Laneway House Builder in Burnaby, BC

Both. Kyrax Developments builds custom laneway homes on site in Burnaby as the general contractor, and does the site work for Kyrax Homes’ factory-built units: the foundation, the services and the crane set. Either way the City handles the home as a second residential building on the lot, with a building permit, the Building Bylaw’s inspections and an occupancy certificate. Kyrax Homes describes its factory-built models and what Burnaby’s zoning allows on its Burnaby laneway page. Sources: City of Burnaby, New Home Construction and Building Bylaw 2016, sections 7(3) and 21(1), verified September 2026.

Yes. BC Housing says a standalone accessory dwelling unit such as a garden suite or laneway home meets the definition of a new home under the Homeowner Protection Act, so it must be built by a licensed residential builder and covered by home warranty insurance; for a suite built inside the main house, a warranty is at the homeowner’s discretion. 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, Secondary Suite Incentive Program (closed to new applications since March 31, 2025; its answer on new homes is still published), verified September 2026.

No. Burnaby no longer treats laneway homes as a category of their own: the City permits one through its new-home construction process, using the application for two residential buildings on a lot, submitted online through My Permits Portal, and paper applications are no longer accepted. An Engineering pre-application approval comes first, and the City says complete pre-application submissions typically take about 15 business days to review. A development permit is generally not required on R1 lots, though a lot near a stream may still need a Streamside Protection and Enhancement Development Permit. The City’s optional AI PreCheck, which laneway homes have been eligible for since its pilot, returns a report on the drawings within 2 business days. Sources: City of Burnaby, Laneway Homes, New Home Construction, Development Planning and AI PreCheck, verified September 2026.

Only the owner, or the owner’s agent with an Agent Authorization form signed by all of the owners, can apply for a building permit in Burnaby, and a designer or contractor cannot sign Schedule F, the owner’s undertaking. The City’s checklist for two residential buildings asks for structural and geotechnical Schedule B letters of assurance sealed by a P.Eng, a sealed topographical survey no more than 12 months old, an arborist report by an ISA Certified Arborist, and a BC Hydro acknowledgement where the electrical connection is 200 amps or more. Where overhead power lines abut the property, a Registered Professional completes the City’s clearance checklist. Sources: City of Burnaby, Who can apply for a building permit, Submission checklist for two residential buildings (revised July 2026) and Electrical checklist for existing BC Hydro overhead lines, verified September 2026.

It depends on its distance from the street. Burnaby’s Zoning Bylaw requires an automatic sprinkler system in dwelling units located more than 45 m from a lot line abutting a street. Where one is needed, the fire sprinkler permit comes from a contractor holding a current Trades Qualification Certificate and a City of Burnaby or inter-municipal business licence, with separate plumbing permits for new underground piping and backflow prevention devices, and from January 1, 2027 the City processes those applications only through My Permits Portal. Sources: City of Burnaby, Zoning Bylaw No. 14815, R1 District, section 1.1.5.6(1), and Fire Protection Sprinkler Permits (revised July 30, 2026), verified September 2026.

A corridor from its entrance to the street. The Zoning Bylaw requires every dwelling unit to have a minimum 1.0 m paved or gravel fire access corridor giving direct pedestrian access from the unit’s entrance to a lot line abutting a street, or to a constructed lane where direct access to a street is not feasible, clear of projections or obstructions to at least 2.5 m in height. An earlier City laneway summary, still online, asked for a 0.9 m pathway instead; the current bylaw was adopted on June 9, 2026. Sources: City of Burnaby, Zoning Bylaw No. 14815, R1 District, section 1.1.5.6(2), and the earlier Laneway Homes summary of regulations, verified September 2026.

