Bathroom Renovations in Burnaby, BC

Two separate questions, and Burnaby answers them in two different documents. For the building, the City classes changes to an existing house that create no new floor area as alterations, which need a building permit; but it lists minor works such as replacing fixtures, cabinets and flooring, or painting inside, as work that does not need one. For the plumbing, the Plumbing Bylaw says a permit must be obtained “prior to the construction, extension, alteration, renewal, repair or maintenance of a plumbing system”, and then carves out the like-for-like jobs. So a bathroom where only the finishes change can need nothing, while one where a drain moves needs a plumbing permit even if no wall does. Sources: City of Burnaby, Home Improvement Permits and Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, section 8(1), read on September 21, 2026.

Yes, where it stays where it is. The bylaw is specific: “A permit is not required to replace or repair a subsoil drainage system, a plumbing fixture, fixture outlet pipe, valve, faucet, sprinkler head or for the clearing of plugged soil or waste pipes or the repair of water pipe leaks.” That covers swapping a toilet for a new toilet on the same flange, a vanity basin on the same trap, or a leaking valve. It stops at the point the job becomes an extension or alteration of the system — moving the toilet across the room, adding a second basin, or turning a tub into a walk-in shower with a new drain location — because section 8(1) then applies and a permit is needed before the work starts. The City’s trade permit page does not repeat the exemption, so read the bylaw rather than the web page on this point. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 8(1) and 8(2), and Residential Trade Permits, read on September 21, 2026.

Per fixture, which makes it easy to predict. The 2026 schedule charges $121 for the first fixture and $67 for each additional one, for the rough-in and completion of each fixture in a complete plumbing installation, and it counts more than the obvious items: floor drains, dishwashers, clothes washers, water heaters, and backflow protection devices under four inches with test ports are all fixtures. Taking a fixture out and capping the piping is $70 for the first and $18 for each additional. A bathroom that relocates a toilet, basin and shower and adds a floor drain is therefore four fixtures on the form. These are the City’s fees, not a price for the work, and they sit alongside any building permit the layout needs. Sources: City of Burnaby, 2026 Schedule of Plumbing Permit and Inspection Fees (effective January 1, 2026), read on September 21, 2026.

Only in a single-family home you live in, and not if it has a suite. The bylaw grants plumbing permits for work inside a building to plumbing contractors and sprinkler contractors, “except that an owner may be granted a permit to do work on a single family dwelling which the owner owns and occupies or intends to occupy.” The City’s 2024 application form narrows that further: “Owners of a home with a secondary suite CANNOT apply for a Homeowner’s Permit.” And the Plumbing Inspector may refuse a permit where “the applicant has demonstrated insufficient knowledge to undertake the work”. A duplex, a rental, a house with a legal or illegal suite, or a strata unit all fall outside the homeowner route. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 8(9) and 8(12)(a), and the Plumbing and Hydronic Permit Application (revised October 31, 2024), read on September 21, 2026.

A business licence, a qualified installer and a complete form. The City’s application asks for the company’s business licence — a Burnaby licence or an inter-municipal one — the plumbing installer’s name and trade qualification, the type of work, the occupancy and the value of the work, which it marks as required. It also states plainly that “If any fields are not complete, the application WILL NOT be processed.” The applicant signs a declaration that the provincial licence or certification is in effect and that all work will follow City bylaws and provincial regulations. Applications can go in online through the City’s permit portal or in person, and the invoice is paid online. Sources: City of Burnaby, the Plumbing and Hydronic Permit Application and Residential Trade Permits, read on September 21, 2026.

Ninety days to start, and ninety days between inspections. A plumbing permit expires and is “of no force or effect” if the work has not commenced within 90 days of issuance, or if it is discontinued or suspended for more than 90 days from the last inspection. Where work has not started, the Plumbing Inspector may grant one extension of up to 90 days, applied for before the permit expires, with a $146 fee — and “only one such extension may be granted for each permit.” That is a much shorter leash than most homeowners expect, and it is the plumbing permit’s own clock, separate from any building permit on the same bathroom. A permit is tied to one address and cannot be moved to another. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 8(10), 8(16) and 8(17), and the 2026 plumbing fee schedule, read on September 21, 2026.

