Custom Home Guide · Chapter 1 of 6
Getting Started: Lot, Vision, Builder
Most expensive mistakes on a custom home are made before a single drawing is paid for. This chapter is the work that happens upstream of design.
The lot decides more than the architect
Greater Vancouver lots vary wildly in what they'll let you do. Slope, soil, tree coverage, view-corridor protections, easements, and the FSR your zoning permits all shape the eventual house far more than any design preference. Before you fall in love with a piece of land, walk it with someone who has rebuilt on a similar slope and pulled a permit on the same street.
Burnaby in particular has a layered set of bylaws — the tree-protection bylaw, hillside-development requirements, and Step Code 5 energy targets — that turn an "obvious" rebuild into a 14-month engineering exercise on the wrong lot.
Builder selection is a five-year decision
You are picking the company that will be receiving warranty calls in 2031. The questions to ask aren't about portfolio glamour shots — they're about how the builder handles change orders, who actually shows up on site, what happens when a subtrade misses a sequencing deadline, and whether the company has been around long enough to honour its own warranty.
- How long has the company been licensed under its current legal name?
- Who is the named superintendent on this project, and how many active jobs do they run?
- Can you visit a job they finished four-plus years ago, not the new ones?
- What does their pre-construction services agreement actually include?
Custom or major renovation?
The framing question is often miscast. The honest one: does the existing house let you build the home you actually want under current zoning, or are you about to spend custom-home money to keep a foundation you don't love? The chapter on "Custom Home vs. Major Renovation" walks through the tipping points — generally structural condition, lot value relative to dwelling, and how aggressive the program is.
When this chapter applies
A quick framing of when the advice above is the right advice — and when it isn't.
Best for
- Owners who haven't bought the lot yet — feasibility before commitment.
- Anyone choosing between renovation and rebuild on the same property.
- First-time custom-home buyers who need a vetting framework for builders.
Fails when
- Lot is already purchased and the geotech surprises are baked in.
- Builder shortlist has already been reduced to one without comparison.
- Owner is emotionally committed to a layout the zoning won't permit.
Verify before acting
- Confirm zoning, FSR, setbacks and tree coverage with the municipality.
- Order a preliminary geotech if there's any visible slope or fill.
- Reverse-search builder licence and BC Housing licensing history.
Go deeper in the Journal
Detail-level posts that expand on specific topics from this chapter.
Planning
A Lot Evaluation Checklist Before You Buy a Burnaby Teardown
What we walk a Burnaby teardown lot for before subjects come off — the constraints that don't show up in MLS photos but reshape what you can actually build.
Read · 8 min
Process
How to Choose a Custom Home Builder in Burnaby and Across BC
The Lower Mainland has hundreds of active residential builders. A much smaller number are excellent. Here's how to read the difference, with the BC regulatory checks every Burnaby owner should run before signing.
Read · 9 min
Process
12 Questions to Ask Before Signing a Custom Home Contract in Burnaby and BC
Most Burnaby owners ask three or four of these in their builder interviews. The other eight are where projects actually break. Bring this list to every builder you interview.
Read · 9 min
Decision
Custom Home vs Major Renovation in Burnaby: When Does Each One Win?
Most Burnaby owners walk in with their mind made up. About a third leave with the opposite plan. Here's how the BC Building Code, the tree bylaw, and the lot itself usually decide it for them.
Read · 9 min
Local
Building a Custom Home in the Fraser Valley vs Burnaby: What's Actually Different
Burnaby and the Fraser Valley sit a 50-minute drive apart and feel like different building environments. Soils, drainage, permitting, trades, climate — here's what actually changes when a Burnaby owner considers a Fraser Valley acreage instead.
Read · 9 min
Official sources