Coverage
What Van Permit Audit checks, and which BC bylaws it reads against
Van Permit Audit covers seven kinds of residential building-permit documents (renovation, laneway or coach house, secondary suite, new single-family or duplex construction, demolition, heritage-area work, and accessory buildings) across 38 British Columbia municipalities, including the City of Vancouver. Every check is anchored to a specific section of a specific municipal bylaw for the project's own city. This page is the authoritative record of exactly what that means, and what is not yet covered.
The seven permit types we cover
A quick read for homeowners, renovators, real-estate professionals, and contractors trying to figure out whether Van Permit Audit is the right tool for their specific project.
Renovation & major alteration
When it applies
Structural changes, additions, interior reconfiguration of more than one room, or any work affecting the building envelope on existing Vancouver residential property.
Governing bylaws
Vancouver Building By-law 2025 (Volumes 1 & 2), Zoning & Development By-law §4 General Regulations, applicable district schedule (e.g. RS-1, RT, RM, CD-1).
What we check
FSR impact of the addition, height increase against zoning maximum, setback encroachments, lot-coverage after expansion, heritage-overlay restrictions, parking adequacy post-renovation.
Typical gotcha
Adding a dormer or raising a roof often pushes a legal building over the district FSR cap, the #1 reason Vancouver renovation permits come back for revision.
Laneway house
When it applies
Proposal to build a detached secondary dwelling in the rear yard of a single-family lot (RS, RT-5, or specific CD-1 districts in Vancouver).
Governing bylaws
Zoning & Development By-law §4, district schedule (RS-1, RS-5, RT), VBBL 2025 Part 9, Parking By-law 6059 §3.
What we check
Minimum lot size for eligibility, maximum laneway FSR (typically 0.16 FSR), building height limit, setbacks from principal house and side/rear property lines, required parking retention, tree-protection buffer around retained trees.
Typical gotcha
Vancouver laneway rules allow up to 0.16 FSR on top of principal-house FSR, but the 10-foot side-setback-reduction only applies if the side yard is at least 0.5m, miss that and the laneway doesn't qualify for the relaxation.
Secondary suite conversion
When it applies
Converting a basement, attic, or portion of an existing single-family home into a separate legal dwelling unit.
Governing bylaws
Zoning & Development By-law §4 (secondary suite regulations), VBBL 2025 Part 9 egress requirements, Parking By-law 6059 §3.
What we check
Minimum ceiling height, separate-exit compliance, smoke-alarm and fire-separation requirements, maximum suite floor area as fraction of principal dwelling, additional parking space (where applicable), minimum window sizes for bedroom egress.
Typical gotcha
The 80% rule, a secondary suite cannot exceed 40% of the total habitable floor area of the house, or 968 sq ft, whichever is less. Designs routinely ignore this.
New single-family / duplex construction
When it applies
Demolition of existing structure and construction of a new principal residence, or new duplex on RT or RS-zoned land.
Governing bylaws
Full zoning district schedule, VBBL 2025 (both volumes), Parking By-law, Noise Control By-law 6555 for construction hours.
What we check
FSR, site coverage, height from established grade, front/side/rear setbacks, minimum lot frontage, basement exemption rules, usable open space, parking stall count and dimensions, tree-protection and replacement requirements.
Typical gotcha
"Established grade" in Vancouver is calculated from the average of four points around the building perimeter, not from the street, height calculations done from the sidewalk are systematically wrong.
Demolition
When it applies
Tearing down an existing structure, often a preliminary step before a new build or major renovation.
Governing bylaws
Vancouver Building By-law 2025 §8 Demolition, Noise Control By-law 6555, tree-protection provisions in the Zoning By-law.
What we check
Hazardous-materials survey referenced, sediment-control plan, street-use plan for dumpsters and equipment, permitted demolition hours, protected-tree survey, replacement-tree commitment.
Typical gotcha
Vancouver requires a tree-permit review as part of demolition when any tree over 20 cm DBH is within the construction envelope, missing this clause delays demolition start by weeks.
Heritage-area work
When it applies
Any permit affecting a property designated on the Vancouver Heritage Register, or located in a Heritage Conservation Area (First Shaughnessy, Gastown, Chinatown, etc.).
