Advice Needed: House without Occupancy Permit in BC

[DarkAisling]

With all of our BC members, and those in construction, I'm hoping someone here can point me in the direction of who I need to get in touch with about a situation my sister and I will be dealing with eventually. Google has turned up lots of information about people dealing with this issue in BC, but I've yet to find anything that directs me to a solution.

The short of it: My sister and I will be inheriting a house in BC (hopefully NOT in the near future) that does not have an occupancy permit. Unfortunately, the house is not in a good location for either my sister or me, so the house will be sold. It is a beautiful and well maintained house in a stunning area, but we'll need to get a permanent occupancy permit to facilitate a sale. There has never been an occupancy permit for this house. It has never been a grow-op. The reason for the lack of an occupancy permit comes down to negligence on the builder's part.

Hopefully it will be a very, very long time before my sister and I have to deal with this. But, as the events that will lead to us inheriting this house will be emotionally devastating, I'd like to have a plan in place well before hand. We found out about the issue in 2013, but it is nagging at me lately.

Does anyone know who we'll have to deal with the get this sorted out?

[CaberTosser]

The local municipal district or town office should be able to set you up on it. The occupancy permit is signed off by the various building inspectors for the framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc. The framing one might be difficult if some things are concealed, or it might even be necessary to pop some drywall off here or there for the inspector to see what's in some pertinent spots. The plumbing, HVAC and electrical inspectors might be able to get by on function testing everything and basing their findings on the workmanship visible at the mechanical room & electrical panel, respectively. Some of the details will be smoke detectors, suitable handrails at any steps, stairs that meet code, safety rails around decks over a certain height, properly functioning 2-way or 3-way light switches, the list goes on. The thing is that each of these inspections generally entails a building permit to be pulled by the respective trade, though I imagine a county office might be easier to work around your predicament than the OCD bureaucrats here in Cowtown.

[densa44]

Talk to the county/municipality asap. Is the building insured? If so that may help.

There may have been an occupancy permit, or you may be the only one who knows that there never was one.

Don't rock the boat if there are no records.

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

The thing is that each of these inspections generally entails a building permit to be pulled by the respective trade, though I imagine a county office might be easier to work around your predicament than the OCD bureaucrats here in Cowtown.

Thank you. This is where my thinking as at with the whole thing.

Originally Posted by densa44

Talk to the county/municipality asap. Is the building insured? If so that may help.

There may have been an occupancy permit, or you may be the only one who knows that there never was one.

Don't rock the boat if there are no records.

The house is insured. There has never been an occupancy permit for the house, and the municipality is aware of the situation. My relatives were advised not to purchase the house by their lawyer. They went against that advice and paid cash for the house. Getting a mortgage on this property without an occupancy permit would be difficult for a potential buyer.

I think I'll see about pulling the title to learn what is on that.

[fishunter327]

The regional district I built my house in doesn't have and doesn't require occupancy permits.
The banks might want a finalized building permit .

[bigjohncdn]

The town, city, or? where they pay their taxes is who to contact.

Depending on where it is and how old it is there may not have been a requirement for an "occupancy permit" at that time. So long as all the permits, if any, that were needed at the time were in place there shouldn't be too much of an issue.

If an occupancy permit had been required but just not obtained, and if all permits during construction were issued and inspected (framing, plumbing, electrical etc) obtaining the actual occupancy permit might not be all that hard.

I had to do this a few years back and it was pretty easy as all the other permits and inspection reports were on file.

It was in BC, but each jurisdiction will have it's own policy and problems.

[Sneeze]

While I have no experience with methods of dealing with this in British Columbia - if this was an Alberta problem I would suggest hiring a contractor who knows and is on good terms with the municipalities building inspectors.

A lot of how they interpret codes is discretionary, you need somebody that understands the construction that can work with the inspectors to form a reasonable plan to get the home through its final inspections.

You may be required to modernize the house to current building code standards in the event they make you get a building permit. Depending on when the home was built this could be ridiculously costly, hence the contractor that can work with them, rip open the bare minimum of walls, replace the bare minimum of things.

Good luck!

[DarkAisling]

Thanks, folks.

I did pull the title and there is nothing on it that indicates the lack of an occupancy permit. But, it is the first BC land title I've ever looked at. I've looked at thousands of Alberta land titles, and the BC ones don't have as much information on them.

The house is in the District of Logan Lake. When the house was purchased fifteen years ago no one at the District Office really knew what to do about the situation. At this point, I think I should wait. I don't want to stir up a hornets' nest. My relatives have made it very clear that they don't want to deal with it. I don't want to trigger anything that might force them into having to deal with it.

[Cowtown guy]

If it is just the Occupancy permit it is likely not a big deal to get it cleared. If it has never had any inspections then that is another matter entirely. There is a huge difference here.

Here in AB you typically get an inspection of the foundation/weeping tile and gravel prior to backfill. Then you get an inspection after framing and the mechanical trades are finished their rough ins. In some areas you will need an insulation inspection before you are allowed to drywall too. Then after everything is completed you will need final inspections from all the trades.

After these are completed you will need the occupancy inspection. It will be checking to see if the trades inspectors have signed off on the work as well as if things like stairwell headroom is maintained, spindle clearances are correct, smoke detectors are working etc., etc.

[bigjohncdn]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

Thanks, folks.

I did pull the title and there is nothing on it that indicates the lack of an occupancy permit. But, it is the first BC land title I've ever looked at. I've looked at thousands of Alberta land titles, and the BC ones don't have as much information on them.

The house is in the District of Logan Lake. When the house was purchased fifteen years ago no one at the District Office really knew what to do about the situation. At this point, I think I should wait. I don't want to stir up a hornets' nest. My relatives have made it very clear that they don't want to deal with it. I don't want to trigger anything that might force them into having to deal with it.

Sounds reasonable.

Logan lake, former company house? A lot of the houses that were originally built by the mine fell under totally different regs and were originally built on company land. Since it's become more of a retirement area, others have moved into these places. Possibly where the issue lies.

[twofifty]

One somewhat related BC experience I witnessed involved the purchase (for cash) of a single family home that had been unoccupied for more than 10 years.

Before the new owner could get an occupancy permit, the municipality forced upgrades to current standards and codes. This meant: new sewer and water hook-up to the street mains. All new wiring and new plumbing throughout. Insulation and VB. Heating and Ventilation. Windows & Doors. The only thing that remained was the framing - it was sound.

If your relatives are currently occupying the home, there may be few problems selling it. However if the home has been vacant for x years, the Estate may have a hard time selling it without being forced into improvements. A cash buyer could take it though if he were willing to deal with the problems without borrowing reno $ from the bank.