Signing a lease for a new cafe, salon or office is only the start. Before you can open the doors, the empty unit has to pass through a series of approvals, and each one depends on the one before it. In this post we walk you through those stages in order, explain what changes the time and cost, and share tips to help you meet your opening date.
The building work inside a leased commercial unit is called a tenant improvement. We tried to base this guide on the City of Vancouver's rules, but the City of Vancouver's website would not load for us when we wrote it. The rules below come from the City of Burnaby's own guides and forms, which we opened on September 29, 2026, with one note from the City of Richmond. Every city sets its own steps, so if your unit is in another city, check that city's rules before you plan.
A cafe or restaurant, a nail salon and an office each have steps of their own. Our posts on building out a cafe or restaurant, opening a nail salon in Vancouver and planning an office build-out cover them.
The Tenant Improvement Process in Burnaby, Stage by Stage
Burnaby's tenant improvement guide (revised July 4, 2023) sets out the order. Here is what each stage means for a small business.
1. Check the Zoning Before You Sign
The zoning bylaw decides which businesses may operate on each property. Burnaby's business licence page recommends that every new business confirm its location complies with the Zoning Bylaw before signing a lease. The Planning Department takes these questions at 604-294-7400. Make this call before you sign anything.
2. Get Your Landlord's Written Consent
The City needs proof that you have the right to build in the unit. Burnaby's guide asks for an owner's undertaking signed by the land title owners or by the tenant. It may also ask for a Consent to Construction form, signed by the registered owner, the strata council or the property manager. If someone applies for you, an agent authorization form is also needed. Ask for these signatures while you negotiate the lease.
3. Health Approval for Food and Personal Services
For some businesses, the health authority comes before the City. Burnaby's guide says Fraser Health approval is required before the building permit application for food service businesses, for personal service businesses such as salons, manicure and pedicure, lash extensions and skin care, and for child care. You bring Fraser Health's memo and one set of its stamped plans to the City. If you later change those stamped plans, you may need a new approval.
Fraser Health asks a new food business for three sets of floor plans drawn to scale, a food safety plan and a sanitation plan. A business that serves food for people to eat right away needs a health operating permit, and the owner needs at least FOODSAFE Level One. A new personal service business sends at least two printed copies of its construction plans, with lists of its services, equipment, tools and chemicals, and its cleaning and sterilizing steps.
4. Planning Approval Where Your Use Changes
Some projects need a review by Burnaby's Planning Department, called Preliminary Plan Approval, before a building permit. The guide's examples include changing the use of a business (for example, from an office to a school), adding seats to a restaurant, adding floor area and raising the number of people the space is allowed to hold. The guide asks you to confirm this with Planning before you sign a lease. The City will not issue the building permit until this approval is final, and you must apply for the building permit within 90 days of it. On its commercial renovations page, Burnaby also says that since July 1, 2026 some projects need a Development Permit (a separate planning permit) before a building permit can be submitted or issued.
5. Apply for the Building Permit
Burnaby's commercial renovations page says any interior or exterior alteration, or any change of use, in an existing commercial building needs a building permit. The guide asks for three complete sets of drawings: a site plan, floor plans that show exits, walls built to resist fire and the total area of your unit, construction details, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing drawings where they apply. City staff screen the package first, and an application with missing or wrong information may be rejected.
A plan checker then decides between two paths. Simple jobs in buildings that the City finds in substantial compliance with the BC Building Code may get the faster review. Everything else goes through the full review, where the drawings go to the fire, electrical, plumbing and gas, and engineering departments. The City says the time for a full review depends on how complex the project is.
6. Trade Permits for Electrical, Plumbing and Gas
Once the building permit is issued, the trades take out their own permits. Burnaby's guide says electrical, plumbing, gas and sprinkler permits must be obtained by a certified trade contractor who holds a Burnaby business licence or an inter-municipal business licence (one licence that the City of Burnaby says is accepted in Burnaby, Delta, New Westminster, Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver). The City's electrical and gas forms ask for the contractor's Technical Safety BC licence, and the plumbing form asks for the installer's trade qualification.
A cafe with gas equipment should read the gas form closely. For buildings other than single-family homes, a job with more than 409,600 BTU per hour (120 kW) on one meter, or more than 2 pounds per square inch of pressure at the meter outlet, must get its gas permit from the provincial safety authority (the form names the BC Safety Authority) instead of the City. Propane permits also come from the provincial authority.
7. Inspections and Occupancy
Each permit ends with an inspection. Burnaby's occupancy certificate application lists final approvals from electrical, plumbing, gas, the Fire Prevention Office, Planning, Engineering and Climate Action. Where the form applies, the full package goes to the building inspector at least five working days before the final occupancy inspection.
Plan for inspections to pass the first time. On Burnaby's 2026 fee schedule, a building re-inspection costs $72 the first time, $314 the second time and $620 the third time.
