Condo Renovation Permits in Vancouver: Who Issues What

Strata approval and City permits are two separate permissions

A condo renovation can need permission from two bodies, and each one decides for itself. The strata corporation applies its bylaws. The City of Vancouver applies its building, electrical and gas rules.

You need each one for the work it covers. The strata's approval letter answers the building's bylaws, and a City permit answers the City's rules. Under Standard Bylaw 5(1), an owner must have the strata's written approval before altering the items on its list, which include the structure of the building and the parts of the unit the strata must insure.

The table shows each permission, who gives it, and where the rule is written.

Electrical and gas permits come from the City

In most of BC, Technical Safety BC issues electrical and gas permits. It is the body that runs the province's Safety Standards Act. The City of Vancouver is one of the exceptions.

Technical Safety BC's Jurisdiction page states: "There are 10 municipalities that are delegated portions of the Safety Standards Act to issue electrical and/or gas permits and to perform assessments. Technical Safety BC typically does not issue permits or perform assessments for electrical or gas work and equipment in these areas." The list on that page includes the City of Vancouver for both electrical and gas.

Its page on electrical installation permits repeats the point. Technical Safety BC issues those permits "unless you are located in one of the following areas, in which case you should check with the municipality or district", and Vancouver is in the list that follows.

For gas, the same Jurisdiction page sets a limit on what a local government can issue. For a building other than a fully detached house, a local government can issue a natural gas installation permit where the gas meter pressure is 2 psi (14 kPa) or less and the total connected load is 409,600 BTU per hour (120 kW) or less. Technical Safety BC keeps jurisdiction over other regulated gases, such as propane.

Licensing stays with the province. The page says that although these 10 jurisdictions have oversight for electrical or gas, "Technical Safety BC still oversees contractor licensing and certification of qualified individuals".

A strata owner hires a licensed contractor

A condo owner cannot do electrical or gas work under a homeowner permit from Technical Safety BC. Both of its homeowner permit pages state: "Owners of a strata, non-strata duplex, and those operating a business from their home cannot obtain homeowner permits and must hire a licensed contractor." That is Technical Safety BC's rule for the permits it issues. The City of Vancouver issues its own permits, so confirm with the City who may apply for one.

The same pages give examples of work that needs a permit under the provincial rules. For electrical work, the examples include replacing light fixtures, installing or moving light switches or electrical outlets, and connecting permanently installed equipment such as a dishwasher, a range hood or a heat pump. For gas, they include installing or replacing a gas range or cooktop and installing or replacing gas piping.

The contractor handles the application. Technical Safety BC says: "if you are hiring a licensed contractor, your contractor will apply on your behalf. Check to ensure there is one in place before work begins." On its own electrical permits, a Field Safety Representative, a certified person who can declare that finished electrical work meets the rules, must be named on every application.

Two more sentences from Technical Safety BC explain why this matters to an owner. The first: "Permits are a legal requirement in BC and are often necessary for home insurance purposes." The second: "If you do not obtain a permit when required by law to do so, you may face consequences that range from a warning to a monetary penalty or prosecution."

Building permits: Vancouver has its own building by-law

The BC Building Code is the Province's set of rules for new construction, alterations and repairs. A condo inside the City of Vancouver falls under a different document. The Province's page for the BC Building Code 2024 states: "Note: BC Codes don't apply in the City of Vancouver which has its own building bylaw."

This matters when you read about permits online. An article that quotes the BC Building Code, or the permit rules of another municipality, describes a different set of rules from the one the City of Vancouver applies. The current provincial code came into effect on March 8, 2024, and it applies in BC outside the City of Vancouver.

Which condo work needs a City building permit, what the permit costs and how long it takes are questions only the City can answer. The next section explains why this page gives no answer to them.

What we could not verify, and how to ask the City

The City of Vancouver's website refused our automated requests on October 4, 2026. We used no copy of its pages from any other website. For that reason this page states no City permit fee, no processing time and no list of work that is exempt from a permit. We publish only figures we have read in their primary source.

