Our Commitment: Feasibility First
Our costing is directly tied to our upfront feasibility analysis—which is why we provide commercial feasibility reviews 100% free of charge.
An upfront commercial review determines two essential things before you sign a lease or spend money on drafting:
- Zoning & Permitted Use Feasibility: Is your intended business type (retail, restaurant, daycare, clinic) permitted under the property's municipal zoning bylaw?
- Building Code Classification & Triggers: Does your unit trigger mandatory fire-resistance upgrades, health authority review, or commercial kitchen exhaust systems?
We don’t want you spending a single dollar on drawings if a municipal zoning restriction blocks your business or if building code upgrades will blow past your buildout budget.
We carry comprehensive Errors & Omissions (E&O) and Commercial General Liability insurance, billing strictly for the technical drafting and code coordination hours required to get your business open on schedule.
1. The Standard Drawing Package for Commercial TIs
Most commercial permit applications across British Columbia require the same baseline drawing deliverables regardless of business type:
- Building Code Classification & Matrix: Establishes the building height/area, Part 3 vs. Part 9 status, construction type (combustible vs. non-combustible), and occupant load formulas.
- Site Plan & Building Key Plan: Locates the tenant unit within the larger commercial plaza or office complex.
- Demolition & Proposed Floor Plans: Details interior partition removals, new wall construction, door clearances, and barrier-free universal accessibility paths.
- Egress & Travel Distance Plan: Maps exact walking paths from the most remote corner of the leased premises to approved public exit corridors and exterior exit doors.
- Reflected Ceiling Plan (RCP): Details ceiling grids, emergency battery lighting units, illuminated exit signs, and fire sprinkler head layout alterations.
- Commercial Space Planning vs. Decorative Elevations: Code-compliant space planning, partition placement, barrier-free washrooms, and occupant load calculations are fully included. Custom decorative interior elevations (retail display millwork, bar joinery, or feature wall paneling) are quoted as an optional, separate scope. (Explore our Interior Elevations & 3D Rendering Cost Guide).
2. What Drives the Price: Business Type & Code Difficulty
While the baseline drawing deliverables look similar on paper, your specific business type and occupancy classification dictate how many technical hours are required to engineer the plans:
A. Simple Office & Retail Renovations (Group D & Group E) — Lowest Fee Tier
Modifying non-bearing partition walls in a professional office or retail shop is straightforward drafting. We verify that private offices don't exceed allowable travel distances to exit corridors and confirm that modified partitions align with existing fire sprinkler heads. Because life-safety complexity is low, these projects represent our most cost-effective commercial pricing tier.
B. Restaurants, Cafes & Food Primary (Group A, Div 2) — High Complexity
Converting a unit into a food primary business significantly increases technical deliverables:
- Fire-Resistance Ratings (FRR): Higher occupant loads trigger mandatory 1-hour or 2-hour rated fire separations on demising walls between your unit and adjacent tenants.
- Health Authority Submissions: We prepare dedicated food-safety drawing packages formatted specifically for Vancouver Coastal Health or Fraser Health (commercial dishwashing stations, handwash sinks, food prep clearances, and non-porous finish schedules).
- Commercial Kitchens & Grease Interceptors: Coordinating plumbing riser details, grease traps, kitchen exhaust hoods (NFPA 96), and make-up air (MUA) mechanical systems.
C. Licensed Daycare Facilities (Group A, Div 2) — Strict Licensing Rules
Daycares carry unique regulatory hurdles under both the BC Building Code and provincial child-care licensing:
- Indoor Ratios: Calculating exact net usable activity floor space per child (excluding halls, washrooms, and storage).
- Sanitary Fixtures: Specific child-height washroom and handwash basin ratios per age group.
- Outdoor Play Areas: In addition to interior plans, daycares mandate comprehensive fenced outdoor play area plans, showing direct egress gates, sun shading, and safety surfacing.
D. Industrial & Hazard Occupancies (Group F2 & F1)
Medium to high-hazard industrial units (auto repair, woodworking, warehouse distribution) require extensive spatial separation calculations, hazardous material containment notes, and specialized fire suppression coordination.
(Learn more about how business zoning impacts your permit in our Commercial Zoning & Occupancy Classification Guide).
3. Structural Alterations, Mezzanines & Parking Calculations
Adding floor space inside an existing commercial envelope—such as constructing a new mezzanine or infilling a high-ceiling void—triggers both structural and zoning reviews:
- Additional Required Sheets: Mandates Interior Elevations, Structural Cross Sections, structural beam point-load details, and stair rise/run geometry.
- Code Limitations: The BC Building Code strictly limits mezzanines to 40% of the room area (unless treated as a separate building storey, which triggers heavy fire suppression rules).
