Questions about residential new homes, additions & renovations to commercial tenant improvements design services?
For potential clients, it’s not uncommon to have some specific questions regarding the design process you’re about to undertake. In an attempt to get you some quick answers, we’ve highlighted the most frequently asked home design questions below…
Our fees are structured based on historical data for each residential project type. Unlike many of our competitors, we don’t believe we can deliver a quality service “ball-parking” our fees as if we are working with a predictable type of work such as installing flooring.
You can expect a clear fee structure showing the breakdown of the services to be delivered and can trust that those fees are based on other real projects we’ve completed over the last fifteen years of practice.
We’re not the cheapest and we’re by far not the most expensive. On a cost per square foot, we’re right in the middle. However, the quality of our work and the level of service we provide unlocks tremendous value.
BIM – Building Information Modelling is the practice of building an actual digital working model of a project, including real walls, floors & roof assemblies. Things like windows and doors, matching your desired style and function are imported or created in place to give you a working, digital model of the project.
Instead of drawings plans & elevations, we take horizontal sections through the building to show floor plan information and elevations are nothing more than horizontal sections looking to the building and represent an elevation drawing.
The standout advantage of BIM Modelling is that we can spend more time designing and refining the details of your project and less time messing around making lines look walls. We have the time to get it right and go through a number of design iterations so you don’t have to be concerned about making revisions and adding additional costs.
On top of that, it’s all 3D so the ramifications of your decisions are visualized and clearly understood long before the hammer is taken out.
No, we don’t build our work or do project management but we can help you by connecting you with with good reputable individuals and companies who make it their business to do this type of work everyday.
Our fees are structured based on historical data for each residential project type. Unlike many of our competitors, we don’t believe we can deliver a quality service “ball-parking” our fees as if we are working with a predictable type of work such as installing a flooring.
You can expect a clear fee structure showing the breakdown of the services to be delivered and can trust that those fees are based on other real projects we’ve completed over the last twenty years of practice.
We can and do for some of our professional clients. Talk to us about your specific needs and we’ll be better prepared to answer the question on a case by case basis.
Unless you’re making a change of use (such as turning your home into a dedicated office space with no one living there), building more than four dwelling units or over 6000 finished square feet of space, no, you don’t need an Architect.
That depends entirely on whether your looking to do a renovation, addition, basement suite, new home, laneway or outdoor structure. Some projects require extensive design development and an entire development permit processes while other require simple drawings and a field review application type of permit.
The shortest timeline would be about 10 days to 2 weeks and the longest timeline would be in the range of 6 months to a year.
The straight answer is anytime your pulling down or mounting drywall, adding or moving plumbing connections or adding electrical fixtures. That said, there’s a big difference between trade permits and building permits in that a trade permit doesn’t necessarily need to have drawings submitted to have a trade permit issued.
A building permit on the other hand is really meant for reasonable scale work such as renovating your bathroom, adding a deck and of course for making an addition or building a new house. For example, you don’t need a building permit to renovate your kitchen if you’re just replacing fixtures, cabinets, counter tops and repainting. However, if you move the connection of the plumbing stack in the wall, you would need a trade permit. If you’re also taking down a wall as part of the same work, you will need a proper building permit.
A development application is a specific set of drawings required when you’re requesting to make use of a conditional use under the zoning by-law or simply said, when you’re looking for permission for something that isn’t automatic. It always comes prior to a building permit application and handles more macro topics like like use, massing, spatial layout, exterior design and parking. Call us if you need clarification.
We’d be happy to assist you in customizing your ideal plan to suite your site and needs. But as we say in the architecture world, a building must suit it’s site and program rather than making the site conform to the building.
Stop work orders can be received for a number of reasons but the most common we hear about are where a project doesn’t have the necessary permits in place. Alternatively, sometimes the scope creeps up and goes beyond what was permitted when the application was approved.
If you require assistance creating the necessary documentation and submitting a permit application, contact us. We’re here to assist at any stage of the process and are experts at getting your project back on track.
Businesses & those undertaking commercial renovations often require specialized application drawings for everything from liquor licenses, fire emergency plans and Interior Health applications. We’re well experienced and happy to assist you with miscellaneous drafting services as required.
You’ll need to start by verifying your property’s zoning designation.
You can do that through your local municipal GIS mapping system or a phone call to your planning department. With the zoning in hand, check and see what uses are listed under “Secondary Uses”. If secondary suites are listed there then you can apply for the change of use and legally obtain a basement suite (or secondary suites as the building code calls them). Learn more about legal suites in our blog.
In British Columbia, secondary suites are limited to a maximum of 90m2 or 968sf of finished space. In many municipalities they have the further limitation of being no more than 40% of the overall square footage in a home.