Governing bylaws
Heritage Conservation Area bylaws (currently on the roadmap), Zoning §11 CD Districts, applicable district schedule.
What we check
Retention of designated heritage features, compatibility of additions with character-defining elements, material restrictions, setback and massing overlays specific to the heritage area.
Typical gotcha
Heritage incentives (density bonuses, FSR relaxations) are traded for specific heritage commitments, losing track of which commitments correspond to which incentives can invalidate the whole permit.
Accessory building & garage
When it applies
Detached structures that are not dwellings, garages, sheds over regulated size, garden suites, workshop buildings, pool houses.
Governing bylaws
Zoning & Development By-law §4.7, district schedule, VBBL 2025 Part 9 where the structure is heated or plumbed.
What we check
Maximum footprint, maximum height, minimum rear-yard setback, permitted coverage as percentage of rear yard, requirement for a concrete slab vs. gravel base, habitability prohibition (no kitchens, no sleeping).
Typical gotcha
A "garage with a loft" that has plumbing or a kitchenette stops being an accessory building under the zoning definition and starts being a dwelling, which usually violates the district's single-dwelling rule.
What a "compliance check" actually produces
A Vancouver permit compliance check is not a yes-or-no verdict. It is a line-by-line reconciliation between the values in your architectural drawings (setbacks, FSR, height, lot coverage, parking counts) and the values required by the specific bylaw sections that govern your zoning district. Each line is graded Pass, Warning, or Fail, with a confidence score and a direct citation to the bylaw clause.
Here is what that looks like in practice for a typical review:
Worked example
A 33-foot-wide RS-1 lot on Vancouver's east side, owner proposes a 1,900 sq ft new single-family home with an attached garage and a rooftop deck.
FSR calculation
Permitted 0.60 FSR (2,178 sq ft max habitable) · Proposed 1,900 sq ft · PASS
Building height
Permitted 35'6" from grade · Proposed 34'2" to midpoint · PASS
Front setback
Required minimum 20'0" · Proposed 18'6" · WARNING, 1'6" deficit
Side yard setback
Required minimum 4'0" each side · Proposed 4'0" / 4'6" · PASS
Rear setback
Required 25% of lot depth · Proposed 30% · PASS
Site coverage
Permitted 40% · Proposed 38% · PASS
Parking
Required 1 stall per dwelling · Proposed 2 stalls in attached garage · PASS
Rooftop deck
Zoning §10.11.1, rooftop decks count toward FSR if enclosed · Proposed is open · PASS (subject to railing height check)
Seven of eight checks pass. The single Warning, an 18'6" front setback against a 20'0" minimum, is the kind of finding that would otherwise only surface at the city plan-check stage, delaying the application by weeks. Seeing it at the pre-check stage means the architect adjusts the footprint by 1'6" before submission.
City of Vancouver bylaw coverage
The primary knowledge base. All checks run against these documents when the project address is within City of Vancouver limits. The accuracy of every compliance finding depends on which bylaw documents are loaded, we publish the complete list rather than claim coverage we have not built.
| Document | Status |
|---|---|
| Zoning & Development By-law: Section 2 (Definitions) | Full |
| Zoning & Development By-law: Section 4 (General Regulations) | Full |
| Zoning & Development By-law: Section 10 (RM Districts) | Full |
| Zoning & Development By-law: Section 11 (CD Districts) | Full |
| Zoning & Development By-law: RS-1 District Schedule | Full |
| Zoning & Development By-law: RT District Schedules | Partial |
| Vancouver Building By-law 2025: Volume 1 | Full |
| Vancouver Building By-law 2025: Volume 2 | Full |
| Noise Control By-law No. 6555 | Full |
| Parking By-law No. 6059: Sections 1-8 | Full |
| Parking By-law No. 6059: Sections 15-17 | Full |
| Rupert & Renfrew Station Area Plan (2025) | Full |
| Vancouver Heritage Register (2024) | Roadmap |
| Broadway Plan Area Policies | Roadmap |
| False Creek Flats Area Plan | Roadmap |
Partial coverage means the document is in the knowledge base but not all sections have been indexed. The analyzer returns a Warning with a required_document field for any check where the retrieved text is insufficient. You can read the source bylaws directly on the City's website at bylaws.vancouver.ca.
