General Contractor
in Vancouver, BC

Vancouver is the most regulated construction environment in the region, and it is the only municipality in the province that administers its own building bylaw rather than applying the BC Building Code directly. Requirements, process, and timelines here are genuinely different from everywhere else in Metro Vancouver.

Contractors who work mostly outside the city underestimate that constantly. We plan Vancouver projects around the city's actual process, not an assumption borrowed from Burnaby or Surrey.

Character Homes and the Retention Question

Kitsilano, Dunbar, Point Grey, Mount Pleasant, Grandview, and much of the East Side are built on pre-1940 character housing, and the city has structured its policy to strongly encourage retaining those buildings rather than replacing them. Retention can unlock density and flexibility that demolition does not, which is why so much Vancouver work now takes the form of a deep renovation of an existing character home rather than a teardown.

These are wonderful houses to work on and they are honest about their age. Knob and tube wiring, galvanized supply plumbing, little or no insulation, single pane windows, and foundations that range from serviceable to needing full replacement. A meaningful share of any Vancouver character home budget goes into work nobody will ever see, and we scope that up front.

Pre-1990 buildings also require a hazardous materials survey before demolition under WorkSafeBC rules. On a 1920s Vancouver house that survey almost always finds something, and licensed abatement has to be planned into both the budget and the schedule.

Laneway Houses and Secondary Suites

Vancouver was the first municipality in the region to support laneway housing at scale, and it remains one of the most effective ways to add real value and usable space to a single family lot. A laneway house works as rental income, multi-generational housing, or a home office entirely separate from the main house.

Siting is the constraint. Lot dimensions, lane access, setbacks, tree protection, and the relationship to the main house all shape what can be built and how large it can be. We assess feasibility on your specific lot before any design money is spent.

Secondary suites are well established in the city, and combining a suite with a laneway house on a suitable lot substantially changes a property's economics. Both paths involve real permitting process, and we handle that end to end.

Working on a Vancouver Site

Vancouver lots are narrow, streets are tight, and parking is regulated. Bin placement, material delivery, trade parking, and street use all require planning and sometimes permits of their own. This is a real line item, not an afterthought.

The city also protects trees seriously. Removal of trees above a certain size generally requires a permit, and protected trees near a proposed foundation or addition may require an arborist report and root zone protection during construction. We look at trees before settling a footprint.

Permit timelines in Vancouver are longer than in most neighbouring municipalities. We build realistic review windows into every schedule and we would rather tell you a longer honest number at the start than a short one that slips.