Building a custom home in Vancouver: its own building by-law, the R1-1 zone and what changes from Burnaby

Is building a custom home in Vancouver different from Burnaby?

Yes, and the difference starts with the rulebook. Every other city we build in, Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Abbotsford, uses the BC Building Code. The Province's own page on the 2024 edition says it in one line: the BC codes do not apply in the City of Vancouver, which has its own building by-law. Cross Boundary Road from Burnaby Heights into Hastings-Sunrise and the document your house is designed and inspected against changes.

The rain is the same. The soils along the Burrard Inlet slope are the same. The trades are the same crews. What changes is who wrote the rules, how the City checks them, and what the zoning lets you put on the lot.

The Vancouver Building By-law

Vancouver is enabled under the Vancouver Charter to adopt by-laws regulating the design and construction of buildings, and it has used that power for decades. The City's own page lists the areas where it says its by-law has let it lead: safety, health, accessibility, alterations to existing and heritage buildings, energy use, rainscreen cladding, and seismic and climate provisions.

The current edition is the 2025 Vancouver Building By-law. On May 20, 2025, Council adopted the 2024 BC Building Code with Vancouver-specific provisions, and the by-law generally came into effect on September 15, 2025. Some parts were delayed. The seismic design provisions in Part 4 and Part 9 need not apply to building permits submitted before September 15, 2026, with a possible further deferral for projects already in the application queue. Book II, the plumbing side, is based on the 2020 National Plumbing Code with Vancouver-specific options.

What this means in practice: the bones of a Vancouver house are close to a Burnaby house, because the 2025 by-law is built on the same 2024 provincial code. The differences sit in the Vancouver-specific layers, and those are exactly the layers a designer who mostly works in Burnaby can miss. We treat every Vancouver drawing set as a fresh check against the by-law rather than a copy of a Burnaby set.

Energy and zero-emission rules

This is where Vancouver has been ahead of the province for years, and where a Burnaby-trained instinct will get you the wrong mechanical design.

Vancouver's energy requirements for new single-family and 1 to 3 storey homes live in Part 10 of the by-law. Three facts from that page shape every custom home we plan in the city:

• Building permit applications made after January 1, 2022 require electric space heating and hot water for most new low-rise residential construction. Electric resistance or an electric heat pump both qualify. Gas furnaces and gas water heaters are out of the design from day one.
• Effective March 1, 2025, the by-law aligned with EL-4, the top tier of the BC Zero Carbon Step Code, and all new 1 to 3 storey residential buildings on the performance path have to meet one of three emissions targets.
• There are three ways to comply with Part 10: prescriptive targets for the envelope and mechanical components, a performance path verified by energy modelling, or Passive House certification.

The City also requires builders to work with an energy advisor through design and inspection: a pre-permit checklist, a home energy model, a blower door test to measure air leakage, a mid-construction review and a final evaluation. New homes over 325 square metres of floor area need a greenhouse gas limit calculation as well. And the City grants a floor area exclusion for the extra wall thickness that thicker insulation needs, so a well-insulated wall does not eat into the allowed size of the house.

Burnaby gets to a similar end point by a different route. For building permits submitted on or after January 1, 2025, Burnaby requires Step 3 of the Energy Step Code plus EL-4 of the Zero Carbon Step Code for homes with a footprint under 600 square metres and three storeys or less. Both cities end with a heat pump, a heat recovery ventilator and an airtightness test. The forms, the modelling software the City accepts and the checklists differ, and the energy advisor has to know which city's set they are filling in.

Vancouver also pays for performance. Its zero emissions building incentives, extended by Council to October 31, 2030, offer a 19 percent floor space increase for smaller buildings that meet the CHBA Net Zero or Passive House standard. On a tight Kitsilano lot where every square metre of floor area counts, that incentive can decide whether a family gets the third bedroom.

The R1-1 zone

Vancouver did its own version of the provincial small-scale housing change, and did it earlier. The Province's small-scale multi-unit housing rules require three to four units on urban residential parcels, and six near frequent bus service. Vancouver's R1-1 zone took effect on October 17, 2023 and applies in all areas previously zoned RS, the former single-family zones across the city.

