Custom Home Builder in Vancouver, BC

Yes, for a home built under contract. BC Housing says that before you can obtain a building permit you need a New Home Registration Form as proof of licensing and home warranty insurance, and that in a custom-home contract the general contractor is the one licensed, who registers and enrols the home, not the homeowner. In Vancouver that registration runs alongside the City’s own sewer and water application and its combined development and building permit. 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. Source: BC Housing, Register a New Home, verified September 2026.

The sewer and water application comes first. The City’s May 2026 checklist for an outright single detached house or duplex calls a sewer and water application a prerequisite and says a development and building application will not be accepted if it has not been submitted. The house then goes in as one combined development and building permit through the City’s online portal, with a survey plan by a BC land surveyor dated within six months of the application, an arborist report by an ISA certified arborist where there are permit-sized trees on or next to the site, and a geotechnical report where the site is in a known peat bog area, on soil subject to liquefaction, in a flood plain or in an artesian well area. A separate development permit comes first only for large projects, zoning relaxations or particular land uses. Once the permit issues, work has to begin within 6 months or the permit becomes invalid. Sources: City of Vancouver, DB application submission requirements for an outright single detached house or duplex (May 2026), the Low Density Housing Options How-to Guide, Building permit and Build a new duplex, single detached house, or laneway house, verified September 2026.

The City’s own building by-law. Under the Vancouver Building By-law 2025, in effect since September 15, 2025, a new house on the performance path meets a thermal energy demand intensity of no more than 20 kWh per square metre a year and a mechanical energy use target set by floor area, and it takes one of three greenhouse gas options: no more than 265 kg CO2e a year; no more than 1.5 kg per square metre a year and 500 kg in total; or electricity for all building systems, including equipment and appliances. A house with more than 325 m² of conditioned space must also show it stays within 2,000 kg CO2e a year, counting exterior gas equipment. The City says the by-law has been aligned with the top tier, EL-4, of the BC Zero Carbon Step Code since March 1, 2025. An older line on the same City page, written for 2022, still says most new low-rise homes need electric space heating and hot water; the by-law in force sets the three options instead. Sources: City of Vancouver, Vancouver Building By-law 2025, Book I, Article 10.2.2.4.(3), (5) and (6) and Table 10.2.2.4.B, and Energy requirements and resources for homes, verified September 2026.

Twice, with a blower door. The Vancouver Building By-law 2025 has the owner give the building official a mid-construction energy checklist that includes a completed blower door test, then a final as-built report at project completion that includes another, and the City’s new homes energy checklist says the mid-construction checklist goes in at the sheathing or insulation inspection. The by-law’s airtightness table sets 2.5 air changes per hour at 50 pascals (ACH50) for all buildings in its scope. Sources: City of Vancouver, Vancouver Building By-law 2025, Book I, Articles 10.2.2.20 and 10.2.2.21 and Table 10.2.2.21.A, and Energy requirements and resources for homes, verified September 2026.

A demolition permit, gated by inspections rather than a second permit. The City’s bulletin of July 28, 2026 removed the stand-alone salvage and abatement permit. A tree barrier and pre-demolition inspection now comes before the demolition permit issues; before machine-assisted demolition, the hazardous building materials assessment report goes in, with a post-abatement clearance report where abatement was needed; and a reuse and recycling compliance report with receipts follows the demolition where recycling applies. The assessment is signed by a qualified professional holding WorkSafeBC Level S certification and a listed designation, and the demolition contractor must have all utility and City services disconnected before mechanically assisted demolition starts. The City’s fee to demolish a single detached house that has provided residential occupancy since November 1, 1986 is $1,570. Sources: City of Vancouver, Bulletin 2026-002-BU, Demolition of Buildings (July 28, 2026) and the 2026 Schedule of Fees, verified September 2026.

It depends on when the house was built. Every demolition permit for a house built in whole or in part before 1950 carries a condition that at least 75% of its building materials, by weight and excluding hazardous materials, are reused or recycled, or 90% for a character house; a house from before 1910, or a heritage-listed house from before 1950, must also be deconstructed to salvage at least three tonnes of wood. Those permits carry a $15,310 security, refunded according to the rate achieved, and a $469 fee, the compliance report is due within 30 days of the demolition finishing, and the City says building inspections cannot be requested until it has been submitted. For a house built in or after 1950, the City says there is no required reuse and recycling rate. Sources: City of Vancouver, Green Demolition By-law No. 11023, sections 3.2 to 3.4, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1 and 8.1, Demolition permit with recycling and deconstruction requirements and Demolition with no recycling requirements, verified September 2026.

