professional passes drawings between one another for that same purpose. For example, when the construction drawings are completed, they may need extra information on them from other professionals prior to building permit application. A structural engineer does not design the structure with the client like a designer does. He uses the finished drawings as a base to add the necessary calculations and specifications in order to ‘seal’ the drawings and provide the proper documentation.

Often during the design stage I explain the professionals that will be required for the client’s project. Each municipality/region is a little different and therefore, different professionals may be needed for different types of projects in different areas. More often than not, this information is new to the client. There are not a lot of resources out there that tell a person what is needed during and after the design process. This blog post attempts to change that by shining some light on the many professionals that may be needed for your project and to give a general idea of what they do and why. So, let’s just jump right into it.

Architect and/or Building Designer

Here’s a question that can be elusive: “What’s the difference between an architect and a building designer, which one do I need for my project and why?” Although architects and building designers provide some of the same kinds of drawings and use the same kinds of software, they can actually be very different professionals. I say that because interestingly enough, many people think these two professions are the same thing and that architects design all buildings and houses. This is not actually the case at all.

Generally, architects are required for the larger and more complex structures as they have many years of school and internships under their belt to be able to handle such buildings. Smaller buildings are in the realm of building designers. Houses, smaller multi-unit residential and light commercial are all projects that the building designers can complete. An architect is not necessarily needed to design a large and beautiful custom home; a house designed by a building designer can be just as well designed or better than a house designed by an architect. It all depends on who the designer is and how well they are able to work with the client. That same philosophy goes with small multi-unit structures and light commercial buildings as well.

The two main components that separate architects and building designers are education and law. Architects have many years of education and are registered professionals with the province. The Architects Act is the law that draws the line in the sand of what projects building designers can take on and what projects architects must be apart of; the projects mostly relate to size and scope. A building designer can provide drawings for 90% of custom homes in Canada. The rule for houses that separates the need for an architect is anything over 5000 square feet (465 m2) in building footprint. Building footprint is the key term meaning how much of the property the building encompasses, not necessarily the floor area.  A house that is 4500 square feet of building footprint with another 3000 square feet on the second story (7500 square feet total) remains in the realm of a project that can be done by a building designer. Essentially, when you see those huge mega-estates that start looking like Hatley Castle – think architect — almost any other house can be done by a building designer.

For multi-unit residential structures, the law separates the two professionals by the number of total units. Any structure with four units or less is in the area of expertise of a building designer and anything over 4 units is where an architect is mandatory. In the commercial area the same rule applies with the building footprint and with the number of units. An architect is needed for anything over 5000 square feet of building footprint or anything over four units. Don’t be confused by the unit size and building size — a small shop may be many square feet shy of 5000 yet reside in a larger building of many shops that is much larger than that requirement. The rule goes by the entire building, not just the single unit.

Architects and building designers can and do work together on projects where an architect is required. Architects are considered to be coordinating professionals. Projects that require an architect sometimes only need the architect to oversee and sign off on the work. This means that a building designer can complete the design for a project that an architect is needed and the architect can review it and sign off. This type of interaction is typically for projects that skirt close to the limit but are still technically out of the realm of building designers. Architects wont sign off on a 50 unit condominium that a building designer completed without the architects input, and for good reason.

There are some structures that only an architect can provide the drawings for. They can not sign off on a building designers work for these projects, regardless of size or scope. These buildings are reserved for architects because they are important structures where an architect’s vast education is required because it is considered unsafe to use anyone else. Buildings such as hospitals, schools of any size, churches, government buildings, etc. are all reserved for architects.

Building designers can design some pretty large and intricate houses, however, when we begin to get into the realm of estates of this size, we are heading into the expertise that only an architect can provide.

Interior Designer

An interior designer is a professional who is in charge of coordinating with the client and the architect/building designer to create a beautiful interior space for the project. While a building designer ensures the structure meets code, municipal ordinances and lays out a functional floor plan, the interior designer focuses on how the inside will be finished, function and flow. Mainly used for commercial or high end residential, the interior design ensures that each space looks, feels and functions property and adequately for the client’s needs. If the project is a restaurant, the interior design determines how many tables there will be, how they will be spaced, what sizes they are, etc. For a residential home, different features of each room can be established such as a beautiful drop ceiling in the kitchen with back lighting to accent the space. On top of that, determining materials, lighting fixtures and furniture are a huge component that the interior designer provides. Determining a style and theme, establishing the materials to work within that theme, finding matching furniture to put within the space and providing necessary lighting that ties it all together is an art in itself and why a good interior designer is a great asset in the design world.

