The home you bought may already have a rental space or you may be considering turning an unused basement into a revenue generating asset. It’s not a new idea but it’s a critical one in the District of North Vancouver, given the high cost of home ownership. Or alternatively, you may be thinking about building a separate living space for your family members, or possibly a nanny’s suite. The one thing to keep in mind is that regardless of what you call it (or whether grandma’s living there) the District will consider it a ‘secondary suite’ if it meets the following criteria:

 

Criteria For a Secondary Suite

But there’s no need to be concerned as the District of North Vancouver has allowed secondary suites in all houses and duplexes for over 16 years (since October 1997), assuming the following are met:

  1. The building is occupied by the owner.
  2. Only one secondary suite per residence.
  3. The secondary suite is located in the principal structure.
  4. One additional off-street parking spot is provided on the property.
  5. The suite is the smaller of either 968 square feet or 40% of total house floor space.
  6. Follows Building Code requirements for secondary suite construction.

If you own a home where your secondary suite was installed prior to October 1997 (and never declared), or was not authorized through the building permit process, the secondary suite is considered “unauthorized”. Again, there’s no need to worry as the District of North Vancouver, in 2001, implemented a program to identify all authorized and unauthorized secondary suites. You can easily download a “Secondary Suite Owner Declaration” and forward to the District of North Vancouver. It’s a single-page declaration which simply says ‘I have a Secondary Suite’, and the DNV website clearly states that filling it out won’t trigger an inspection of your home. And what it doesn’t ask is just as important. It doesn’t ask you to state if you have the suite rented or not, it simply asks you to state that a secondary suite exists based on the DNV’s definition.

Declaring Your Secondary Suite

It’s important to keep in mind that the District does expect the suite to comply with, or be brought up to, zoning and Building Code requirements. The declaration, however, doesn’t exist to force compliance but rather to collect extra utility charges for additional water and sewage use, as well as garbage pickup. And you’ll be billed the extra charges whether the suite is currently occupied or not.

From a Building Code and safety perspective, there are two main goals:

secondary-suite

  1. To both minimize the risk of fire and protect all occupants should there be a fire –
    there must be fire separation between the two living areas in order to provide resistance to fire transfer, and that fire /smoke detection in both areas be
    interconnected to allow for alerting both areas.
  2. To ensure egress requirements are met (safe ways to exit the building quickly).

If you decide that you want to avoid the additional utility charges associated with a secondary suite, then the second cooking facility must be removed. For electric ranges, the range and its associated wiring must be removed. For gas ranges, both the physical range and gas line will need to be disconnected and capped by a qualified gasfitter. Note that any work done by an electrical or gas fitting contractor requires a permit from the District of North Vancouver.

If you choose to have an “authorized” Secondary Suite built for your home, a reputable builder will be able to assess the existing conditions and the amount of upgrading required. As well, a reputable builder will have protocols in place to document important communication, maintain accurate real-time accounting of your project, and have systems in place to prevent surprises.