Draft New Building and Plumbing Bylaw

The City of Fernie has developed a draft new Building and Plumbing Bylaw to replace our outdated current bylaw. This bylaw in conjunction with BC code governs how building and plumbing permits will be processed and managed in Fernie. The draft bylaw is significantly different from our current bylaw and includes the key changes listed below.

  • Exemptions: Clarifying what does not require a permit
  • Damage to Municipal Works Application Requirements: Ensuring that damaged municipal works are documented pre-construction and that any subsequent damage is repaired by the builder rather than all taxpayers.
  • Requirements for Demolition: Ensuring hazardous materials are properly dealt with prior to demolition and utilities are appropriately terminated.
  • Application Requirements: Ensuring all applications for building and plumbing permits include all necessary information to evaluate the permit.
  • Step Code Adoption: We are proposing Step 2 for Part 9 Buildings and Step 1 for Part 3 buildings. Step Code will become mandatory Province wide in 2022 and we would like a smooth transition and to ensure that by that time everyone is familiar with the process.
  • Electric Vehicle Ready Homes: The Province has mandated that by 2040 all light duty vehicles sold in BC will be electric. There are two other milestones on the way to that target (10% in 2025 and 30% in 2030). Homes built today will still be early in their lives when all new vehicles are electric and it is more cost effective to pre-wire at construction. To this end we are proposing that all new homes have a minimum 1 parking stall wired for type 2 EV charging.
  • Forms: Forms are proposed to be removed from the Bylaw and changing them would be delegated to City Administration. This will allow for modifying forms without needing to amend the bylaw.
  • Fees: Fees are proposed to be removed from the bylaw and included in a master fee bylaw. At this time we are not proposing fee changes though that issue may arise when we prepare the master fee bylaw.

The draft is a substantial modernization based upon a template bylaw developed in collaboration between the Municipal Insurance Agency of BC and Lidstone and Company LLC. We are looking for your suggestions on how the draft bylaw may be improved to better serve our community. 

Visit our Draft New Building and Plumbing Bylaw page to read the draft and learn the process for submitting your feeback.