Barndominium Builders in Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is built out: almost every residential property is a serviced city lot, mostly in the R1 zone, and there is no acreage market for a house with a big shop beside it. That changes what a barndominium looks like here. On a Burnaby lot it is a house with a barn-inspired form, steel or post-frame details and generous open space inside, sized to what the zoning allows and permitted through the City's Building Division. Because Burnaby now lets an R1 lot carry several homes, depending on its area and how close it sits to a frequent bus stop, the same lot can suit a single family house or a small cluster. Buyers who want the classic version, a wide clear-span home with a shop bay on a few acres, generally head east to the Township of Langley or into the Fraser Valley Regional District. We build in both settings, from custom plans fitted to a narrow city lot to shop houses and post-frame homes on rural land. Use the survey to tell us about your property and we will check the zone, streamside setbacks and servicing first.
Burnaby at a glance
- Municipality
- City, Metro Vancouver Regional District
- Population
- 249,125 (2021 Census); 299,682 (July 2025 estimate)
- Building permit
- City building office
- Land and acreage
- Serviced city land; acreage in Township of Langley and Fraser Valley Regional District
- Wastewater
- Municipal sewer
- Water
- Municipal water
Barndominium Builders Near Burnaby
From a turnkey build to a shell you finish yourself, the work starts with the parcel: the access, the building pad, the route to a sewer or a private sewage system, and the water source. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so each option is priced against your land rather than a rate card.
Turnkey Builds
Turnkey barndominiums in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: one team from bare land and permits to a finished, inspected house, water and septic planned in.
Custom Plans
Custom barndominium plans for Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: floor plans and permit drawings drawn for your parcel, your loads and your municipality.
Site Preparation
Barndominium site preparation in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clearing, grading, drainage, access and the building pad, planned around well and septic.
Permitting
Barndominium permits in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: development and building permits, trade permits, septic, and who issues each one.
Post-Frame and Steel-Frame Barndominiums Near Burnaby
A post-frame home, often called a pole barn home, sets its frame on widely spaced posts and suits a wide, simple layout with a shop bay under the same roof. A steel-frame barndominium uses a bolted steel frame, and an RTM (ready-to-move) home is built off site and moved to the land. Which one fits comes down to the land use rules, the site and the design values for your location.
Post-Frame Homes
Post-frame and pole barn homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a wide-open shop and a house on one column-and-truss frame, built as a real home.
Steel Construction
Steel-frame barndominiums and metal building homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clear-span frames for a shop and a house, finished for winter.
RTM Homes
RTM homes in Alberta and Saskatchewan: ready-to-move barndominiums built in our yard, moved to your land and set on the foundation built there.
Shouses
Shop houses (shouses) in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a working shop and a home under one roof, planned around the land use bylaw, water and septic.
Building a Barndominium in Burnaby: Permits, Land Use, Sewage and Water
On acreage the land use, sewage and water answers often come before the building answer. Here is who decides each part in Burnaby, taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so check them again against your parcel before anything is drawn.
City of Burnaby Building Division
Residential building permit applications in Burnaby are made online through the My Permits Portal, and permits are issued in digital form once every City requirement is met and the fees are paid. Since July 1, 2026 some projects need a development permit before a building permit can be submitted or issued. Electrical, gas and plumbing subtrade permits are separate.
Source: General Building Information, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
City of Burnaby Zoning Bylaw (R1 zone); BurnabyMap
BurnabyMap shows each property's zone and its rules on lot dimensions, coverage, height and building placement. On R1 lots the number of homes allowed depends on lot area and on proximity to a frequent transit network bus stop. For rural land, buyers look to the Township of Langley and the Fraser Valley Regional District, outside the city.
Source: New Home Construction, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
City of Burnaby sewer utility
Burnaby's sanitary sewers send household sewage through pipes and pump stations into Metro Vancouver's trunk network and treatment plants. Most of the old combined sewers have been separated; only about 7% still need it, in Burnaby Heights and Glenbrook. Land without sewer service needs an onsite system planned by an authorized person and filed with the regional health authority.