A test, run by whoever holds the permit. The permit holder must book the inspection before the work is covered and again when it is complete, with at least 24 hours’ notice, and the accepted plans have to be on site at the rough-in. New plumbing, and any part of the existing system affected by the new work, is tested to the Plumbing Code — and “all equipment, materials, power and labour necessary for testing shall be furnished by the permit holder”. Nothing may be covered until it has been inspected and approved; if it is, it has to be opened up again. The system cannot be put into use until the inspector has found it compliant, and work that fails must be retested and reinspected until it passes. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 7(1) to 7(6) and 7(9), read on September 21, 2026.

More each time, steeply. Where the Plumbing Inspector finds re-inspection is needed because of non-compliance or incomplete work, the 2026 schedule charges $72 for the first re-inspection, $314 for the second, $620 for the third, $1,240 for the fourth and $1,553 for the fifth and each one after that, plus applicable taxes. The escalation is the reason a rough-in is worth getting right before the inspector arrives rather than after. Other inspection charges on the same schedule: an inspection outside City office hours is $672 plus hourly time after the first four hours, and a voluntary inspection to establish the condition of work is billed by the hour. Sources: City of Burnaby, 2026 Schedule of Plumbing Permit and Inspection Fees, read on September 21, 2026.

A hot-water one does. Burnaby regulates hydronic heating under the Plumbing Bylaw, and in single and two-family dwellings it requires inspections of the in-slab piping, of any baseboard piping, and of the completed hydronic installation — so a radiant floor fed by the boiler is inspected before the slab or topping covers it. The plumbing and hydronic permit application has its own section for it, asking for the boiler input and the heating installer’s trade qualification, and the fee is $4 per 1,000 BTU of appliance input with a minimum based on 50,000 BTU. An electric mat under tile is a different matter: it is electrical work, and Burnaby issues its own electrical permits, one of the few municipalities in the province that does. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, section 7(10), the permit application and the 2026 plumbing fee schedule; Technical Safety BC, Jurisdiction, read on September 21, 2026.

Double the fee, and no refund once work has begun. The bylaw says that where work requiring a permit has been commenced before a permit is issued, “the permit applicant for the proposed work shall pay double the fee prescribed”. Separately, “No permit fee or part thereof paid pursuant to this Bylaw shall be refunded if the work authorized by the permit has commenced”; where nothing has started, a written request is refunded at 90% of the fee paid, subject to a minimum non-refundable amount of $197. A permit can also be transferred to a different contractor, for a $146 fee, but a transfer does not extend the time the permit is valid. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 8(14), 8(20) and 8(21), and the 2026 plumbing fee schedule, read on September 21, 2026.

It stops more than the one job. The Plumbing Inspector may revoke a permit for a breach of its conditions, of the Plumbing Code or of any City bylaw, for work or materials that do not conform, for false or incorrect information, or where a required test is not satisfactory. Once a permit is revoked, “no further permits may be granted for the property” until the deficiencies are remedied — and “any contractor to whom the permit was issued shall not be issued further permits for any other work in the City” until they are. That second consequence is worth knowing when you choose who to hire: a contractor with an unresolved revocation cannot take out a permit for your bathroom either. Sources: City of Burnaby, Burnaby Plumbing Bylaw 2000, sections 8(18) and 8(19), read on September 21, 2026.

In an older house, plan on it. WorkSafeBC’s homeowner guidance says asbestos fibres are found in over 3,000 household materials and that “as a homeowner, you need to get your home tested for asbestos before you start a renovation or demolition project”. Bathrooms are a common place to find it, in older sheet flooring, tile adhesive, drywall joint compound and wall texture. Where asbestos is found, WorkSafeBC says the law requires a qualified abatement contractor to remove it, a qualified person to certify afterwards that the worksite air is safe, and a notice of project to WorkSafeBC for all asbestos work. We build that step into the schedule before demolition rather than discovering it halfway through. Sources: WorkSafeBC, Asbestos and Asbestos: What homeowners need to know, read on September 21, 2026.

Yes. Kyrax Developments is a BC Housing licensed residential builder and developer, licence #57802, in good standing as a General Contractor and Developer, verifiable on the BC Housing Licence Registry. On a Burnaby bathroom that means holding the permits that apply, booking the rough-in and final inspections, and working inside the plumbing permit’s 90-day clock. We don’t publish a price per bathroom: the number of fixtures that move, what is behind the walls of an older house, a heated floor and the City’s own fees move it too far for one figure to be honest. Kitchens in the same city are on our Burnaby kitchen page, which covers the gas and electrical permits in more depth. Every rule on this page is quoted from the City’s own bylaw, fee schedules and forms, read on September 21, 2026; the City’s documents govern.