A City of Vancouver Part 11 analysis helps establish which existing building upgrades a proposed renovation, addition or occupancy change may trigger. For an owner or design team, its practical purpose is to connect the intended work to a documented compliance approach before drawings, budgets and construction commitments become difficult to change.
The starting point is a clear description of the building and the proposal. A label such as ‘tenant improvement’ leaves important questions unanswered: which spaces are affected, how will people use them, and which existing systems will support the change?
What does Vancouver Building By-law Part 11 cover?
Part 11 addresses existing buildings. The 2025 Vancouver Building By-law places the upgrade mechanism in Section 11.5. The review considers the applicable project categories, upgrade triggers, exceptions and special cases. New materials and construction work must meet the by-law, and existing unsafe conditions require attention. The City’s current Building By-law resources provide the governing provisions and explanatory notes.
Establish the applicable edition and transition provisions at the outset. The City identifies September 15, 2025 as the effective date of the 2025 edition, while some projects may retain an earlier code basis under applicable transition arrangements. Check the City’s Building By-law page and record the project’s basis in the report. Our BCBC and VBBL consulting guide explains why that first decision matters.
What do F, S, N and A upgrade levels mean?
The upgrade mechanism uses four familiar categories:
- F: fire, life and health safety.
- S: structural safety.
- N: non-structural safety.
- A: accessibility for persons with disabilities.
The letters and levels direct the team to the applicable upgrade objectives and measures in the City’s Section 11.5 reference. A report should show how the proposed work produces the required levels and explain the resulting scope. Assess each category separately: overlapping triggers can produce different governing levels, with the corresponding lower-level measures also included.
Energy requirements need a separate check. The City states that the former energy upgrade mechanism ended on December 31, 2022. Its current energy requirements and checklists still address tenant improvements and alterations. Reusing an older report with an E-level calculation can therefore carry outdated assumptions into a new submission.
Start with records and an agreed scope
Collect approved architectural drawings, occupancy information, previous code reports and available records of alterations. Ask the owner to identify work completed since those documents were prepared. A site review can then compare the available information with visible conditions and identify areas needing further investigation.
Mark the proposed work on plans: retained spaces, new partitions, demolished construction, affected exits, additions and changes to use. Describe operations in ordinary language as well as identifying the proposed occupancy classification. This gives the consultant and designers a common basis for evaluating the project.
Record information gaps explicitly. For example, an unverified wall assembly may need records, investigation or a design response. Treating an assumption as confirmed construction can make a preliminary budget appear more certain than the evidence supports.
What should a Part 11 report explain?
A useful report gives the next person enough information to follow the reasoning. Its scope and level of detail should suit the assignment. Ask for:
- The building description, applicable code edition and documents reviewed.
- The proposed work categories and assumptions used in the analysis.
- The applicable upgrade triggers, levels and reasons for any proposed exceptions.
- A description of the resulting work, with locations and relevant drawing references.
- Items requiring architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical or other specialist input.
- Unresolved questions, responsibility for follow-up and matters requiring City review.
Translate each finding into a design action. If the review identifies an exit or accessibility issue, show where the response belongs in the drawings and identify the responsible designer. Our guide to code compliance drawings describes this connection between the analysis and the permit package.
Use the findings for budgeting and permit coordination
Separate confirmed upgrade work from provisional allowances and investigations. Discuss sequencing where work affects occupied areas or shared building systems. Revisit the analysis when the scope, occupancy or layout changes, and preserve the final report with the approved drawings for future projects. City acceptance and permit decisions remain part of the authority’s review.
For a prospective tenant, begin with our Part 11 checklist before you lease. To discuss an existing building project, see Noven’s Vancouver Part 11 Analysis and Consulting service or request a proposal with the address, available drawings and a summary of the proposed work.
Published October 26, 2026. City references reviewed on that date. The applicable by-law edition, project scope and existing conditions determine the required analysis.