- Increasing FSR & Municipal Parking Calculations: Adding usable floor area increases the property's overall Floor Space Ratio (FSR) or Gross Floor Area (GFA). In BC municipalities, zoning bylaws dictate mandatory off-street parking stall quotas based on floor area or restaurant seating. Increasing FSR triggers a full municipal Parking By-Law Calculation to ensure the commercial plaza has sufficient parking stalls. If parking is maxed out, it may require variance approvals or cash-in-lieu fees.
- Engineering Coordination: We coordinate directly with your registered structural engineer (P.Eng. Schedule B) to incorporate column pads and steel connection details into the permit set.
(For detailed rules on area caps and egress, read our comprehensive BC Building Code Mezzanine Guide).
4. The Architect Filter: Part 9 vs. Part 3 Buildings & Professional Liability
Our first step on every commercial TI is evaluating the building classification and professional scope under the BC Building Code and the Professional Governance Act:
- Part 9 Commercial Buildings (Direct Cost Savings): If your unit is located in a commercial building with a building area under 600 m² and up to 3 storeys, you do not legally require a high-overhead architectural firm. As an ASTTBC Certified Design practice carrying full Errors & Omissions insurance, we prepare the complete architectural drawing package and coordinate municipal intake directly—saving business owners thousands of dollars in unnecessary retainers.
- The Architect Liability Multiplier (Part 3 Triggers): When a commercial project legally requires a Registered Architect (AIBC) or Coordinating Registered Professional (CRP), consultant retainers often double or triple ($10,000–$25,000+). This isn't just for drafting time—Architects and Engineers assume massive statutory corporate liability and mandatory Schedule A & B Letters of Assurance under provincial legislation.
- Reviewing AIBC Thresholds Upfront: Many interior tenant improvements within Part 3 buildings can still be designed directly by a certified designer alongside coordinating mechanical or electrical engineers. If your unit's footprint, major occupancy classification, or exterior modifications cross the threshold into mandatory architectural involvement, you can review the exact legal guidelines in the AIBC Reserved Practice Guidelines (PDF). We evaluate these triggers upfront during our free feasibility check so you never face unexpected consultant bills.
5. Base Building Plans vs. LiDAR As-Builts
Commercial lease units rarely match the landlord's outdated marketing floor plans:
- When Valid Base Plans Exist: If the property manager or landlord provides verified CAD drawings or archival blueprints, we confirm key boundary dimensions on-site and jump directly into proposed layout drafting—keeping billable time low.
- When No Usable Plans Exist: We deploy on-site 3D LiDAR scanning to capture existing demising walls, structural columns, ceiling heights, and plumbing rough-ins with millimeter precision. This is billed as a separate, transparent service based on unit square footage—explore the rate breakdown on our LiDAR As-Built Pricing Page.
6. How We Guarantee Our Pricing: The Multi-Page Contract
Commercial leasing schedules and buildout budgets are time-sensitive. We don't believe in low-ball "flat rate" teasers that suddenly stall out with unexpected change orders:
- Signed Multi-Page Agreement: Before collecting any deposit, both parties sign a comprehensive written contract itemizing every required drawing sheet, full scope of work, technical observations (including required engineering disciplines), and realistic delivery milestones.
- 50/50 Payment Milestones: 50% deposit to initiate technical space planning, and 50% balance upon completion and delivery of your permit-ready drawing set.
- City Revisions 100% Included (Under Original Scope): All municipal plan checker review comments, health authority notes, and engineering coordination under original scope are fully covered with zero extra fees.
- Fair Scope Adjustments for Undisclosed Work: If city inspectors flag an undocumented mezzanine or unpermitted past tenant modification not included in the original lease scope, you only pay for the specific additional drawing sheets required to legalize it. Because your base CAD floor plans and code matrices are already complete, resolving newly identified scope is fast and cost-effective.
7. What About Municipal City Hall Fees?
Architectural drafting and code consulting fees cover the technical preparation and engineering coordination of your TI permit package. Municipal permit fees, plan processing charges, and refundable damage deposits are billed directly by your local city hall at the time of application submission.
To review permitting fees, valuation formulas, and online application portal requirements for your local municipality, visit our City Permit Resources directory.
Request a Commercial TI Feasibility Review
Because every commercial space involves unique lease boundaries, occupancy classifications, and municipal hurdles, we evaluate feasibility upfront to provide a clear, itemized proposal.
Send us your unit address, base building drawings (if available), and your intended business layout. Our team will review the code requirements, assess feasibility, and follow up promptly with a transparent project proposal.
BC Building Design & Permit Administration •