Development cost levies now, and an amenity cost charge from September 30, 2026. The Development Cost Levy By-law makes the levy payable on a building permit for a building with fewer than four self-contained dwelling units in residential use; its rule that charges only added floor area is for alterations and extensions, which the City’s bulletin says do not include demolition and replacement. For residential at or below 1.2 FSR the rates are $49.88 plus $31.25 for utilities, $81.13 per square metre, collected at building permit issuance at the rate then in effect, and the amending by-laws in force September 30, 2026 step that category to $51.38 plus $32.19 on September 30, 2027. The new Amenity Cost Charge By-law adds $24.97 per square metre for the same category, paid before the building permit issues, except for a same-use replacement no larger than the last building of record on the lot; the City says applications in-stream before September 30, 2026 are not subject to it. Sources: City of Vancouver, Development Cost Levy By-law No. 9755, sections 3.3 and 3.4, By-laws No. 14817 and No. 14818, the Development Cost Levies Bulletin, Amenity Cost Charge By-law No. 14816, sections 3.9 and 4.1, and Community benefits from development, verified September 2026.

Only with the City Engineer’s approval. Vancouver’s Sewer and Watercourse By-law requires a new public sewer connection whenever a new house is constructed, unless the City Engineer approves the existing one: adequately sized, not a combined connection, made of PVC, in good condition, and backed by a video inspection report from a PACP/LACP certified contractor. A new connection for a single detached house, with or without a laneway house, is $21,656, with $2,200 of it non-refundable at application. On the water side, the Engineer may approve reconnecting an existing service pipe only if it measures no more than 50 mm and is no more than 24 years old, for 20% of the connection fee where one was paid before; a new 20 mm connection is $11,127. Sources: City of Vancouver, Sewer and Watercourse By-law No. 8093, sections 2.2 and 2.9 and Schedule A, and Water Works By-law No. 4848, sections 2.6 and 2.8 and Schedule A, verified September 2026.

Only as the Protection of Trees By-law allows, and it protects trees of 20 cm or more measured 1.4 m above the ground. For a new house, removal is approved as part of the development and building permit, and the by-law allows a permit where a tree sits inside the building envelope and re-siting an accessory building to keep it is not possible. The application includes an arborist’s report on the trees and the development’s impact, and protection barriers go up for each tree being kept on the site, on neighbouring land within two metres of the boundary and on the adjacent street before demolition, excavation or construction begins; no permit for demolition, excavation or construction is issued until the City has inspected and approved them. Replacement trees are planted before an occupancy permit issues, or before occupancy where none is required, with a security of $500 per replacement tree, or $750 for one of 8 cm caliper or more. Sources: City of Vancouver, Protection of Trees By-law No. 9958, sections 2.2, 4.5, 4.10, 6.6, 7.2, 7.5 and 7.9, and Tree removal permit, 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. For the permit, the City’s table headed “Permit processing times for August 2026” shows a median elapsed time of 20.0 weeks across 60 issued permits in its “New Build - Low Density Housing” category, and the City’s Open Data definition of that elapsed time runs from the creation of the permit number to the issuance of the permit, weekends and holidays included. Once the permit issues, work has to begin within 6 months, and an inspection requested before 2 p.m. on a business day is aimed for the next business day. Sources: City of Vancouver, Build a new duplex, single detached house, or laneway house (table read September 15, 2026), the issued building permits dataset on its Open Data portal, and Inspections, verified September 2026.

Set hours, a posted sign and the drawings on site. On private property the Noise Control By-law allows construction noise from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or holidays, and caps it at 85 dBA at the property line nearest the neighbour. The owner must post a sign at least 42.5 cm high and 27.5 cm wide, visible from an adjacent street, naming the general contractor and a contact, the by-law sections that apply and the City’s complaint line. A paper set of the City-approved drawings with the City’s stamp has to be at the jobsite for inspectors, and a driveway crossing from a street needs a crossing permit, with the forms checked at a sidewalk inspection before any concrete or asphalt is poured. Sources: City of Vancouver, Noise Control By-law No. 6555, sections 3.1(h) and 3.3, Noise from construction, Building permit, Crossing By-law No. 4644, section 3, and Inspections, verified September 2026.

Yes to both. 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. Laneway homes in Vancouver are covered on our Vancouver laneway house page, renovations on our Vancouver home renovations page, and custom homes elsewhere on our Surrey, Langley, Burnaby and Abbotsford pages.