Custom Home Builder in Coquitlam, BC

Yes, unless you build it yourself as an owner builder. Under the Homeowner Protection Act, a municipality must not issue a building permit for a proposed new home unless the applicant shows that it is covered by home warranty insurance and will be built by a licensed residential builder, or that it will be built by an owner builder. Coquitlam’s single family building permit checklist lists the BC Housing form among the documents required at the time of application. Kyrax Developments Ltd. holds BC Housing Residential Builder Licence #57802, in good standing, as a General Contractor and Developer; verify it on the BC Housing Licence Registry. We also build custom homes in Burnaby, Vancouver, West Vancouver and Langley, and renovate homes in Coquitlam. Sources: Province of British Columbia, Homeowner Protection Act, section 30(1); City of Coquitlam, the single family and two family building permit checklist, verified September 2026.

Electronically, through the City’s QFile transfer service, and some lots need a development permit first. The checklist asks for a current title search with its covenants, easements and rights of way, any approvals and letters of assurance, the BC Housing form, reports such as geotechnical or riparian assessments where they apply, two sets of drawings and a sealed topographic survey to the centre line of the street or lane; the Building Bylaw wants the title search made within 30 days and slope contours at 1 m intervals. The erosion and sediment control form and the driveway access application go to Engineering, and the energy reports are emailed separately. Incomplete applications are not accepted. The City invoices an intake fee before plan review and the rest of the permit fee before issue, and application fees are non-refundable. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Permit Application Review, the application checklist and Building Bylaw No. 3598, sections 15.3 and 23.1, verified September 2026.

On our projects, a custom home runs 12 to 18 months from permit to handover. That is our own clock, and it starts once the permit is in hand. Coquitlam’s Building Bylaw has a permit expire automatically if work hasn’t started within a year of issue, or if the lot is in a development permit area without a valid development permit, and lets the City suspend or revoke a permit when work hasn’t started within six months, stops for more than six months, or no occupancy permit has issued within two years. The City’s fees bylaw lists a six-month permit extension at $306.60. Starting work before the permit doubles the permit fee, and half of the fee can be refunded if construction never starts. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Building Bylaw No. 3598, Articles 12 to 15, and Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 5484, Schedule D, verified September 2026.

A geotechnical assessment, and limits on walls and driveways. Since March 1, 2022 the City has approved building on or next to a defined slope on the recommendations of a qualified professional’s geotechnical assessment, reviewing slopes from 32%, and a lot next to the crest or toe of a slope needs a professional engineer or geoscientist’s slope hazard checklist with the permit application. Fill or excavation needs drainage design that holds runoff to pre-development levels and provides an emergency flow path for a 100-year storm, and a lot steeper than 15% can be asked for 0.5 m contours. A retaining wall over 1.2 m needs a building permit and a professional engineer, and the City’s guide caps walls at 2.4 m; a driveway may average no more than 15% and never exceed 20%. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Building on or Adjacent to Slopes, Building Bylaw No. 3598, sections 23.1 and 33.1, and Steep Slopes & Retaining Walls, verified September 2026.

Watercourse, wildfire or unstable slopes permits, depending on the lot. Under the Official Community Plan adopted in 2026, construction in a development permit area needs a development permit first; the Urban Design area covers the whole City but exempts a single-detached dwelling with one unit. The Watercourse Protection area takes in land within 30 m of the top of a watercourse bank, and 50 m east of the Coquitlam River; the Wildfire Hazard area covers the mapped Wildfire Interface Area; and the Unstable Slopes area covers former gravel pit land, where the permit calls for a geotechnical report registered on title and an engineer supervising excavation and fill. None of the three exempts a new house. The Building Bylaw treats a permit on a lot in a development permit area without a valid development permit as expired. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 5511, Schedule A and Schedule H, and Building Bylaw No. 3598, Article 14, verified September 2026.

Pest control, a hazardous materials survey for an older house, and capped services. Before a demolition permit issues, the City wants proof that the buildings are free of pests, through a pest control inspection report and a rodent declaration from a licensed pest control company. A residential building built before 1990 needs a risk assessment and asbestos survey by a qualified environmental consultant, a WorkSafeBC notice of project at least 48 hours before abatement, and a clearance letter. The owner declares that hazardous materials will be separated and recyclables taken to recycling facilities, with cardboard, drywall and green waste banned from landfill. The City caps the services, which takes two to six weeks, may require fencing around City trees, and recognizes a bird nesting window from March 1 to August 31. A demolition permit carries a $1,000 security deposit, or $2,500 combined with a new house. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Demolition Permits, the Demolition Permit Brochure and Building Bylaw No. 3598, Schedule A, verified September 2026.