Through Engineering, lot by lot. Burnaby’s Engineering Design Criteria Manual (July 2026) provides a separate service connection for every legal lot and requires servicing from roadways rather than rear-yard sewers unless gravity service would need more than 4.5 m of depth. The City lays the sewer connection from the public sewer to the property line and installs water services to within one metre of it at the applicant’s expense, while the owner builds the building sewer; the City says sanitary and storm connections generally take 10 to 12 weeks to install and a new water connection 4 to 6 weeks. The fees bylaw lists sanitary and storm service connections for single and two family at $13,822 each, in effect January 1, 2026. Sources: City of Burnaby, Engineering Design Criteria Manual, sections 4.11, 4.12 and 5.9.14, Sewer Connection Bylaw, sections 9 and 16, Water Meter Design Guidelines, Engineering Reference Guide and Consolidated Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 14485, Schedule C7, verified September 2026.

Yes, and it changes the site work. The City says all R1 lots are eligible to build its small-scale multi-unit housing forms without a rear lane. With no lane, the fire access corridor has to run to a lot line abutting a street, and the Engineering Design Criteria Manual expects services to come from the roadway, with rear-yard sewers and pumped connections avoided and needing the City Engineer’s advance approval. Sources: City of Burnaby, Zoning Bylaw rewrite FAQ, Zoning Bylaw No. 14815, R1 District, section 1.1.5.6, and the Engineering Design Criteria Manual, section 4.12, verified September 2026.

Burnaby puts laneway homes in its Medium Density Residential category, alongside townhouses, rowhouses and multiplexes. The Development Cost Charges Bylaw sets $37,423 per dwelling unit in that category and the Amenity Cost Charges Bylaw $18,874, a combined $56,297 in the City’s rate table effective July 1, 2024. The City collects both when the building permit is issued, and it also collects charges on behalf of Metro Vancouver, TransLink and School District 41. Sources: City of Burnaby, Development Cost Charges Bylaw 2024, No. 14645, Schedule A, Amenity Cost Charges Bylaw (consolidated), Development Funding Program and New Home Construction, verified September 2026.

BC Hydro early, and Burnaby-licensed trades. The City places a condition to reserve space on site for a transformer on projects with more than 3 dwelling units, which includes a single detached house with a secondary suite in conjunction with a laneway house, and it leaves applicants to contact BC Hydro before submitting a development application. A BC Hydro acknowledgement is required where the electrical connection is 200 amps or more, with BC Hydro approval before the permit issues. Electrical, plumbing, gas, heating and fire protection permits are applied for by a sub-trades contractor licensed to do that work in the City of Burnaby. Sources: City of Burnaby, New Home Construction and Submission checklist for two residential buildings, verified September 2026.

A traffic control permit for any lane closure, and tree protection before permits issue. Burnaby requires a traffic control permit to close a road, lane, path or sidewalk; a laneway closure on a local road is $175 a week, or $185 a week for a closure of more than six months, the City asks for at least 15 business days to review, and it approves permits for up to 8 weeks at a time. Construction may run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and not on Sundays or statutory holidays. On a property with a development application, trees of 20.3 cm diameter and up are protected, and demolition or building permits are not issued until the tree permit is issued, its fees are paid and any tree protection fence is installed and approved. Sources: City of Burnaby, Traffic Control Permit, Noise Bylaw, section 15(1), Tree Bylaw and Tree Permits with Development bulletin, verified September 2026.

Inspections, a water meter and an occupancy certificate. Burnaby’s Building Bylaw requires at least 24 hours’ notice for each inspection and acceptance before the work is concealed: the foundation and footing forms, the slab, the framing with rough wiring, gas venting and rough plumbing, the insulation and vapour barrier, and the building when substantially complete. New single family and two-family dwellings must install a water meter before an occupancy permit, the final building inspection follows the electrical, heating, plumbing and gas finals and the planting of retained and replacement trees, and no one may occupy a building without a valid occupancy certificate. Sources: City of Burnaby, Building Bylaw 2016, sections 7(3) and 21(1), Waterworks Bylaw, section 15(4), and New Home Construction, verified September 2026.