Commercial Tenant Improvements in North Vancouver

There are two North Vancouvers

The City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver are legally separate municipalities with their own bylaws, fees, staff and application processes. They share a name and a postal designation, and almost nothing else procedurally.

Confirm which one your address is in before anything else — the City’s CityMap and the District’s GEOweb property viewer will tell you. Advice from a contractor who worked "in North Van" may be advice about the other jurisdiction.

District of North Vancouver: the meeting comes first

The District requires a pre-application meeting for commercial permits, arranged roughly four weeks before you intend to submit, with a named commercial plan checker. All submissions require that appointment, and only complete submissions are accepted.

Two District specifics worth budgeting for:

• Sprinklers on change of use. The District states that a change of use or occupancy, or significant alterations, may require the building to be sprinklered. On an unsprinklered building that is a very large number arriving on a tenant’s project.
• Infrastructure triggers by construction value. Larger fit-outs can trigger new sanitary or water service connections and replacement of damaged curbs and driveway crossings, with civil design by a professional engineer required before the permit issues.

The District is also unusually direct about professional requirements: it states that an architect is required for most tenant improvements under the Architects Act, including mezzanine additions, and is not required for projects that are only mechanical, electrical or structural. Fees are split 50/50 — half at application, half at issuance.

City of North Vancouver: occupancy works differently

A detail that catches people out: the City issues a Certificate of Occupancy for new base buildings only. Tenant improvements close out on final building and trade inspection notices instead, and a new business occupant obtains a business licence separately.

If you are waiting for an occupancy certificate on a tenant improvement in the City, you may be waiting for a document that is not issued for your project.

The City is also strict about inspections: documentation must be submitted with the inspection request, and an inspection requested without it is recorded as failed rather than rescheduled. Revisions to approved drawings need approval in advance of inspection. Buildings connected to the Lonsdale Energy Corporation district energy system need LEC consultation and final approval — there is no District equivalent.

Buildings from before 1990

The City requires a hazardous materials inspection report by a qualified person for pre-1990 buildings. Where hazardous materials will be disturbed, removal documentation, a clearance letter and air clearance testing results are required before the first inspection.

On the North Shore’s older commercial stock this is common, and it is a real line item and a real delay if it is discovered after the lease is signed.

Stop work orders in the City

The City publishes a Stop Work Order Guide, and its expectations are specific: respond in writing within two business days, double permit fees apply to work started without a permit, and fines may be applied daily. A notice may be attached to the property tax certificate. Our article on work stop notices covers what to do in the first forty-eight hours.

Every municipality runs this differently and the details change. The way to find out what your project actually involves in North Vancouver is to look at the unit before you commit to it: occupant load, exiting, washroom count, ceiling height, and what the existing mechanical and electrical will support.

We do that as a unit feasibility check, and act as the owner's agent on the permit application afterwards, so the city communication and the drawings sit in one place. A registered architect reviews the design for compliance with the building code and the local bylaw, and provides sign and seal where the project requires it.