The City lists what an R1-1 lot can carry, with floor space ratio, the ratio of floor area to lot area, as the measure:

• A single detached house, which can include a secondary suite and a laneway house, at up to 0.6 FSR, plus 0.25 FSR for the laneway house.
• A duplex, two strata units with up to two secondary suites, at up to 0.7 FSR.
• A retained character house, renovated and possibly converted to multiple strata units or paired with a new infill building, at up to 0.85 FSR.
• A multiplex of 3 to 6 strata units, or up to 8 units for secured rental, depending on site size, at up to 1.0 FSR.

Read that list from the top and the pattern is clear. The more housing the lot delivers, the more floor area the City allows. A single custom home on an R1-1 lot gets the smallest allowance on the menu, and the 2023 changes made a modest reduction to the maximum size of a new house at the same time. A client who wants one large family home in Dunbar is choosing the option the zone rewards least, which is fine, but it should be a deliberate choice made with the numbers in front of them. Our custom homes service walks through that decision with the zoning schedule open.

Burnaby's equivalent is the R1 Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing District under the City's new zoning bylaw, which the City says is in effect as of July 1, 2026 and replaces the 1965 bylaw. Same idea, different numbers, and the Burnaby schedule is the one to read for a Capitol Hill or Deer Lake lot.

Laneway houses

Vancouver has allowed laneway houses in most of its low-density areas since 2009, so a lane-facing second home is a well-worn path at the City's permit counter. Under R1-1, a laneway house can be built alongside a new or existing single detached house at up to 0.25 FSR, with a maximum of 186 square metres (2,000 square feet). The 2023 changes simplified the design rules and increased the maximum size so a laneway house can hold a family.

The rule that surprises owners: a Vancouver laneway house cannot be strata-titled or sold separately from the main house. It is a rental or a home for a parent or an adult child, and it stays on the same title. Anyone planning a laneway house as a future separate sale needs to know that before the drawings start.

Character home retention

Vancouver's east side and its older west side streets carry a lot of pre-1940 housing, and the City would rather see it kept. Since Council's decision of January 16, 2018, an owner who retains a character house in any R1-1 zone can add floor area to it, convert it into multiple units, build an infill house in the rear yard where the garage would normally go, and rent or strata-title the units in the infill or the converted house. That is how the 0.85 FSR on the menu above is reached.

Character houses are typically built before 1940 and must meet the City's criteria. The check is a character merit assessment, which reviews the front and street-facing sides of the house. The City asks owners to apply for one before renovating, redeveloping or demolishing any house built before 1940, because the assessment also sets the level of recycling required if the house comes down. In R1-1 the assessment is only mandatory when an owner is pursuing the retention route, so a teardown of a tired 1930s house in Renfrew can proceed, with the recycling requirement attached. We compared the two cities' approaches in our post on character home retention incentives in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Same rain, same soils, same trades. Different rulebook. In Vancouver the rulebook is written at City Hall, and the design has to start from that page rather than from a Burnaby set.

Icon Projects Team

The permit process at the City of Vancouver

The City's steps for a new duplex, single detached house or laneway house run in a fixed order, and the order matters.

Before applying, the City asks you to check whether the site sits on an artesian well or aquifer, has an underground fuel storage tank, contains a protected archaeological site, or falls in the Japanese beetle regulated area, and to design for tree retention. It recommends hiring a residential designer or architect. Then comes a step Burnaby does not have in the same place: a sewer and water connection permit has to be applied for before the development and building permit application goes in.

The application itself is one combined development and building permit, plus a demolition permit if there is a house to remove, all through the City's online development and business services site with personalized checklists. After the City checks the application for completeness, it asks for fees. After a detailed review by several staff teams, it sends a list of conditions and any outstanding development cost levies, development cost charges and deposits. Once issued, work has to begin within 6 months or the permit becomes invalid, trade permits follow, inspections are booked through construction, and an occupancy permit closes it out.

Burnaby's new home construction process front-loads the engineering instead. Its engineering pre-application needs a topographical survey and a proposed driveway drawing, and the City allows about 15 business days to review a complete pre-application before the building permit review starts. We wrote about how that plays out next door in our New Westminster guide, where heritage review adds its own step.

What a Vancouver lot asks of a builder

Put the pieces together and a Vancouver custom home has a distinct order of operations. Zoning first, because R1-1 offers several building types on the same lot and the floor area follows the choice. Energy second, because the mechanical system is electric from the start and the compliance path has to be chosen before the envelope is drawn. Character check third, if the house on the lot predates 1940. Sewer and water permit fourth, before the main application. Then the by-law, the 2025 edition, applied line by line rather than assumed from a Burnaby project.

