Minor Projects
Minor Projects fall under Part 9 of the BC Building Code. Always review your building requirements with City staff before starting a project. Building permits are needed for all new construction, temporary buildings and for alterations to existing construction. Minor Project applications need less review by other departments and agencies, and permit cost depends on the nature and scope of the work being done. Minor Projects include:
- Adding an accessory building, equipment room, shed, or detached garage over 10 square metres
- Addition/house raise
- Awning/canopy/patio cover
- Building a deck or gazebo
- Building a new, or legalizing an existing secondary suite
- Building a retaining wall over 1.2 metres in height
- Constructing roads within a strata development
- Construction of a swimming pool
- Creating new rooms or spaces within existing building
- Decks and balconies
- Demolishing a building or part of a building
- Duplex (two-family residential home
- Finishing a basement
- House move
- Installation of a hot tub
- Laneway housing (coach house, carriage home)
- Pool
- Renovation
- Restoration, maintenance or repair of building’s structural components and systems
- Restoration, maintenance or repair of significant building fire and life safety components and systems
- Single family residential home
- Wood burning appliance
Additional Information
Please contact the Building Division by email, by phone at 604-927-3441 or at their counter located on the main floor of City Hall, or refer to the resources below:
- Fill out the Residential Single Family / Two Family Building Permit Application (PDF) and complete a Residential Single Family / Two Family Building Permit Checklist (PDF)
- Provide drawings of the proposed work
- Pay application fee
- The Plans Examiner reviews the plans and forwards his comments to you
- Provide supplemental documentation identified and requested by the Plans Examiner in the course of their review
- Pick up plans after plan check and pay balance of permit
- Call for inspections at appropriate stages of construction
- An Occupancy Permit is granted once the work has achieved a successful Final Inspection and all other departmental processes are complete.
- For aged buildings (30 years or older), the City of Coquitlam has implemented procedures to ensure all building activities within the City are undertaken in a safe, reasonable and sustainable manner in order to ensure the safety of workers and the public. It is the responsibility of the building owner and employer to ensure all asbestos containing materials are inventoried and risk assessments completed. Visit WorkSafeBC Health-Safety Hazards-Exposures - Asbestos for more information on the hazards of asbestos. For more information, please refer to our Aged Buildings (30 Years or Older) Renovations, Additions and Restorations Guide.
- The zoning of your property to ensure your intended use is permitted.
- The regulations in that zone such as setbacks, site coverage and height.
- The age, location and depth of services to your property, such as water, sanitary sewer and drainage.
- If you are proposing to change the location and/or width of your driveway, you will require permission from the City Engineering and Public Works Department.
- The restrictions on your Land Title such as covenants, rights-of-way and easements.
- Restrictions that may apply to tree removal or vegetation/habitat sensitive environments.
- It is recommended that you review the Good Neighbour Construction brochure to avoid violating other municipal bylaws and complaints from neighbours.
- Building permits are required for all new construction, temporary buildings and for alterations to existing construction.
- Always review your building requirements with City staff before starting a project. The cost of building permits depends on the nature and scope of the work being done.
Did You Know
For the purposes of permitting, structures such as towers, retaining walls over 1.2 metres in height and storage tanks are considered buildings. Building permits are not required for storage or garden shed structures under 10 square metres in area, however they must comply with the setbacks stipulated in the Zoning Bylaw.
On average, applications for minor projects will take about 15 to 20 business days to reach first review. The amount of time required to complete the review and issue the permit will vary depending on the time required to correct any deficiencies identified. Permits are issued when all bylaw and code requirements are met. Once assigned to a File Manager, a more accurate assessment of processing time can be provided to you upon request.
- All plans and information submitted must be legible and of suitable quality for scanning.
- Drawings shall be submitted on sheets no smaller than 11 inches by 17 inches or larger than 30 inches by 42 inches.
- Drawing packages must include:
- Construction details
- Cross sections
- Elevations
- Floor and roof plans
- Foundation
- Property servicing details
- Site plan
- Single line drawings are acceptable for site plans only. All wall systems shall be a double line standard.
- Drawings and surveys will be accepted in Imperial or metric scale but only one convention may be used throughout the package.
- Drawings must include:
- Designer’s name
- Email address and telephone number
- North arrow (if applicable)
- Project civic address
- Sheet number sequence and scale
- All drawings shall be in black line. Red is reserved for City notation only.
- Drawings shall not be laminated or contain taped or pasted annotations.
- Annotations must be accompanied by owner/agent initials and must be dated. (Structural changes to be initialed and dated by Engineer only).
Please refer the Building Permit Checklist (PDF) or refer to the Specification Bulletins below, for detailed drawing submission specifications:
- Detached Building Drawing Requirements
- Outdoor Deck Drawing Requirements
- Secondary Suite and Basement Finish Drawing Requirements
- Single and Two-Family Home Drawing Requirements