Most interior designers use CAD software to formulate the drawings for presentation. The interior designer determines how many and what kinds of drawings are provided based on the scope of the project. Floor plans and interior elevations showing specific areas, fixtures, equipment, bars, furniture and the space around them are an integral part of the plans provided. Also, with the rise of powerful software, colour 3D perspective drawings showing exactly what is intended by the design is now mainstream. On top of that is reflected ceiling plans to show where and what kinds of light fixtures will be installed, finishing plans to show materials and details to convey to the builder how particular items should be constructed and many other types of drawings. For larger projects, items such as different kinds of display boards like style or material boards, sample books and different visionary portrayals are a great way the interior designer shows the client all the different options possible. Interior designers can be an important part of the design process, especially in high end custom homes, commercial and large-scale projects.

Land Surveyor

There are many different types of land surveyors out there that do many different types of surveying. For the purpose of this blog, we will focus on the surveyors that work on individual parcels of land or small sub-divisions. For any project that involves taking up more space on your property, it’s usually a good idea to get a site survey done by a registered British Columbia Land Surveyor (BCLS). A surveyor is a person who comes out to your property, plots the property lines, structures, sidewalk, street, trees, etc and uses this information to provide accurate drawings of the property called a site survey. The key word here is accurate. Many designers, myself included, will ask for a site survey for a project such as an addition to an existing single-family dwelling because it’s important to know accurately how much space the new portion of the building will take up on the property. If the project is beginning to reach any maximum allowable restriction, it’s a good idea to be as accurate as possible. Using something like city maps to create a site plan is not guaranteed to be accurate and can lead to issues down the road at the permit process such as lot coverage overages.

There is another thing that a surveyor provides and it’s the most important item of all: geodetic elevation points. Geodetic elevation points measure the grade height and is measured in relation to zero, which is always sea level. These points tell the designer exactly what the grade is doing which is extremely important when positioning the structure on the lot and determining how the grade will work around it. Also, these grade heights are used to calculate the buildings height to ensure the structure does not go over the zoning regulation’s maximum allowable height restriction. Depending on the municipality, the height is either measured from finished grade or average existing grade — both are dependent on geodetic elevation. Again, without a surveyor providing this, how are the numbers guaranteed to be accurate if provided by anyone else? The answer is they aren’t and that’s why it’s usually a good idea to get a site survey depending on the project type.

Structural, Geotechnical and Civil Engineer

There are many different types of engineers out there. For the purpose of this blog, we will focus on three different types that relate closely to the building trade. A structural engineer is by far the most common engineer used in the design stage. Determining if a structural engineer is needed is usually up the discretion of the municipality/region; some municipalities do not require an engineer to sign off (or seal) the drawings depending on the project and some municipalities want an engineer to seal the drawings of every project. When the drawings are completed for construction and permit, the engineer reviews them and determines their own calculations and drawings. The types of items a structural engineer provides are specing beams, joists, rafters, etc to ensure they are adequate to hold certain loads. Another important item is ensuring the foundation is adequate to hold up the structure and a very important item for our area, ensuring adequate seismic requirements. In essence, they will review the drawings at the end, spec them, seals it and provide a thing called a schedule B which is the formal documentation of the sealed drawings.

A geotechnical engineer used for the construction process is an engineer that specializes in land, water and weather and how they affect each other for the purpose of a specific project. Before any design work or construction begins, it is important to determine if the land is viable to build on and what is needed to be done to get it to the point where it is. Maybe a point of the property is prone to flooding or maybe an area’s grade is not strong enough to build on. All of these things are important items to address and are in the realm of the geotechnical engineer to determine and provide documentation for other professionals to address. More often than not, a geotechnical engineer will not be required for your project, however, they may be used for homes on larger properties that are in more secluded areas.

Civil Engineers for the purpose of construction are engineers that determine and design the infrastructure that will service a certain property or a sub-division. Usually, these items are taken care of by the civil engineer long before you purchase or work on the property. Civil engineers work with the developer on new developments, servicing an area of land that previously had no servicing or updating inadequate existing servicing. The most common items that civil engineers work on in the development stage are how the property will be serviced with water, sewer and storm water management as well as how the development will be accessed via roads and sidewalks.

