eCheck Digital Building Permit Review Tool
October 21, 2025 update: The eCheck and Explore tools are temporarily unavailable while the R1 Zoning Bylaw is being updated. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. Learn more about the R1 District regulation changes.
About this pilot program
The City of Burnaby has launched a pilot program to use new digital tools to speed up residential building permit processing.
This program, which is funded in part by the CMHC Housing Accelerator Fund, helps home-builders get timely feedback on zoning regulations, submit permit applications with fewer potential problems, and experience a faster, simpler, and more transparent application process.
Our pilot features 2 new services for residential building permit applicants:
- Explore provides specific zoning requirements and permissions for R1-zoned residential properties, which covers over 98% of all residentially-zoned lots in Burnaby. Use Explore to quickly and easily find important zoning information about your property, like the maximum number of dwelling units permitted on the lot, parking requirements, and technical specifications such as building height and setbacks, so you can correctly draft your building design.
- eCheck is a digital tool that assesses building plans for compliance with the Burnaby Zoning Bylaw and creates a report showing where drawings follow or don’t follow regulations, enabling fast feedback on potential problems with the design. During the pilot program, participants can submit their drawings to eCheck and generate a compliance report to submit with their permit application. Burnaby staff will use the eCheck report to analyze the building drawings, which will help them review and process the permit application faster.
While these automated tools will enable faster reviews, Burnaby’s plan checking staff will still review submitted documents to resolve complex issues and ensure compliance with the BC Building Code. Both tools were developed by Archistar, Burnaby’s software vendor for this pilot program.
Sign up for Explore and eCheck
The eCheck and Explore tools are temporarily unavailable while the R1 Zoning Bylaw is being updated.
1. Sign in and find your property
- Once your account registration is complete, log in to the Explore platform.
- Enter your property address in the search bar. As you type, matching results will appear—select your property to continue.
2. View property information
- After selecting your property, you’ll see:
- Zoning regulations
- Planning rules
- Estimated lot size
- Site-specific details and more
- Click on any rule to view the exact bylaw text.
- You can use map layers at the top right to visualize features such as:
- Zoning
- Easements
- Frequent Transit Network Area
3. Prepare your plans for eCheck
Please refer to New Home Construction for detailed information on preparing your project and getting pre-approvals. To be eligible for eCheck submission, you will need to have obtained an Engineering pre-application approval. Your architectural plans for submission must include:
- Cover sheet / technical data summary
- Topographical and survey plans
- Site plan Floor plans
- Elevations
Refer to the Drawing Requirements – R1 SSMUH Information Guide for full details.
4. Submit your plans to eCheck
- Upload your plans directly to eCheck.
- Depending on your project type, you may be prompted to answer additional questions.
- Information will fill in automatically whenever possible.
- Generate a compliance report to include with your building permit application.
- You only need to generate one report, as our staff will review your drawings.
5. Prepare for your building permit application
Get all the details you need on building a home in Burnaby and instructions on applying for a building permit online.
eCheck program details
Early, convenient feedback
eCheck will enable you to fix any problems and address design issues in advance, reducing errors, requiring fewer revisions, and speeding up approval. The eCheck report shows which zoning rules apply to your project, whether your design passes or fails each rule, and offers tips to fix any issues. The eCheck system follows strict security protocols to protect your information and the files being uploaded, and the copyright holder of the plans maintains the ownership rights. During this pilot phase, please submit your report along with your permit application, even if your report still includes issues with your design. As the software continues to improve, you will have the opportunity to resubmit through eCheck in order to generate an enhanced report for our review.
eCheck does not replace qualified professionals
It is important to note that eCheck doesn't replace professional designers and expertise. It checks objective zoning rules, not ones that need judgment. Applicants are strongly recommended to retain experienced qualified design professionals who are familiar with the Burnaby Zoning bylaw. As this is a pilot program, City staff will provide close quality control of reviews, and will continue to fully review drawings for Building Code compliance.
Questions and answers
If you are the owner of the drawings, you will retain all ownership of copyright and other existing intellectual property rights that you have in your drawings. There is no transfer of ownership in such drawings to either Archistar or the City of Burnaby by use of the eCheck platform.
Archistar and the City of Burnaby may use your drawings to train and improve eCheck’s performance and functionality to scan and interpret drawings, such as recognizing and detecting features like doors, windows, and room types. For greater clarity, drawings will not be used to create new building plans.
The purpose of eCheck is to provide faster feedback on any drawing deficiencies and speed up the City’s review times. The objective is to enhance efficiency, as well as to support and expedite the issuance of building permits. Currently, using eCheck is optional. If you choose not to use it, you may submit your building permit application without giving consent.
If the issues persist, you can reach out to support at [email protected] for further assistance. You will receive a support ticket number and a response within 2-3 business days.