General Contracting in Vancouver
A general contractor exists to own the sequence. On a project with five trades, the expensive failures are almost never bad workmanship — they are the tiler arriving before the waterproofing cured, or cabinets delivered to a room the electrician has not finished.
When a project needs a general contractor
The threshold is roughly three trades and a dependency between them. One trade doing one thing does not need coordinating. A bathroom needs demolition, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, tiling, and finishing in a fixed order where each hands off to the next, and a missed handoff costs days.
The other trigger is anything structural or permit-gated, because someone has to own the inspection schedule. If you are comfortable project-managing and have time to be on site, hiring trades directly can save the coordination fee. If you have a job and a life, that saving is usually smaller than it looks.
BC Housing licensing thresholds
British Columbia requires builders of new homes to be licensed with BC Housing and to provide home warranty insurance. That regime is aimed at new construction rather than at ordinary renovation work, but substantial reconstruction can bring a project within it.
Where your project might cross that line — major structural reconstruction, adding a dwelling unit, or work extensive enough to be effectively a new home — establish it before starting, not partway through. The requirement attaches to the work rather than to anyone's intentions, and it is not something to discover at inspection.
Fixed-price vs. cost-plus
Fixed price gives you certainty and puts the risk on the contractor, who prices that risk in. It works when the scope is genuinely knowable — a bathroom in a house where what is behind the walls is understood.
Cost-plus means you pay actual costs plus an agreed fee, and it suits work where the unknowns are real: heritage homes, structural work, anything where opening it up will change the plan. Fixed price on genuinely unknowable work produces either an inflated quote or a fight about variations. Neither is a scam; matching the contract type to the certainty is the skill.
Permit and inspection sequence
Permits are pulled before work starts and inspections happen at defined stages — typically after rough-in and before anything is closed up, then at completion. Missing a rough-in inspection means opening finished work back up, which is the single most expensive scheduling mistake available.
Agree in writing who applies for permits and who books inspections. It is commonly the contractor, but the owner is frequently the applicant on smaller jobs, and "I assumed you were doing it" is how a project loses a fortnight. Regulated trades pull their own permits under their own licences.
What this costs
Bathrooms $32,000–$78,000 · kitchens $55,000–$140,000
Multi-trade renovation, quoted from drawings with a fixed payment schedule. The range reflects specification more than square footage — the same bathroom can sit at either end depending on tile, glass and fixtures.
Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. Quotes are free and written, and the full rate card is published rather than given out on request.
Common questions
When do I legally need a licensed builder?
BC requires builders of new homes to be licensed with BC Housing and provide warranty insurance. Ordinary renovation generally falls outside it, but substantial reconstruction or adding a dwelling unit can bring a project within scope. Establish that before starting rather than partway through — it attaches to the work, not to intentions.
How are renovation contracts structured?
Fixed price where the scope is genuinely knowable, cost-plus where the unknowns are real — heritage homes, structural work, anything that will change once opened up. Fixed price on unknowable work produces either an inflated quote or an argument about variations. Matching the contract type to the certainty is what matters.
Who pulls the permits?
Agree it in writing before starting. It is commonly the contractor, but the owner is often the applicant on smaller jobs, and each regulated trade pulls its own permits under its own licence. "I assumed you were doing it" is a fortnight lost. Book inspections at rough-in, before anything is closed up.