Ask the City's permit office directly, in writing, and keep the reply. The City's open data page for issued building permits lists two City pages by title, "When you need a permit" and "Building permit", as places for further information. Send the questions below with a description of your work.

• Does this scope of work in a strata unit need a building permit? Describe each change: walls, plumbing, electrical, flooring, fixtures.
• Does it need an electrical permit, a gas permit or any other trade permit, and who is allowed to apply for each one?
• What drawings or documents does the application need?
• What is the fee for each permit, and how is it calculated?
• What is the current processing time?
• Which inspections does the City carry out, and at which points in the work?
• Does the City ask for a letter from the strata corporation with the application?

The inspection the law requires before work begins

One legal step applies before any renovation work, with or without a permit. Section 20.112(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation says that before work begins on the renovation of a building, all employers responsible for that work, and the owner, must ensure that a qualified person inspects the building and the worksite to identify the hazardous materials, if any.

The qualified person writes a report, and the employers and the owner must make sure it is available at the worksite. If the report identifies a hazardous material, no work that may disturb it can be carried out until it is safely contained or removed, and a qualified person has confirmed that in writing (section 20.112(7) and (8)).

Asbestos removal has its own paperwork. WorkSafeBC states that a notice of project must be submitted to WorkSafeBC for all asbestos work, and that since January 1, 2024, asbestos abatement contractors, the companies that remove or contain asbestos, must be licensed to operate in BC.

Where BC's strata law mentions building permits

The Strata Property Act links strata approval and building permits in one section. Section 70 covers the removal of all or part of a wall that is a common boundary between adjoining strata lots, for example when one owner joins two units. Section 70(3) says the owner must give copies of any required building permits to the strata corporation when seeking its approval.

Section 70(2) also links the strata's answer to the building rules. The strata must approve the removal unless it fails to comply with a building regulation or any applicable municipal bylaws, or interferes with utilities or other services to another strata lot or the common property.

For other work, your building's own bylaws or its alteration agreement, the written permission with conditions that some stratas ask an owner to sign, may ask for permit copies. Read them, and ask the strata manager in writing what the council wants to see and when.

A public record of issued building permits

The City publishes a data set called "Issued building permits" on its open data site, under the Open Government Licence - Vancouver. Its description says it includes information on all building permits issued by the City, starting in 2017, and that the current year's extract is updated daily. The description adds that the data shows a permit as it was issued and leaves out later changes.

When we queried the data set on October 4, 2026, it held 52,248 records, with issue dates from January 3, 2017 to October 2, 2026. Each record gives the address, the issue date, the type of work, the use of the property and the applicant. Records from 2018 onward also carry a description of the project.

The type of work field takes six values. On that date, 25,846 records were marked "Addition / Alteration", 11,964 "New Building", 7,128 "Demolition / Deconstruction", 6,750 "Salvage and Abatement", 498 "Temporary Building / Structure" and 62 "Outdoor Uses (No Buildings Proposed)". Of the addition and alteration records, 5,479 carried the specific use category "Multiple Dwelling". That label is the City's own and the data set gives it no definition, so we draw no conclusion about which buildings it covers.

The data set has one practical use for a condo owner. Search it for your building's street address and read the project descriptions of the permits issued there. You will see whether permits have been issued for work in your own building and how that work was described. Treat the result as a record of past permits, and ask the City what your own work needs.

How we handle permits on a condo job

We ask the City about the scope of each project before we give a start date, and we keep its reply with the job's documents. The licensed electrical and gas contractors apply for their own permits, and we check that each permit is in place before that trade starts.

We tell the strata which permits the work needs in the renovation request, and we send copies where the building's bylaws or approval ask for them. At the end you receive the permits and inspection records for the file you keep for the unit, beside the strata's approval letter and the hazardous materials report.