One of the items that structural engineers focus on is the foundation wall. They spec what is required to make the foundation sturdy enough to hold the structure, determine what seismic requirements are necessary and inspect the foundation when it is cribbed and ready to be poured to ensure it meets the engineer’s requirements.

Environmental Consultant and Energy Adviser

Environmental consultants may be called upon by the client to provide documentation to the municipality/region involving how the proposed structure will affect the environment around it. As well as determining the effect, the consultant can provide solutions on how to mitigate the development’s disturbance to the surrounding area. Perhaps there is a stream running through the property or a salmon spawning area nearby. These and more are all items within the realm of the environmental consultant who will address these issues and determine what steps must be taken to limit any problems. Much like the geotechnical engineer, the environmental consultant is mostly needed for developments of an existing area of land that has not been inhabited by people or for homes in more secluded areas. A general rule of thumb is that if you’re building in an area far away from everything, it might be a good idea to hire an environment consultant to establish any issues before they become a headache later down the road.

An energy adviser is a relatively new industry that encompasses how the new structure will limit the amount of energy needed when the building is complete. The idea is that if we can plan ahead during the construction phase, we can use less energy in the future and therefore protect the environment going forward. With the implementation of the Step Code, which is obtaining net zero housing by 2032, the energy adviser has become an important professional during the construction stage. Depending on the municipality, the energy adviser provides documentation for the permit application process as well as provides site visits and documentation during the construction phase. The documentation shows the calculations that determine how the materials relate to heat loss and energy usage. The site visits include a blow door test during construction to establish how much air is leaking out of different areas and what is needed to limit the air loss. More air loss inevitably means more heat loss in the future and therefore more energy consumption. A blow door test finds these leaks for the energy adviser and builder to address. With the implementation of the step code going forward, the energy adviser will become more prevalent during the design and construction phases.

General Contractor, Material Supplier and Building Inspector

The general contractor is the person who will coordinate with all the necessary parties to construct the building. Also known as the builder, the general contractor will take the finished plans and provide the client with an accurate estimate on the project. Now that the design process is completed, the builder is the new main person. This person will deal with all the other sub-trades for the propose of completing your project as well as other professionals and municipal authorities during the construction stage. The builder will also purchase all the materials for the project as it is common for the builder to get better prices than anyone else on materials. A good builder is a registered journeyman framer that knows all the ins-and-outs of the construction process and the best practices. Now-a-days, obtaining insurance from the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) through BC Housing is common and can only be obtained by a registered journeyman. Regulations are becoming stricter and some municipalities will only allow a registered builder to work on some structures. It may be wise to ensure that your builder is registered before the hiring process.

The material suppliers are all the different places that sell all the different materials that will be used on the project. If building a house, the main material supplier is the lumber used for the wood framing of the structure. There are only a few lumber yards in town that provide and ship all the materials to the specific site. Other materials are supplied to the other sub-trades for the project from various other companies including shingles, siding, concrete, pipes, drywall, carpets, paint, etc.

The building inspector is the professional that works for the municipal or regional authority. They perform site visits during the construction phase to inspect the work and determine if it meets code and is constructed adequately. When the builder reaches a certain stage of the construction, an inspection meeting is requested and a date is set. The inspector views the project based on what stage it at is and either finds issues that need to be addressed or passes the inspection, allowing the builder to proceed. After the last inspection, if the building is deemed safe to live in, an occupancy permit is issued and the city is usually no longer involved in the project.

Conclusion

Now that we have reviewed the most common professionals used in the building trade, I hope you are more equipped for your future project. One thing that you may have noticed with this article is that the terms “you may need” or “usually” are used frequently when describing items and professionals. This is no accident. One of the most interesting things about the building trade is the amount of grey area that exists. Some municipalities require things that others do not and some professionals require information that others do not. Building techniques and requirements are different depending on the location. Google is great for learning how the construction process is done generally. It’s not a great tool to learn about how things are done exactly as the information you are reading may not relate to your specific area. I specifically use the broad terms of “you may need” and “usually” because it’s hard to definitive answers without knowing the project size, scope, location and a host of other information. The information provided may not exactly relate to your specific project.

One thing if for sure, though: many professionals and many factors will be involved in your project from start to finish. I hope there was some useful information to help you on the road to the completion of your new project.

Thanks for reading!