We build on both sides of Boundary Road, and the houses that go smoothly in Vancouver are the ones where the team stopped treating the city as Burnaby with different street names. It is its own jurisdiction, with its own code, and a good design starts by reading it.

Frequently asked questions

Does the BC Building Code apply in the City of Vancouver?

No. The Province's own page on the 2024 BC Building Code states that the BC codes do not apply in the City of Vancouver, which has its own building by-law. Vancouver is enabled under the Vancouver Charter to adopt by-laws regulating the design and construction of buildings, and the Vancouver Building By-law is what a custom home in Kitsilano or Dunbar is designed and inspected against. Every other city Icon Projects builds in, including Burnaby, uses the BC Building Code.

What is the 2025 Vancouver Building By-law and when did it take effect?

On May 20, 2025, Vancouver City Council adopted the 2024 BC Building Code with Vancouver-specific provisions as the 2025 Vancouver Building By-law, and it generally came into effect on September 15, 2025. The City delayed some parts, including the new seismic design provisions in Part 4 and Part 9, which need not apply to building permits submitted before September 15, 2026. Its plumbing book is based on the 2020 National Plumbing Code with Vancouver-specific options.

What is the R1-1 zone in Vancouver and what can be built on an R1-1 lot?

R1-1 is the low density residential inclusive zone that took effect on October 17, 2023, and it applies in all areas of Vancouver previously zoned RS. The City lists the options on an R1-1 lot as a single detached house with a secondary suite and laneway house at up to 0.6 FSR plus 0.25 FSR for the laneway house, a duplex at up to 0.7 FSR, a retained character house at up to 0.85 FSR, or a multiplex of 3 to 6 strata units at up to 1.0 FSR depending on site size. Which one fits depends on the lot, the street and what the owner wants to live in.

How big can a laneway house be in Vancouver, and can it be sold on its own?

The City of Vancouver allows a laneway house alongside a new or existing single detached house at up to 0.25 FSR, with a maximum of 186 square metres, or 2,000 square feet. It cannot be strata-titled or sold separately from the main house, so it works as a rental or a home for family rather than a separate sale. Laneway houses have been an option in most of Vancouver's low-density areas since 2009.

Does a new custom home in Vancouver have to use electric heating?

For most new low-rise residential buildings, yes. The City of Vancouver requires electric space heating and hot water for building permit applications made after January 1, 2022, and either electric resistance or an electric heat pump can meet that requirement. Since March 1, 2025, the Vancouver Building By-law has also aligned with EL-4, the top tier of the BC Zero Carbon Step Code, for new 1 to 3 storey residential buildings on the performance path.

Do I need a character merit assessment before demolishing an older house in Vancouver?

The City of Vancouver asks owners to apply for a character merit assessment before renovating, redeveloping or demolishing a house built before 1940. The assessment reviews the front and street-facing sides of the house and determines whether it qualifies for the conditional zoning that comes with retention, and the level of recycling required if it is demolished. In R1-1, the assessment is only required if the owner is pursuing a character retention proposal, so a straight teardown of a pre-1940 house still needs the recycling review but can proceed without the retention route.

How is the Vancouver building permit process different from Burnaby's?

In Vancouver a new house, duplex, multiplex or laneway house goes through one combined development and building permit, applied for online, with a sewer and water connection permit required before that application and a demolition permit if there is an existing house. Once issued, work has to begin within 6 months or the permit becomes invalid. Burnaby runs a separate engineering pre-application that needs a topographical survey and a driveway drawing before the building permit review, which the City allows about 15 business days to review once complete.

Are Vancouver's energy rules stricter than Burnaby's for a new custom home?

They arrive at a similar place by different routes. Burnaby requires Step 3 of the BC Energy Step Code plus EL-4 of the Zero Carbon Step Code for building permits submitted on or after January 1, 2025. Vancouver, under Part 10 of its own building by-law, has required electric space heating and hot water since January 2022 and aligned with EL-4 on March 1, 2025, and it offers three compliance routes: prescriptive targets, an energy-modelled performance path, or Passive House certification. Both cities end up with a heat pump and an airtightness test; the checklists and the modelling forms differ.