Source: Storm and Sanitary Sewers, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
City of Burnaby water utility (supply from Metro Vancouver reservoirs)
Burnaby delivers over 115 million litres of water a day through 720 km of distribution lines. The water comes from the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam reservoirs, which Metro Vancouver manages and keeps closed to the public, and it is treated before it reaches local systems. Rural property beyond municipal mains normally needs a private well.
Source: Drinking Water, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
- Ground snow load (Ss)
- 2.7 kPa
- Rain load (Sr)
- 0.4 kPa
- Hourly wind pressure, 1 in 50
- 0.47 kPa
- January design temperature (2.5%)
- -7 °C
- Heating degree-days below 18 °C
- 2,735
The values the code table lists for Burnaby (General). The designer confirms the values for your actual site.
Source: British Columbia Building Code 2024 (web version, revision 2), Government of British Columbia (British Columbia Building Code 2024, Division B, Appendix C, Table C-2; www2.gov.bc.ca)
- Building near a creek or ravine
- A Burnaby property within 30 metres of a stream, ravine or wetland needs an assessment to identify the streamside areas protected from new construction and land disturbance, and some R1 projects need a streamside development permit before a building permit is issued.
- Housing forms on an R1 lot
- The City's guide lists the forms that may be built on R1 lots, with or without a secondary suite: single-family homes and duplexes, two residential buildings on one lot, multiplexes of three or more units, and cottage courts of several single-family homes on the same lot.
Source: New Home Construction, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
Source: New Home Construction, City of Burnaby (burnaby.ca)
Building on Land Near Burnaby
Burnaby holds only a few hundred hectares of Agricultural Land Reserve and no acreage for sale as rural homesites, so a buyer after land should widen the search. The Township of Langley and the Fraser Valley Regional District are where the Lower Mainland's farm parcels and rural lots are found. If the land you like is in the ALR, expect one residence per parcel with a principal residence capped at 500 m², which shapes how large an attached shop can be. Away from municipal mains the parcel will also need a well and an onsite sewage system, so ask early whether either already exists.
Have land in or near Burnaby? Tell us about the parcel and what you want on it, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.
Building in Burnaby: questions
Start the surveyHow much does it cost to build a barndominium for a Burnaby family?
Do I need a permit to build a barndominium-style home in Burnaby?
Where is acreage for a barndominium with a shop near Burnaby?
What snow and wind values apply to a house in Burnaby?
Keep reading
What usually comes next once you know what Burnaby allows.
Barndominium Cost Guide
Sourced price ranges and what moves the number on your land.
Read itCan You Build a Barndominium in Canada?
Permits, licensing, warranty, land use, sewage and water in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC.
Read itHow Long Does It Take?
From parcel to move-in, and how the winter sets the clock.
Read itSources for this page
The published pages behind the Burnaby facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.
- General Building Information, City of BurnabyBuilding permit authorityburnaby.ca
- New Home Construction, City of BurnabyLand use and nearby rural municipalities; Building near a creek or ravine; Housing forms on an R1 lotburnaby.ca
- Storm and Sanitary Sewers, City of BurnabySewer or private sewageburnaby.ca
- Drinking Water, City of BurnabyWater supplyburnaby.ca
- British Columbia Building Code 2024 (web version, revision 2), Government of British ColumbiaClimatic design values (British Columbia Building Code 2024, Division B, Appendix C, Table C-2)www2.gov.bc.ca
- Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census subdivisions (municipalities), Statistics Canada table 98-10-0002-01Population, 2021 Censuswww150.statcan.gc.ca
- Population estimates, July 1, by census subdivision, 2021 boundaries, Statistics Canada table 17-10-0155-01Population estimate, July 1, 2025www150.statcan.gc.ca
Other places near Burnaby
Nearby places with their own pages. Across a municipal boundary the permit office, the land use bylaw, the sewage rules and the water source can change, so each is covered separately.
Building in Burnaby?
Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which offices decide it, what the land use rules allow, and a plan to fit.