Custom Home Builder in Richmond, 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, and Richmond’s application form for a new house lists the New Home Registration Form among the required documents. 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 Vancouver, Burnaby, Delta, Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford, and renovate homes in Richmond. Sources: Province of British Columbia, Homeowner Protection Act, section 30(1); City of Richmond, Building Permit Application, new single-family, two-family and small-scale multi-unit dwellings (revised May 5, 2026), verified September 2026.

By email, for now. The City’s MyPermit portal lists building permits for a single family dwelling as coming in 2026/2027, and its current application form for new single-family, two-family and small-scale multi-unit dwellings says to submit the form by email with all required documents. The package includes a land title search dated within 60 days with every registered covenant, the New Home Registration Form, a site disclosure statement, letters of assurance where registered professionals are involved, and the Energy Step Code compliance package. The plan processing fee is $759 for one or two dwelling units and is credited toward the permit fee, but it is forfeited if the permit isn’t paid for within 30 days of the City’s notice that it is ready, and the application is cancelled at 60 days. Sources: City of Richmond, MyPermit, the building permit application form, Building Regulation Bylaw No. 7230, section 5.4, and Consolidated Fees Bylaw No. 8636, verified September 2026.

At or above the flood plain construction level for its area. Richmond’s Flood Plain Designation and Protection Bylaw designates all land in the City as floodplain and bars any floor used for living, business or the storage of goods below the construction level mapped in its Schedule B, in metres geodetic, reached by raising the structure, by compacted fill, or both; no furnace or other fixed equipment may sit below it. Some areas use a local rule instead: in Area A and in Burkeville the floor may sit at least 0.3 m above the highest crown of an adjacent road, in Steveston Village at or above the fronting City sidewalk, and in Terra Nova and West Cambie at or above 2.6 m geodetic. The City’s guideline adds that, where applicable, a covenant setting the level is registered on title. Sources: City of Richmond, Flood Plain Designation and Protection Bylaw No. 8204, sections 1.1, 3.1 to 3.4 and 4.2 to 4.6, and guideline PL-8, verified September 2026.

One of three pairings set in the Building Regulation Bylaw. For building permit applications filed on or after October 31, 2023, the City accepts Step 5 of the Energy Step Code with emissions level EL-2, Step 4 with EL-3, or Step 3 with EL-4. The energy advisor must be a certified advisor licensed through Natural Resources Canada, carry at least $2 million in general liability and $1 million in errors and omissions insurance, and hold a business licence. The City wants a pre-drywall blower door test before the insulation inspection and another before the final, each with two days’ notice so the inspector can attend, and a pre-drywall result more than 25% above the step’s requirement means improving the airtightness or the envelope. Sources: City of Richmond, Building Regulation Bylaw No. 7230, section 10.1.1, Better Buildings and Bulletin Building-38, verified September 2026.

The City issues gas permits; Technical Safety BC issues electrical. Technical Safety BC lists the City of Richmond among the local governments that issue their own permits, for gas only. Richmond’s building bylaw issues a gas permit only to the owner, for a one-family dwelling, or to an agent who is a gas fitter, and its gas permit form requires the fitter to hold a Richmond business licence and a provincial contractor’s licence, except for an owner under a signed declaration. Sources: Technical Safety BC, Jurisdiction; City of Richmond, Building Regulation Bylaw No. 7230, section 5.7.4, and the Gas Permit Application, verified September 2026.

A permit, a hazardous materials clearance for an older house, and capped services. Richmond requires a demolition permit for structures of 10 m² or more. For a building constructed before 1990, or where hazardous material may exist, the abatement is done before the application, and the qualified professional’s declaration and reports go in with it or the application is not accepted. Rodent abatement comes first too, with a licensed pest control company’s declaration dated no more than two weeks before the permit issues. Connections to the City drainage system must be disconnected and capped before demolition; otherwise the City can do it at the owner’s expense, at $1,300 a service. Sources: City of Richmond, the Demolition Permit Application, Bulletin Building-56 and Flood Protection Bylaw No. 10426, section 1.3 and Schedule A, verified September 2026.