You’ll need to start by verifying your property’s zoning designation.
You can do that through your local municipal GIS mapping system or a phone call to your planning department. With the zoning in hand, check and see what uses are listed under “Secondary Uses”. If secondary suites are listed there then you can apply for the change of use and legally obtain a basement suite (or secondary suites as the building code calls them). Learn more about legal suites in our blog.
The National and BC building codes do not differentiate between who the tenant would be in your suite and instead applies the secondary suite rules across the board regardless of the tenants relationship to the owner.
This way the minimum standard for a basement suite is unbroken. You can trust that a space claiming to be a secondary suite meets the minimum standard and isn’t just a basement with a second kitchen in it.
The building code changes every 5 years or so and with each edition, the burden is increased. While the quality and livability of secondary suites continue to rise with time, the number of interventions required continues to rise as a result. On top of that, each municipality has powers to adopt new versions of the code at their discretion meaning that what works in one city, may not be the solution that works in the next community over.
The two most important and highly considered issues for building inspectors are the fire separations. This includes acoustic separation as well but affects elements such as the ceiling drywall, construction of the floor above, smoke detectors and the separation of the heating system (depending on your jurisdiction).
You’ll need to start by verifying your property’s zoning designation.
You can do that through your local municipal GIS mapping system or a phone call to your planning department. With the zoning in hand, check and see what uses are listed under “Secondary Uses”. If carriage homes are listed there then you can apply for the change of use (through a development application).
If carriage homes are not listed there, it’s not to say you can’t get a carriage house approved. Rather, it simply means your journey is going to be a bit of an uphill battle to gain support from planning.
In British Columbia, the building code limits carriage homes to a maximum of 90m2 or 968sf of finished space.
Areas such as attached garages are generally excluded from those numbers but you should check your local zoning bylaw as this is controlled by individual municipalities. This pertains to both one storey and two storey carriage homes.
On the small side, the British Columbia building code limits carriage homes to a minimum of 32m2 or 344sf. That’s about the size of a 1.5 car garage.
Yes, we certainly design Garden Suites as well. The name Garden Suite is used by certain municipalities to describe a type of carriage house where the suite itself is on the second storey above the garage.
TIPS or Tenant Improvement Permits are a specific type of building permit associated with a tenant making renovations or improvements to a property (generally commercial) that he or she does not own. If you own a business that occupies a rental commercial space and wish to make renovations, then you would be applying for a TIPS building permit.
It depends on how extreme the change is. If the space is currently a retail space with office secondary and you want to change it to a fireworks manufacturing facility, you will need to make significant upgrades to the rental space in order meet the fire separation requirements between you and any neighboring units.
Unless you’re making a change of use (such as turning your home into a dedicated office space with no one living there), building more than four dwelling units or over 6000 finished square feet of space, no, you don’t need an Architect.
In rare circumstances such as when a change a use is required for a new business or a change in the way the space is being used by a current business. Another example would be when a washroom configuration for handicap accessibility needs an code equivalency in order to pass inspection.
That depends entirely on whether your looking to do a renovation or looking to add a commercial patio. Commercial patios require a full development permit processes in order to be reviewed and provide permission to use the sidewalk or patio space. This means you have a development permit issued first and then enter into a building permit submission with the entire process taking about 3 to 4 months to start construction.
On the other hand, a renovation to an existing commercial space are largely completed as field review process (a type of building permit processing) and would take about 10 days to 2 weeks to have a building permit issued.
We work very closely with a number of engineers and would be happy to solicited them on your behalf for your project or turn you directly onto their services. Beware though, not all engineers are equal! We try to work only with those professionals who we would use on our own homes but there are advantages at times and compromises have to be made.
This depends on the municipality and the type or work. For example, in Vancouver a Geotechnical Engineer is required anytime you’re in a known zone for poor soil bearing capacity or when your excavation for the basement level goes deeper than 6 feet below grade. The District of North Vancouver on the other hand needs a geo anytime you build a new home or anytime you drop the basement slab on a renovation.
For sake of clarity, we’re talking about topographical surveys, which means the type where we’re given elevation datums as well as property lines and the outline of the existing structures. This type can range heavily from area to area but generally falls between $750 to $2500 depending on the site topography, density of the neighborhood and level of data required.
Unless you’re making a change of use (such as turning your home into a dedicated office space with no one living there), building more than four dwelling units or over 6000 finished square feet of space, no, you don’t need an Architect.
In rare circumstances such as when a change a use is required for a new business or a change in the way the space is being used by a current business. Another example would be when a washroom configuration for handicap accessibility needs an code equivalency in order to pass inspection.
If your question isn’t covered here, we welcome you to Contact Us.
We’re happy to answer your questions over the phone or arrange for a free on-site consultation.