Step 3 of the Energy Step Code, which the City has required for Part 9 houses since May 1, 2023, and the Province has required most new buildings to meet the Zero Carbon Step Code’s EL-1 since March 10, 2025. The energy modelling comes from a Natural Resources Canada registered energy advisor or a registered professional, and on the City’s preferred EnerGuide pathway each energy advisor carries $2 million of general liability and $1 million of errors and omissions insurance. An airtightness test witnessed by a building official is done mid-construction, with two days’ notice, and a post-construction test comes before the final, with the as-built reports submitted before the final inspection is booked. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Energy Step Code, the Step Code requirements guide and inspection sequence; Province of British Columbia, Zero Carbon Step Code, verified September 2026.

Technical Safety BC for electrical and gas, and the City for plumbing. Coquitlam is not among the local governments Technical Safety BC lists as issuing their own electrical or gas permits, and the City refers electrical and gas inspections to Technical Safety BC. A City plumbing permit is applied for by a plumbing contractor acting for the owner, or by an owner who lives or will live in a single family dwelling with no attached unit, is not paying anyone to help, is not renting any part of it, can show the building inspector the knowledge to do the work, and signs a homeowner’s declaration. Sources: Technical Safety BC, Jurisdiction; City of Coquitlam, Building & Plumbing Inspections and Building Bylaw No. 3598, Article 49, verified September 2026.

It can, under bylaws adopted in 2025, subject to their exemptions. Coquitlam’s Development Cost Charges Bylaw, adopted June 23, 2025, charges a building permit for a building of fewer than four dwelling units at issue, at $64,396 per single-detached dwelling unit, but not where the work is valued at $50,000 or less, where the development imposes no new capital cost burden, or where charges were previously paid for it. The Amenity Cost Charges Bylaw, adopted July 7, 2025, applies to building permits across the City at $21,205 per low-rise dwelling unit, which the City says includes single-detached homes, except where no increase in residents is expected or the charge was previously paid. The City’s FAQ still describes single family charges as paid at subdivision, so we confirm with the City how a lot will be charged before budgeting. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Bylaw No. 5411, sections 5.2, 6.1 and Schedule B, Bylaw No. 5432, sections 5 and 6 and Schedule B, DCCs, ACCs and the DCC FAQ, verified September 2026.

Trees of 20 cm or more in diameter at 1.4 m. In most cases an owner may remove up to two trees of that size a year without a permit, but every removal needs a tree cutting permit on a property with a streamside or riparian area, a steep slope or a protective covenant, and a single family rebuild outside a subdivision and outside Burke Mountain follows the tree cutting permit process. The permit costs $71.50, or $358 where an arborist report or a site visit is needed, and replacement trees are bonded at $300 each, with 90% returned once they are planted and pass inspection. City trees near the work must be protected, and fencing around them may be required before a demolition permit issues. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Tree Cutting Permit, Trees & Development and Tree Management Bylaw No. 4091, verified September 2026.

A water meter, often new services, and the connections before the permit. Coquitlam’s Water Distribution Bylaw requires a water meter for any water service once a building permit application is submitted, at the owner’s expense, and the City says storm and sanitary services not made of PVC, and water services older than 30 years, need replacing as part of a new home, with City staff making that call. The Engineer may require a renewed sewer or drainage service and an inspection chamber. Perimeter works aren’t a condition of a building permit on a single family lot, but no permit issues until the utility connections and access the servicing bylaw requires are built. A driveway crossing on a single-detached lot is 4.5 m wide, up to 6.0 m with approval, and a contractor working on City property deposits the estimate plus 10%. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Water Distribution Bylaw No. 4428, section 8, Sewer and Drainage Bylaw No. 4429, sections 5.5 and 5.12, services brochure, Building Bylaw No. 3598, Article 25, and Bylaw No. 3558, verified September 2026.

Construction is allowed from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, with pile driving on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the noise bylaw bars construction for profit on Sundays and holidays and deems an owner builder building a new home to be working for profit. Before work starts, the erosion and sediment control form and inspection fee go in and the minimum controls are installed, and an excavation deeper than 0.6 m is fenced and signed. Inspections are booked with at least 24 hours’ notice at each stage, including before insulation and air and vapour barriers are covered, the approved drawings and permit stay on site, and no one moves in until an occupancy permit has issued. Sources: City of Coquitlam, Noise Regulation Bylaw No. 1233, section C, Bylaw No. 4403, section 4.1, Soil Management Bylaw No. 5420, Schedule A, and Building Bylaw No. 3598, Articles 27 and 28, verified September 2026.