A diversion target, rising in steps. Richmond’s Demolition Waste and Recyclable Materials Bylaw requires a one-family or two-family demolition to divert, by weight, 70% of its materials until January 4, 2027, 80% from January 5, 2027 to June 30, 2029, and 90% from July 1, 2029. A signed recycling and waste diversion plan goes in with the permit application, and no work starts until the building inspector approves it. The fees are a non-refundable $308 application fee and a waste disposal and recycling services fee of $4.00 per square foot of the structure being demolished, refundable as the plan calculates once a compliance report, the site records and a refund application are filed within 90 days of completion. Sources: City of Richmond, Demolition Waste and Recyclable Materials Bylaw No. 9516, sections 2.1 to 2.3 and 4.1 to 4.2, and Consolidated Fees Bylaw No. 8636, verified September 2026.

It depends on the lot, the permit and an amendment listed for adoption in September 2026. Provincial law says the charge is not payable on a building permit for a building of fewer than four dwelling units used only as housing, unless the local bylaw provides that it is. Richmond’s bylaw sets $63,767.14 per single family lot, collected at subdivision approval for a single family subdivision, and exempts work of $50,000 or less; a May 2026 City bulletin says City charges are not currently imposed at building permit for small-scale multi-unit housing, though charges it collects for TransLink, Metro Vancouver and the school district may be. Amendment Bylaw No. 10732, given three readings on June 8, 2026 and listed for adoption on September 14, would add City and school site charges on permits for buildings of fewer than four units, with single family at $63,767 per lot. Council has endorsed freezing rates until March 2027. We confirm a lot’s charges with the City before budgeting. Sources: Local Government Act, s.561; City of Richmond, DCC Imposition Bylaw No. 9499, Bulletin DevApps-19, Council minutes of March 9 and June 8, 2026, Amendment Bylaw No. 10732 and the September 14, 2026 agenda, verified September 2026.

Usually, once the work passes $75,000. Richmond’s Waterworks and Water Rates Bylaw requires the owner to have a water meter installed, if the property has none, when a building permit is applied for works valued at $75,000 or more; for a one-family or two-family dwelling on a 25 mm connection the installation fee is $1,300. Construction-period water charges cover 6 months for a one-family or two-family dwelling, and service pipes and curb stops must sit at least one metre clear of structures, driveways, curbs, sidewalks and retaining wall or fence foundations. A new driveway crossing needs its own application to the City’s General Manager of Engineering and Public Works. Sources: City of Richmond, Waterworks and Water Rates Bylaw No. 5637, sections 3A, 3B and 10 and Schedule D, and Residential Lot (Vehicular) Access Regulation Bylaw No. 7222, section 2.3, verified September 2026.

Trees of 20 cm dbh or more that can reach 4.5 m, and any tree on City land or in an environmentally sensitive area. With a building permit application, Richmond’s Tree Protection Bylaw asks for a BC land surveyor’s tree survey, a certified tree risk assessor’s report and a tree management plan, and the application is not complete, and no permit for demolition, excavation or construction issues, until the City has inspected and approved the tree protection barriers. Trees removed for works are replaced two for one, and a significant tree three for one. A tree permit costs $70 for one tree in 12 months or $84.25 a tree for two or more, must be posted at least 72 hours before cutting, and allows no cutting between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. Sources: City of Richmond, Tree Protection Bylaw No. 8057, sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 and Schedule A, and Consolidated Fees Bylaw No. 8636, verified September 2026.

Size, footprint and distance from the road. On land zoned Agriculture (AG1), the house and its accessory buildings may not exceed the lesser of a floor area ratio of 0.55 on the first 464.5 m² of the lot plus 0.30 on the rest, or 400 m², with one principal dwelling per lot and a farm house footprint of no more than 60% of that maximum. The farm home plate itself is limited to 50% of the lot area on a lot under 0.2 ha and to 1,000 m² on a lot of 0.2 ha or more. The rear of the farm home plate must be within 75 m of the front lot line, and no part of the house may be more than 50 m from a constructed public road. Source: City of Richmond, Zoning Bylaw No. 8500, section 14.1, 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. After that, Richmond’s building bylaw has a permit expire if an inspection hasn’t confirmed the work started within 180 days of issue, if work stops for more than 180 days, or if a one-family or two-family dwelling is not completed within two years, with limited extensions of up to 180 days. Construction noise is allowed from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and on Sundays and holidays only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for residential work done personally by the owner or occupier. Sources: City of Richmond, Building Regulation Bylaw No. 7230, sections 5.10 and 5.11, and Noise Regulation Bylaw No. 8856, verified September 2026.