Shared BC-wide documents
These provincial codes apply to every BC municipality. Adding them improves analysis accuracy across the entire province at once, our highest-leverage expansion.
| Document | ETA | Status |
|---|---|---|
| BC Building Code 2024: Part 3 (Large Buildings) | Q3 2026 | Roadmap |
| BC Building Code 2024: Part 9 (Houses & Small Buildings) | Q3 2026 | Roadmap |
| BC Energy Step Code | Q4 2026 | Roadmap |
| BC Fire Code 2024 | 2027 | Roadmap |
| Metro Vancouver Regional District Bylaws | 2027 | Roadmap |
Metro Vancouver municipalities
Each municipality has its own zoning bylaw, so adding a new city is a full-document encoding job, not a simple geographic expansion. Roadmap dates are targets, not commitments. Vote for your municipality on the public roadmap.
| Municipality | ETA | Status |
|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver | Live | Full |
| City of Surrey | Live | Full |
| City of Burnaby | Live | Full |
| City of Coquitlam | Live | Full |
| City of Port Coquitlam | Live | Full |
| City of Port Moody | Live | Full |
| City of Richmond | Live | Full |
| District of North Vancouver | Live | Full |
| City of North Vancouver | Live | Full |
| District of West Vancouver | Live | Full |
| City of New Westminster | Live | Full |
| City of Delta | Live | Full |
| Township of Langley | Live | Full |
| City of Langley | Live | Full |
| City of Maple Ridge | Live | Full |
| City of Pitt Meadows | Live | Full |
| City of White Rock | Live | Full |
| City of Abbotsford | Live | Full |
| City of Chilliwack | Live | Full |
| City of Mission | Live | Full |
| City of Victoria | Live | Full |
| District of Saanich | Live | Full |
| District of Central Saanich | Live | Full |
| Township of Esquimalt | Live | Full |
| District of Oak Bay | Live | Full |
| District of North Saanich | Live | Full |
| City of Langford | Live | Full |
| City of Nanaimo | Live | Full |
| Municipality of North Cowichan | Live | Full |
| City of Duncan | Live | Full |
| City of Courtenay | Live | Full |
| City of Kelowna | Live | Full |
| City of West Kelowna | Live | Full |
| District of Lake Country | Live | Full |
| City of Kamloops | Live | Full |
| City of Prince George | Live | Full |
| City of Penticton | Live | Full |
| City of Vernon | Live | Full |
Broader BC: Interior & Island
Coverage now extends well beyond Metro Vancouver. Interior and Vancouver Island cities, including Kelowna, West Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, Penticton, Prince George, Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Nanaimo, and the Duncan area, are live and listed in the table above. If your firm operates in a BC municipality not yet covered and would like to sponsor its addition to the knowledge base, contact enterprise@vanpermitaudit.com.
What happens when coverage is incomplete
The analyzer never silently fills coverage gaps with training-data knowledge. When the retrieved bylaw text does not contain sufficient evidence for a check, the output is a Warning, explicitly flagged, with the exact document and section that would resolve the ambiguity:
status: "Warning"
confidence: 12
required_document: "Burnaby Zoning By-law No. 4742, Section 5.2 Setback Requirements"
text_snippet: "" ← empty because no matching chunk was retrieved
A Warning with a required_document field tells you precisely which bylaw needs to be added. This is always preferable to a confidently-stated answer derived from the wrong jurisdiction's rules, or from Claude's general knowledge of "typical" Canadian zoning. Our single hard rule on the AI side is that training-data knowledge may never substitute for retrieved bylaw evidence.
Related
Why Vancouver-first matters →
The reasoning behind deep Vancouver coverage instead of shallow pan-Canadian support.
Pricing & what $49 buys you →
Free analysis, $49 for the readiness review PDF. Full breakdown of what's included.
How your documents are handled →
Data flow, encryption, retention, subprocessors, and breach-disclosure commitments.
Vote on what ships next →
Public roadmap with upvoting. Burnaby, Richmond, and BC Building Code 2024 lead the list.
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