Backyard Bedroom Kit: Our customer came to Westcoast Outbuildings with a problem. Their children were growing up right before their eyes. Brother & Sister once happy to share a single bedroom, it was now rapidly becoming a dysfunctional situation.
Our client had a dilemma, he had just moved into a cute little East Vancouver BC bungalow The upstairs was the perfect size for he and his wife and their two cats. In the basement was a revenue generating bachelor suite.
That meant no room for his design studio!
With the size of his lot there was no room for a full-fledged addition to the house. (more…)
Westcoast Outbuildings working under the oversight of MCM Architects and Stuart Olson Dominion Construction, supplied and installed two custom prefab buildings for the Vancouver Aquarium.
The Need: The Vancouver Aquariums is currently undergoing a $25 million dollar face-lift. As part of that re-design they required a temporary Ticket Building. That buildings would need to be able to process over 1 million customer transactions a year. The prefab building needed to be a custom design with 6 standard ticket windows and two wheelchair accessible ones.
The Problem: This client had long been embarrassed by the look of his old metal shed. That said he was hard pressed to install your typical “Big Box Store” style backyard shed or a flimsy “Cedar Shed”. His new North Vancouver Shed had to be one that was architecturally designed to match the scope & scale of his Westcoast style home.
Leave it to a backed up sewer line to force his hand. Cleaning of the plugged pipe led to the removal of the fence which sheltered the old metal garden shed. The metal garden shed was now plainly visible from the road. With the fence gone his rusty little secret was a secret no more.
The District of North Vancouver follows Zoning Bylaw No. 3210 for sheds. A shed under 10 square metres (108 square feet) doesn’t need a building permit, but it still has to meet the zoning rules for location, height and setbacks. Looking for the other municipality? See the City of North Vancouver Shed Regulations.
The District treats a shed as a minor accessory building for storage. Its shed page says sheds aren’t allowed in a front yard in most zones, and they can’t be used for parking or as living space. Zoning Bylaw 3210 sets the final numbers for each neighbourhood zone, so the figures below are the general starting point.
| Building permit | Not required under 10 m² (108 square feet). Required over 10 m². |
|---|---|
| Site plan | Required even when no permit is needed. |
| From a side street | 3 m (10 ft), from a street that isn’t the front |
| From a lane | 1.4 m (5 ft) |
| From a side property line | 1.2 m (4 ft) |
| From any other structure | 1.5 m (5 ft) |
| Max height, flat roof | 3.6 m (12 ft) |
| Max height, sloped roof | 4.5 m (15 ft), for a roof steeper than 3 in 12 |
A shed over 10 m² can be built beside a garage, but the shed itself can’t hold a vehicle. If the building is used for parking, as a studio, as a dwelling or as a hobby space, the District no longer calls it a shed, and it may not be allowed at all.
The District surrounds the City of North Vancouver and includes Lynn Valley, Deep Cove, Blueridge and Seymour. Check your property tax notice or ask the building department if you’re not sure.
For the province-wide picture, see Maximum Shed Size Without a Permit in BC. For finished examples, the North Vancouver Backyard Office shows a small building that doubles as a workspace, and the 8×12 Modern Utility Shed shows a typical shed-size build.
District of North Vancouver Building Department, 355 West Queens Road, 604-990-2480. Start at the District shed page. These rules are a general guide only, so always confirm with the building department before construction.
Not for a shed under 10 m² (108 square feet). Larger sheds need a building permit, and every shed must still follow zoning.
Generally 1.2 m (4 ft) from a side property line, 1.4 m (5 ft) from a lane and 3 m (10 ft) from a street that isn’t the front. Your zone can change these numbers.
Generally 3.6 m (12 ft) with a flat roof and 4.5 m (15 ft) with a roof steeper than 3 in 12.
That changes the building’s use, so it may no longer count as a shed. See the North Vancouver Backyard Office for an example, and check with the building department first.
BCBC 2024 Division A 1.1.1.1(2)(e) says the Code doesn’t apply to accessory buildings less than 10 m² in building area that don’t create a hazard, and “hazard” isn’t defined, so the local building official decides. The 10 m² figure on this page comes from the District’s own shed page, and the setbacks and heights are the District’s general figures, which each zone can change.
Browse more Backyard Outbuildings built across Metro Vancouver. Looking for the other municipality? See the City of North Vancouver Shed Regulations.
Shed Living an Affordable Housing TrendShed Living and Small Houses are the new “In Thing”, and this practical little living space couldn’t be more in vogue.
The “Shed for Living,” designed by Manchester England based FKDA Architects, provides all the necessary amenities for living in a compact unit.
Designed for those in need of affordable and practical space.
Constructed of FSC certified timber-framed walls, double paned windows, cellulose fibre insulation from 100% recycled newspaper and interior finishes with low VOC content. (more…)
NO. NOPE. AND NO WAY: The answer hasn’t changed for a North Vancouver man who wants to have a building on a remote lot in the middle of the forest, despite a lengthy court fight.
Bill Guest has been fighting the District of North Vancouver for three years for the chance to have any kind of structure on his residential zoned lot in the Mount Seymour forest. But for almost as long, the municipality has told him no permanent structures are allowed.
This month, a judicial review backed up those earlier decisions, saying the district was within its rights to refuse permits because of fire concerns.
Photograph by: NEWS photo, Jane Seyd
A North Vancouver man who built a shed on a privately owned lot in the middle of the forest has been ordered by a B.C. Supreme Court justice to take it down.
Justice Gregory Fitch granted an injunction to the District of North Vancouver in December, saying Bill Guest’s 10-by-10-foot shed didn’t comply with local bylaws, which essentially banned any construction on the land.
But following the ruling, Guest said he’s not giving up. Instead, he’s working on a design for a larger home with a sprinkler system and is still hopeful the district will allow him to build it.