Legalizing a Basement Suite in BC: Permits, Fire Safety and What to Expect

A basement suite can help with the mortgage, but it is only legal once it has the permits and approvals your city requires. If you own a house with a suite built without permits, are buying one, or want to add one, here is what legal means in BC, what the BC Building Code looks for, how permits and inspections work, the fees and insurance to expect, and how tenancy law applies.

The short version

What makes a suite legal

Under the BC Building Code, a secondary suite is a self-contained dwelling unit in a house with no more than two dwelling units, and the province adds that the home and suite form one property that can't be stratified or legally divided. A legal suite has all three of these:

• Zoning that allows it. BC's small-scale multi-unit housing rules require municipalities and regional districts to allow a secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit in single-family zones; see More Homes per Lot. Zoning can still set details, such as a maximum suite size, so check your city's bylaw.
• A building permit. The province is clear that the zoning changes don't legalize a suite built without a permit. The owner has to work with the local government to bring it up to the code and local requirements.
• Code compliance. The work has to meet the BC Building Code, or in the City of Vancouver its own Building By-law. Vancouver says a suite created without permits can be legalized once it meets the city's bylaws.

Safety items the code looks for

Your city's suite guide sets out the details, and for a suite added to an existing house, the code allows some alternatives where existing construction gets in the way. Expect these to be checked:

• Fire separation. The walls and ceilings between the units form a fire separation, generally rated for 45 minutes. A 30-minute or 15-minute rating is allowed when more of the house's smoke alarms are photoelectric and interconnected. Your city's building department confirms which options apply to your suite.
• Alarms. Interconnected smoke alarms in each bedroom and the hallway serving them, and carbon monoxide alarms where there is a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage.
• Bedroom windows. Each bedroom needs a window that opens from the inside without tools, with an unobstructed opening of at least 0.35 square metres and no dimension under 380 millimetres, plus 760 millimetres of clearance in front if it opens into a window well.
• Ceiling height. The standard is 2.1 metres. For a suite added to an existing house, the alternatives allow 1.95 metres, and 1.85 metres under beams and ducts.
• Heating and ventilation. A heating system serving both units must stop circulating smoke when a duct smoke detector is triggered, and each unit needs its own temperature control and mechanical ventilation.
• Sound and water. Sound control between the units, such as insulation and resilient channel under the drywall, and a separate water shutoff for the suite.

The process, step by step

• Check zoning and title. Surrey notes that a building scheme on title can prohibit suites on some properties.
• Talk to the city. Ask what the suite would need before you pay for drawings.
• Apply with drawings. Expect scaled floor plans and a site plan with the building permit application, plus your city's suite checklist.
• Get the trade permits. A plumbing permit if fixtures are added or changed, and electrical and gas permits, usually from Technical Safety BC. Ten local governments, including Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey, issue some of these themselves.
• Pass the inspections. Book them as the work progresses and keep the final approvals.

If a suite can't be brought up to standard, it can be decommissioned. In Coquitlam, that means removing the stove and terminating its wiring or gas line, or opening the suite permanently to the rest of the house, and the city says an owner found with an illegal suite will be required to legalize or remove it.

What drives the cost and timeline

Cost depends on how far the space is from the code, so price the items that change the structure or mechanical systems first:

• Headroom. If ceilings are below the minimum, ducts, beams or even the floor may have to change.
• Windows. Enlarging a bedroom window in a concrete wall and adding a window well.
• Separation. New drywall, resilient channel, insulation and firestopping where pipes and wires pass through.
• Systems. Smoke control or separate heating, alarms, ventilation and cooling. The code requires each new dwelling unit to be designed to keep at least one living space at 26°C or cooler, so ask your city how that applies to a suite.

Add design, permit fees and time for plan review and inspections, which vary by city. Use licensed trades and a written contract; see Hiring a Contractor in BC. If you are adding a suite, CMHC insures refinancing for it: eligible owner-occupiers can borrow up to 90% of the home's value with the suite, which must be below $2,000,000, over up to 30 years, and the suite must comply with local bylaws.

Fees, assessment, tax and insurance

• Suite fees. In Coquitlam, a home with an authorized suite pays its standard utility fee plus a 40% surcharge, and a home with an unauthorized suite pays a 100% surcharge. Surrey requires every suite to be registered and adds suite fees to your property taxes. Burnaby adds a water and sewer fee to the utility notice when a suite is rented.
• Assessment. Municipalities typically tell BC Assessment when they issue a building permit, and BC Assessment decides whether your assessment needs updating.
• Income tax. Rental income is reported to CRA, which usually treats part of your home as changing to a rental use unless the rental is relatively small, you make no structural changes to suit it, and you claim no capital cost allowance (tax depreciation) on it. Ask an accountant before you build.
• Insurance. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) says to talk to your insurance representative before renting out part of your home, since failing to disclose occupancy may void your policy. Your policy doesn't cover a tenant's belongings or liability; see Home Insurance for Houses in BC.

Your tenant while you legalize

The Residential Tenancy Branch's policy guidelines say a rental that breaches a municipal bylaw doesn't make the tenancy agreement illegal, so a tenant in an unauthorized suite still has the Residential Tenancy Act's protections.

Plan the work with your tenant where you can. If it needs the suite empty, ending the tenancy for renovations or repairs generally takes an order from the Residential Tenancy Branch once permits are in place, and compensation is payable, so get advice before you take any step to end a tenancy.

Buying a house with an unauthorized suite

Price the work before you commit. Ask the seller for any permits and plans, check what the city has on file, and have your inspector and a contractor look at headroom, bedroom windows, the separation between units and the heating.

How lenders count suite income is covered in Buying a Home with a Suite; ask your mortgage professional early how the lender will treat a suite that isn't permitted. If you are selling instead, see Selling a Home with Unpermitted Work in BC.

Questions homeowners often ask me

Do BC's suite zoning rules make my existing suite legal?

No. The province says the small-scale housing changes don't legalize a suite built without a building permit. Zoning may allow a suite, but you still need a permit, work that meets the code and passed inspections.

How much does it cost to legalize a basement suite?

There's no standard figure. It depends on how far the space is from the code, and headroom, bedroom windows, fire separation and heating are the items to price first. Ask the city what the suite needs, then get quotes from licensed trades.

Does the Residential Tenancy Act apply if my suite isn't permitted?

Yes. A bylaw breach doesn't make the tenancy agreement illegal, so your tenant has the usual protections. If legalizing needs the suite empty, ending the tenancy generally takes an order from the Residential Tenancy Branch, so get advice first.

What if my suite can't meet the code?

Ask the city about the code's alternatives for suites in existing houses, such as lower ceiling heights. If it still can't comply, you can decommission it, for example by removing the stove and disconnecting its power or gas.

Do I need to tell my insurer about my basement suite?

Yes. IBC advises talking to your insurance representative before renting out part of your home and keeping a written record. Not disclosing how the home is occupied may void your policy, and your tenant needs their own insurance.

Thinking about renting out a suite? Read Becoming a Landlord in BC, see what home inspectors check, or learn how the principal residence exemption works.

This article is general information, not legal or professional advice. The details come from the BC Building Code and the Province of BC, the suite guides of Vancouver, Coquitlam, Surrey, Burnaby, Kamloops, Kelowna and Gibsons, Technical Safety BC, BC Assessment, the Residential Tenancy Branch, CMHC, CRA and IBC, and were current at the time of writing; your city's requirements and permit review decide what your suite needs. For the province's overview, see adding a secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit.