Allow certified professionals to review building permit plans and construction monitoring on behalf of the City
The Certified Professional program (CP program) offers an alternative building permit process whereby a Certified Professional (CP) undertakes the building review and construction monitoring role on behalf of the City. The City relies upon the CP’s assurances when issuing Building Permits and Occupancy Permits. The CP must be recognized as a CP by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia or Engineers and Geoscientists BC.
The CP Program is a voluntary alternative building permit process, applicable to the design and construction of new Part 3 buildings. The program does not apply to renovations or tenant improvements except prior to occupancy of the shell building being constructed under the CP Program. Applicants may choose to retain a CP and use the CP Program approach, or may choose to submit applications to the City for plan checking and inspections.
Any permit application submitted using the CP program approach must be prepared in accordance with the British Columbia Certified Professional Program Manual and the City of Burnaby Certified Professional Program.
How to apply
The CP must submit the building permit application and all supporting documents in accordance with City's Certified Professional Program requisites. The submission requirements are outlined in the CP Building Permit Application Form and the CP Program Intake Checklist:
Applications under the CP Program can be submitted online, but must follow the City’s file naming convention for digital submission documents.
Prior to beginning your application, review the City of Burnaby Certified Professional Supplement to ensure that your submission is prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined:
A building permit application can only be made after submission of the Preliminary Plan Approval (PPA) application and after Third Reading for rezoning applications. The staged building permits will not be issued until the PPA has been issued. Note that for each stage of the building permit submission, the architect and CP are required to submit a PPA compliance letter after the issuance of the PPA.
The CP must submit the building permit application and all supporting documents using the file naming convention. Details on how to name documents are outlined in the following guide.
In order to ensure these submission documents can be appropriately identified and processed by our staff, it is crucial that applicants adhere to this naming convention prior to uploading to the server. Submissions that do not follow this convention will be rejected.
Initial submission
The CP will be informed of the assigned Building Permit No. once the initial submission has been processed. Thereafter all subsequent submission documents are required to include the Building Permit No. as outlined below.
Examples of initial CP submission document names are as follows for reference.
20230823_COB_S1_01_BP Application
20230823_COB_S1_05_PPA Confirmation
20230823_COB_S1_07_AS1 Report
Subsequent submissions
Examples of subsequent CP submission document names are as follows for reference.
BLD23-12345_20230823_COB_S3_29_Staged Construction Form
BLD23-12345_20230823_COB_S3_30_ARCH Drawing
Review your submission to ensure it contains the full list of required items as outlined in the City's Certified Professional Supplement.
All required forms including the CP Building Permit Application and CP Intake Checklist can be found in the Documents section below. Note that a set of code compliance drawings is required in addition to a detailed code analysis report outlining all of the building code concepts. Where alternative solutions are required, Alternative Solutions Application needs to be submitted. The applicable BC Building Code Compliance Checklist is also required to be completed.
Once the permit package is complete and ready for submission (ensure all files are named per the file naming convention), the CP can schedule a meeting with the Building Department to go over the particulars of the project and the submission. This is optional.
Steps to submit online
- The application package including compliant drawings are to be submitted online for intake and review.
- CPs need to ensure that the submission uses the required file naming convention (see Step 1 above) and each item in the checklist is submitted individually as a separate file with a maximum size limit of 500 megabytes.
- Once the complete package has been uploaded, the Building Division will review the submission and issue a Building Permit number.
How to pay
Full payment of the Building Permit application fees will be required subsequent to the Building Permit application intake, and upon receipt of the Building Permit application invoice. Fees can be paid directly in My Permits Portal, or you can pay invoices online with your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) or in-person with cash, cheque or debit card. Per the City's Fee Recovery Bylaw 13640, we'll charge a fee of 1.75% on payments made with a credit card.
Upon the issuance of the staged Building Permit, work can begin for the respective stage of the project. The CP is required to monitor field review activities of the registered professionals of record and conduct site reviews at maximum 30 day intervals. Site review progress reports are to be submitted to the Building Inspector. Prior to construction, the CP will establish with the Building Inspector, a protocol of anticipated joint field reviews leading up to the demonstration of the fire and life safety systems (trip test).
Trade permits are required for electrical, plumbing, gas and fire sprinklers. The CP is responsible for confirming with the contractor that all required electrical, sprinkler, plumbing and gas trade permits are obtained prior to the applicable trade commencing work. All work completed will require City inspections. Inspections can be requested with 24-hours notice required.
Where a project includes sign, a separate sign permit application is required, ensuring that the proposed signs meet the Sign Bylaw and Development Permit.
Prior to final occupancy, the CP is required to submit the CP Occupancy Certificate Application (or Occupancy Binder), supported by a final Building Inspection Document List with cover index. Following review of the application and confirmation by the Building Inspector to schedule a final trip test, the CP will coordinate the test with the Building Inspector and Fire Division.
The Certified Professional can recommend Final Occupancy and issuance of Occupancy Permit but cannot authorize occupancy of a building.