What a Condo Renovation Costs in Vancouver, and What Sets the Price

Why we publish no condo price list

Two condo kitchens with the same cabinets and counters can need different amounts of labour, because each building decides how work inside it is done. One building may allow work during more hours of the day than another. One may require a booked elevator for every delivery. One may ask for a deposit and a set of documents before the first day.

These conditions are written in each building's bylaws, its rules and its alteration agreement, the written permission with conditions that some stratas ask an owner to sign before a renovation. Section 120 of BC's Strata Property Act lets a strata file its own bylaws in place of the Standard Bylaws, so the conditions differ from one address to the next.

A price list would have to assume one set of conditions. We read your building's documents and visit the unit, then price the work for that building.

Our published 2026 ranges for the same work in a house

The table gives the ranges we publish for houses on the North Shore, taken from our renovation costs guide. Read each one as the price of that building work in a house.

How to read the house ranges

Each range is construction cost only. Design fees, municipal permit fees, engineering, appliances and furnishings are separate.

We publish no figure for flooring alone, in a house or in a condo. A flooring price depends on the product, the area, the state of the floor underneath and, in a condo, the layer your building's bylaws require under the new floor.

We apply no percentage to these ranges to reach a condo price. Each condition in the next section is priced as its own line, after we have read your building's documents.

What a condo adds to the same scope

A condo adds planning before the work and labour during it. The table lists each condition, the work it adds, and who sets it. Ask your strata for its own answers in writing, because each building sets its own hours, bookings, fees and deposits.

Hazardous materials: the inspection comes before the price

Section 20.112 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation requires the employers responsible for a renovation, and the owner, to ensure that a qualified person inspects the building for hazardous materials before work begins. The qualified person takes samples and writes a report that gives the location and the approximate quantity of each hazardous material.

The report changes the price in one of two ways. If it finds nothing hazardous in the areas the work will disturb, the cost is the inspection alone. If it finds asbestos, that material must be contained or removed before any work that may disturb it, and a qualified person must confirm this in writing (section 20.112(7) and (8)). WorkSafeBC states that since January 1, 2024, asbestos abatement contractors, the companies that remove or contain asbestos, must be licensed to operate in BC.

We state no price for an inspection or for removal, because we have no published figure for either. We arrange the inspection before the price is fixed, so the quote you sign already includes the result. The same rule applies to a house. In a condo, send the report to the strata with your request.

Concrete, electrical and gas work

Cutting or drilling concrete adds two kinds of work. The first is approval. Where the concrete is part of the building's structure, Standard Bylaw 5(1)(a) requires the strata's written approval, and your building may ask for a structural engineer's letter with the request.

The second is dust control. WorkSafeBC says cutting, drilling or grinding concrete releases silica dust, which can cause silicosis, a lung disease that cannot be reversed. Section 6.112 of the regulation requires a risk assessment by a qualified person before workers do this work. Section 6.112.2 puts dust reduction systems and containment first among the controls. In a condo, the containment also has to keep the dust out of the hallway.

Electrical and gas work is done by licensed contractors under permits. Technical Safety BC states that owners of a strata cannot obtain homeowner permits and must hire a licensed contractor. Its examples of electrical work that needs a permit include moving an outlet and connecting a dishwasher or a range hood. Inside the City of Vancouver, the City issues these permits and sets the fees. We confirm the amounts with the City for each job and state none here.

The strata's insurance deductible

One cost of a condo renovation is outside the contractor's quote: the risk that a leak during the work leads to a claim on the strata's insurance. A deductible is the first part of a claim, which the insurer leaves the insured party to pay.

The Province of BC says strata corporation deductibles can range from $100,000 to $750,000 or higher. It also says a strata may recover the deductible from an owner who is deemed responsible for the loss, and that an owner can be deemed responsible without being negligent.

The same page says an owner's own policy can cover some or all of that deductible. Call your insurance broker before the work starts, say that the unit will be under renovation, and ask what the policy covers during that time. Only the broker can tell you whether your premium changes.

Your building's bylaws or alteration agreement set the liability insurance a contractor must show. We send our certificate with the strata request.

What a condo leaves out compared with a house

A renovation inside a condo unit has no roof, siding, foundation or yard drainage in its scope. Under Standard Bylaw 8, the strata corporation repairs and maintains the common property, and inside a unit it repairs the structure of the building, the exterior, and the doors, windows and skylights on the exterior. Those parts are the strata's to repair.

A house renovation can include work on any of those parts, and the house owner pays for all of it. A condo owner's contract covers the inside of the unit.

Two limits apply. An owner still needs the strata's written approval to change an exterior window or door, under Standard Bylaw 5(1)(d). And section 72 of the Act lets a strata pass a bylaw that makes an owner responsible for repairing limited common property the owner has a right to use, such as a balcony. Read your building's bylaws for a clause of that kind.

What we need to see before we give a fixed price

A fixed price needs a written scope and the facts about your building. We ask for these before we quote:

• The unit itself, on a site visit. We find where the drains and ducts run, what the floor and walls are made of, where the electrical panel is, and how materials will travel from the loading area to your door.
• The bylaws, the rules and any renovation form or alteration agreement. The strata must provide the bylaws and rules within one week of an owner's request (Strata Property Act, section 36(3)).
• The registered strata plan, the drawing that shows the boundaries of your unit and the common property. The strata must keep a copy (section 35(2)(b)) and provide its records within 2 weeks of a request (section 36(3)).
• Any drawings of the building the strata holds for the walls and pipes the work will touch.
• The hazardous materials report for the areas the work will disturb.
• Your choices of flooring, fixtures and appliances, because the strata request needs the product sheets.

Before the fixed price, and after the council answers

Before we have those documents, we can give a range and name each unknown fact that could change it. If the council asks for a change to the work, we revise the scope, the price and the schedule together and send them back as one document.

The calculators on this site

Three calculators on this site help with early planning. All three are built on our published figures for houses.

The renovation cost calculator gives a kitchen or bathroom range by scope and room size. The project timeline calculator lists the stages of a kitchen or bathroom renovation in weeks, and its stages include no time for strata approval. The renovation ROI calculator compares the cost of a renovation with the value it adds to the home.

Use each result as the house figure for the same work. Then ask us for a quote for your building.