8. Get Your Business Licence
Every business in Burnaby needs a valid business licence, whether it is commercial or home-based. The application fee does not come back, and the first-year fee is due after the City approves the licence. The City's licensing page says it cannot process an application for a location with active or open permits, and it suggests calling the Building Department at 604-294-7130 before you apply. Close every permit from your build-out first, then apply.
What Changes the Time and Cost of a Tenant Improvement
Each leased unit is different. These factors change your schedule and budget, based on what the cities themselves list.
The Kind of Business You Run
A simple office layout is the most likely to qualify for Burnaby's faster review. The guide lists restaurants, schools, night clubs and other places where people gather as projects that do not qualify, along with any project that needs Fraser Health approval. A salon or a cafe therefore goes through the full review, and it has an extra approval stage before the City even takes the application.
A Change of Use
Moving into a unit that held the same kind of business is simpler than changing what the space is used for. A new use can trigger Planning approval in Burnaby. In Richmond, the City says a code review of the whole building may be needed to confirm the new use does not force major construction or fire safety changes across the building. Its example is a building designed for industrial use that is turned into a gathering space. Richmond also asks restaurants for a seating layout, the expected number of occupants, a cooking equipment list and details of the exhaust hood and fire suppression system.
Kitchen Exhaust, Gas and Sprinklers
Burnaby lists installing or changing a commercial kitchen exhaust system, and changing a fire alarm, as work that needs a permit. If your cafe alters the building's sprinkler system, sprinkler drawings sealed by an engineer, with water flow calculations, go in with the application. Each of these systems adds drawings, a trade permit and an inspection.
The Condition of the Building
Burnaby offers the faster review only in buildings in substantial compliance with the BC Building Code. The guide also lists upgrades to the existing exits, fire alarm or sprinklers as work that goes to the full review. If your unit sits in an older building that needs that work, plan for the longer path.
Structural Work and Added Floor Area
A mezzanine, a new second floor or any change to the structure needs drawings sealed by an engineer. Burnaby's guide lists floor area additions and structural changes as work that does not qualify for the faster review. Adding floor area can also trigger Planning approval.
The Value of the Work and City Fees
Burnaby sets its building permit fee by the value of the construction. On the 2026 schedule, work between $20,001 and $200,000 costs $515 plus $15.60 for each $1,000 over $20,000. For a $100,000 build-out that comes to $1,763. The application fee is 20 percent of the estimated permit fee, with a minimum of $78 and a maximum of $8,619, and the rest is paid when the permit is issued. Design changes cost money too: the first two revisions before the permit is issued are free, the third is $145 and the fourth is $290. These are City fees only. Construction, design, trade permits, Fraser Health and the business licence are all separate, so confirm the current fees with the City before you set a budget.
Practical Tips for Business Owners
Ask the City Before You Sign. Call Burnaby's Planning Department to confirm your business is allowed on the property and whether you need Preliminary Plan Approval. Put that answer in writing before the lease is final.
Get Landlord Consent Early. Ask the landlord to sign the Consent to Construction form and the owner's undertaking while you negotiate. A missing signature can delay the whole application.
Start the Health Approval First. If you serve food or offer personal services, send your plans to Fraser Health before anything else. The City will not take your building permit application without Fraser Health's stamped plans.
Submit a Complete Package. Burnaby screens every application and may reject one with missing or wrong information. A complete set of drawings avoids a rejected application and a second submission.
Keep Design Changes Few. Every revision after the second one costs extra, and changes to Fraser Health's stamped plans can need a new health approval.
Close Every Permit Before the Licence. Book final inspections early and make sure each trade closes its permit. The licence application waits until they are closed.
How Costar Handles a Commercial Build-Out
Costar's commercial and tenant improvement service page says we run the same construction-manager-led process on a build-out as on our residential work. One construction manager is your single point of contact, coordinating permits, trade contractors and inspections against a schedule you can see.
Our process page describes the pre-construction stage: we agree on a cost plus arrangement for transparency, set the budget and specifications, sign a written contract, and submit the final drawings for permits and approvals. Costar uses CoConstruct (of Buildertrend) software to track progress and expenses. At handover, the process page describes a joint pre-occupancy inspection and a project binder with manuals and contacts for the trades.
Costar's project gallery lists commercial work across Metro Vancouver. DL's Luxe Nail Salon at 4299 Dawson St in Burnaby is listed as a commercial tenant improvement with design, construction and management. Swiss Cafe at 5970 University Blvd in Vancouver has the same scope. Formwerk Office at 290 West 3rd Avenue in Vancouver, shown at the top of this post, is listed as construction and management. The gallery also lists Pure Nail Bar on Rupert Street, Gong Cha on East 12th Avenue in Vancouver and Ding Tea on Renfrew Street in Vancouver. For more on building in Burnaby, see our Burnaby area page.
Before you sign a lease, talk to us about the unit. We can review what the space needs and which approvals apply to your business. Tell us about your project today.
Related on this site: Commercial and tenant improvements · DL's Luxe Nail Salon in Burnaby · Book a one-hour project consultation
