You’ll need to apply to your local municipality or regional district to get a building permit for new home construction or building envelope renovations.
New homes
If you want to obtain a building permit for new home construction, the Homeowner Protection Act states that you must provide proof of being a licensed residential builder and have the home covered by home warranty insurance approval or an exemption such as an Owner Builder Authorization or Rental Exemption. Once your home warranty insurance provider has sealed that, BC Housing will give you a New Home Registration Form as proof.
Once you register and enrol your project in home warranty insurance a New Home Registration Form will be available to download. The Form will act as proof of licensing and home warranty insurance for your municipality or regional district when you apply for a building permit.
A New Home Registration Form also provides proof that the Act and Regulation exclude you or the home from licensing and/or home warranty insurance requirements. Examples of exemptions include an Owner Builder Authorization and a rental exemption.
Make sure you always bring all the relevant documentation with you.
Even in geographic areas where building permits are not required, you must be a licensed residential builder to carry out the work, have the home covered by home warranty insurance and complete a Form to enrol the project. The same exclusions as described above also apply in this case.
Building envelope renovations
In order to obtain a building permit for applicable building envelope renovations, the Act states you must prove you are a licensed building envelope renovator and have warranty insurance on the proposed renovation.
You must also get a Building Envelope Renovation Schedule from BC Housing, then have that Schedule sealed by your warranty insurance provider. The warranty provider needs to stamp the Schedule to confirm warranty insurance is in place for the proposed renovation.
Once you have completed the Schedule, bring it to your local municipality or regional district as part of your building permit application. The completed Schedule acts as official confirmation that the renovation will be conducted by a licensed building envelope renovator and the renovation has warranty insurance.
Make sure you keep the pink copy of each Building Envelope Renovation Schedule you complete for your records.