The Custom Home Guide
What it actually takes to build a custom home in BC.
Six chapters covering everything between deciding to build and the year-five conversation about what you'd do differently. Written by the team that's been doing this in Greater Vancouver since 2004 — not a vendor, not a magazine.
What this guide is
- — Honest sequencing of the real custom-home timeline.
- — Specific BC and Burnaby examples (bylaws, Step Code, geotech).
- — Hard-won lessons from clients three and five years in.
- — Direct links to the right people and the right municipal pages.
What this guide isn't
- — A pricing calculator. We don't do public number ranges; talk to us.
- — A pitch. Most of these chapters tell you when not to build with anyone.
- — A substitute for permit-stamped drawings and a real builder agreement.
- — Generic "10 tips" filler — every chapter is specific to one decision.
The six chapters
Read in order if you're early in the process, or jump to the chapter that matches where you are. Each one ends with the related Journal posts that go deeper.
- 1
Chapter 1
Getting Started: Lot, Vision, Builder
Before drawings begin: how to evaluate a lot, set realistic ambitions, and choose a builder who'll still be standing five years in.
Read chapter
- 2
Chapter 2
Design & Drawings
Architect drawings vs. builder drawings, what permit-ready actually means, and how to avoid the mid-design rework that costs months.
Read chapter
- 3
Chapter 3
Permits, Zoning & Site Conditions
Burnaby permit timelines, hillside lots, tree bylaws, geotechnical reports — the regulatory layer that makes or breaks a schedule.
Read chapter
- 4
Chapter 4
On-Site: The Construction Phase
What actually happens between excavation and drywall — the sequencing, decisions and walkthroughs that decide how the house ages.
Read chapter
- 5
Chapter 5
Finishing & Handover
Material choices that age beautifully, why we don't believe in builder-grade, and how a real handover differs from a punch list.
Read chapter
- 6
Chapter 6
After You Move In
Five-year regrets, three-year mistakes, and what we hear from clients once they've actually lived in the home they spent two years building.
Read chapter
Renovating an existing home instead?
The Renovation Guide covers the keep-and-update path.
Renovate vs. rebuild, scope, permits, living through it, materials and year-five lessons — six chapters, end-to-end.
Read the Renovation GuideStill choosing a builder?
The Builder Selection Guide helps you run the right checks first.
Credential checks, design-build vs. architect decisions, contract questions — before you sign anything.
Read the Builder Selection GuideFAQ
- How long does the custom home process take in BC?
- From first conversation to keys, expect 18–30 months for a typical Greater Vancouver custom home. Roughly 4–8 months in planning and design, 6–10 months in permits and review depending on the municipality, and 12–16 months on site. Hillside lots, tree-protected sites and Step 5 energy detailing all push the upper end.
- Do I need an architect or just a builder?
- It depends on the scope and the lot. Standard rebuilds on simple lots can be done with a designer and a strong builder-led drawing set. Complex sites — heritage, hillside, sensitive view corridors, multi-family transitions — usually benefit from a licensed architect. The chapter on Design & Drawings explains how to decide.
- When in the process should I bring in a builder?
- Earlier than most homeowners think. Bringing a builder into pre-design conversations means feasibility, structural sequencing and material lead-time realities feed into the drawings — instead of being discovered (expensively) after permit. Pre-construction services agreements exist exactly for this reason.
- What's the difference between a custom home and a major renovation?
- A major renovation keeps the foundation and key structural elements; a custom home rebuilds from grade up. The decision often comes down to lot value, structural condition of the existing home, and whether current zoning lets you build the home you actually want. Our 'Custom Home vs. Major Renovation' chapter walks through the trigger points.
- Can you build to BC Energy Step Code Step 5?
- Yes. Step 5 is mandatory in Burnaby for most new Part 9 single-family construction, and increasingly common across BC. It's an envelope-and-airtightness story — mechanical, glazing and detailing decisions made in design dictate whether you'll hit it on the blower door test.