Secondary Suites

A secondary suite is a self-contained area within a single family dwelling containing cooking facilities, a living/sleeping area and a bathroom.

A secondary suite can include common areas with the rest of the house such as a laundry room.

Free Inspections until January 31, 2013!

Council waived the fees for the first inspection of an existing secondary suite (which would determine the necessary building upgrades required to legalize your suite), and the follow-up re-inspection, until January 31, 2013.

This incentive program translates into savings of $250.

A $300 utility fee reduction has also been approved for secondary suites that have a Final Occupancy Permit. The reduction will be prorated from the date the permit is issued.

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Registration

1. Complete the Corporation of Delta's Registration Form.
2. Submit one copy of a Floor Plan. A Floor Plan will outline such items as room names and dimensions, interior and exterior doors, and window sizes and locations.

A complete criteria list of the Floor Plan and its requirements are available on Delta's website. If there are secondary suite restrictions registered on the title of your property, you may contact Community Planning and Development at (604) 946-3380 to determine the process to remove these restrictions.

Inspection

3. Once the Corporation of Delta has processed your Registration Form and Floor Plan, an appointment to conduct inspection of your secondary suite will be scheduled. The Building Inspector will check your secondary suite to confirm that it meets all requirements. If the inspection reveals that additional work needs to be completed to meet the requirements, a re-inspection will be necessary.

Final Occupancy Permit

4. Once the inspector is satisfied that your secondary suite meets all the requirements, the Corporation of Delta will issue a Final Occupancy Permit and add the information about the secondary suite to its Secondary Suite Registry database. The registry lists all legal secondary suites in Delta.

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Secondary suites are permitted in principal buildings in all single family (RS) zones, with the exception of the RS9 zone which already allows a detached secondary suite, also known as a Coach House. Secondary suites are also permitted in the RD1, RD2, RM1, RM5 and RM6 zones for single family dwellings only, not for duplexes or other multi-family buildings. To determine your property zone, contact Community Planning and Development at (604) 946-3380.

Delta placed a number of conditions on the legalization of secondary suites, including:

• Maximum of one secondary suite withing a single family dwelling. This helps gto ensure the preservation of the character of single family residential neighbourhoods.
  
• No separate address will be assigned for secondary suites.
  
  The secondary suite uses the same address as the principal dwelling with the addition of the letter "B" to distinguish the two dwelling units.
  
  An indicator must be placed on the front of the principal dwelling unit to show where the secondary suite exists on the property. This allows emergency personnel quick access when responding to various emergency situations.
  
• The floor area of the secondary suite must be between a minimum of 33 m² (355 ft²) and a maximum of 90 m² (968 ft²) and cover no more than 40% of the total habitable floor space of the entire dwelling.
  
• All single family homes with secondary suite require at least three off-street parking spaces.
  
• Home occupations are limited to businesses that do not generate traffic, for both the principal dwelling unit and the secondary suite.
  
• Boarders and lodgers are not permitted in a single family house that contains a secondary suite.

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Fire Safety

In order to restrict the spread of fire and smoke, and to provide the occupants a safe exit from the building in an emergency situation, an approved fire separation must be installed between the suite and the principal dwelling.

A fire separation is a construction assembly that acts as a barrier against the spread of smoke and fire. Wall and floor systems that are shared by both the suite and the remainder of the house must include a fire separation.

A 30 minute fire separation rating is achieved by:

• For walls: one layer of 12.7 mm (1/2") regular drywall on each side of the wall.
• For ceilings: one layer of 12.7 mm (1/2") Type X drywall or two layers of 12.7 mm (1/2") regular drywall or one layer of 15.9 mm (5/8") regular drywall.

Your Building Inspector can assist you in determining how you might achieve the required fire separation rating.

Safe Exiting

Doors: Both the secondary suite and the main house must each have at least one exit door that is at least 800 mm (2'8") wide and 1,980 mm (6'6") high. THe door must be equipped with an approved deadbolt lock.

Shared Exits: Exit corridors, stairways or exterior passageways shared by the suite and the main house must be at least 860 mm (2'10") wide. It must be possible to travel from the suite door in opposite directions to two separate exits.

A single exit is acceptable if both the suite and the main house have either a separate exit or a window with an opening, which is a minimum of 1 m (3'3") high, 0.55 m (1'10") wide and less than 1 m (3'3") above the floor.

Bedroom Window: Each bedroom must have a window, openable to the outside, to provide a second means of escape in case of fire.

The window opening must be a minimum of 0.35 m2 (3.76 ft2) in area with no dimension less than 381 mm (15"). The window must be openable from the inside without any special tools or knowledge. Security bars are not permitted.

Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms are required on each floor level and within 500 cm(16' 5") of each bedroom in the house and secondary suite.

To provide early warning to occupants, hard wired photoelectric type smoke alarms are required in the house and the suite, inaddition to an existing smoke alarms.

The additional smoke alarms must be interconnected so that the activation of one smoke alarm will cause the other alarms to sound.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detectors

For homes with forced-air gas furnaces and/or gas water heaters, a carbon monoxide detector must be installed adjacent to the sleeping areas in both the principal dwelling and the secondary suite.

To ensure the alarm can be heard, the detector should be located not more than 5 m (16 ft) from a sleeping area.

Heating Systems

Each room in the secondary suite must have a permanent heating source. Existing secondary suites that are heated with acommon forced air system may apply for an equivalent approach to meet this Building Code requirement as follows:

Gas and Electrical

Electrical permits must be obtained from the BC Safety Authority: 1-866-566-7233 or www.safetyauthority.ca.

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