How Do I Check That a Home Builder in BC Is Licensed?

In BC, a company that builds new homes for other people needs a licence. The Homeowner Protection Act, section 14(1), says a person must not carry on the business of a residential builder unless licensed. Section 22(1) adds that a new home must be registered for home warranty insurance before it is built.

The same Act also affects your building permit. Under section 30(1), a city must not issue a building permit for a new home until the applicant shows evidence of home warranty insurance and of a licensed residential builder, or of an owner builder exemption. So the licence check you do at the start is the same check the City of Vancouver relies on later.

BC Housing's Licence Registry lets you search by licence number, company name or the name of the person responsible for the company. You can also search by location and licence type to see every builder licensed in your area. The registry lists builders who are not in good standing too, back to November 19, 2007.

Read the status beside the name. BC Housing defines each one on the same page:

There is more than one type of licence. The registry page says only builders with the general contractor licence type may build residential buildings under Part 9 of the BC Building Code. If you want a custom home, BC Housing says you must hire a licensed builder with general contractor status.

A company licensed only as a developer can still be part of a project, but it must contract a licensed general contractor to build Part 9 homes. If the name you search shows only a developer licence, ask who the general contractor will be, and search that company too.

A finished home shows you the builder's work. BC Housing's own guide, Hiring a Builder in BC, suggests looking up the addresses a builder gives you on the New Home Registry, to make sure the homes are registered and that the builder you are interviewing is the builder on record.

The New Homes Registry searches by street address and city or by legal description, for homes registered since November 19, 2007. It shows whether a home has home warranty insurance and whether a licensed residential builder built it. If the address is missing or the builder named is someone else, ask why before you go further.

BC Housing keeps an Enforcement Registry of compliance orders, monetary penalties and convictions, and updates it every month. The Registrar can impose a penalty of up to $25,000 when a person fails to comply with a compliance order or a condition of a licence.

Keep in mind what the licence office handles. BC Housing's builder conduct page says it cannot act as a mediator in disputes, inspect or confirm construction defects, decide warranty claims, or enforce building code compliance or construction quality. Those questions go to your contract, your warranty provider and the City. So call two or three past clients, and walk through a home the builder finished.

An owner builder is the other path. BC Housing's owner builder page says an owner builder must build or directly manage the construction, and is personally liable for construction defects in the new home for 10 years. Owner builders are exempt from the licence and from third-party home warranty insurance, so ask about both if the home you are looking at was owner built.

At Costar, we ask every family to check us the same way. At your first meeting, ask our team for the licence number and the warranty programme for your project, in writing, and look them up yourself before you sign.