Most building owners in Burnaby know they need a fire safety plan. Fewer know exactly what the City of Burnaby requires when you submit one — or what happens if you don’t.
Here’s what the Burnaby Fire Department actually requires, pulled directly from their published guidelines and the City of Burnaby Fire Services Bylaw.
In this article
- Which Buildings Need a Fire Safety Plan in Burnaby
- The 4-PDF Submission Requirement
- The 60-Day Deadline
- The Pre-Incident Plan
- The Fire Safety Plan Box
- Fee Schedule
- What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
- Working With a Qualified Company
Which Buildings Need a Fire Safety Plan in Burnaby
Fire safety plans in Burnaby are required under BC Fire Code Section 2.8 and Section 5.6, based on building use and occupancy type. As a general rule:
- Any building three storeys or higher
- Buildings with a certain number of suites or occupants
- All construction and demolition sites — every project in Burnaby, without exception
- Any building where the Burnaby Fire Department has issued a notice requesting one
Construction and demolition sites are worth calling out specifically. Burnaby requires a construction fire safety plan for all projects — not just high-rises or major developments. If you’re demolishing or building anything in Burnaby, you need a plan before work starts.
The 4-PDF Submission Requirement
This is where most first-time submitters get caught off guard. The Burnaby Fire Department doesn’t accept a single document. You’re required to email four separate PDFs to firesafetyplans@burnaby.ca:
- Application form — the Burnaby Fire Department’s standard form
- Fire safety plan — the full plan covering building construction, systems, evacuation procedures, personnel, and inspection logs
- Vital information form — a summary sheet with key building and contact information
- Pre-incident plan — a separate document (covered below)
The fire safety plan drawings must use the Burnaby Fire Department’s official symbol set. Using the wrong symbols is one of the most common reasons a submission comes back for revision.
The department will not review your submission until full payment is received. Payment is by cheque — mailed or dropped off at the Fire Administration Office at 4867 Sperling Avenue.
The 60-Day Deadline
Under Section 23 of the City of Burnaby Fire Services Bylaw No. 11860, building owners have 60 days from the completion of new construction or renovation to submit a fire safety plan to the fire chief.
60 days sounds like a lot. In practice, if the plan isn’t started well before construction wraps up, you’ll be scrambling. A fire safety plan for a complex building takes time — site visit, CAD drawings, system documentation, and the submission process itself. Starting at the 50-day mark rarely ends well.
The Appointed Fire Safety Director form also has to be completed after training, signed by the fire safety plan designer, before the submission is finalized.
The Pre-Incident Plan
Burnaby is one of the few municipalities in the Lower Mainland that explicitly requires a pre-incident plan as part of the submission — and it’s a separate document, not just a section of the main plan.
The pre-incident plan goes directly into the fire apparatus computer. When Burnaby Fire Department trucks respond to a call at your building, the incident commander can pull it up on the apparatus screen before they’re out of the truck. It gives them:
- Site and floor plan layouts
- Specific property and building information
- Fire department access points and connections
- Hazardous materials locations
This is why Burnaby requires its own official symbol set. The symbols have to be legible and consistent across the system so responding crews can read the plan quickly under pressure.
The Fire Safety Plan Box (FSPB)
Every building requiring a fire safety plan in Burnaby must also install a Fire Safety Plan Box (FSPB). The requirements are specific:
- Padlock type
- Spare lock included inside the box
- Labelled “Fire Safety Plan” on the front
- Location must be confirmed with the Burnaby Fire Department before installation
The FSPB gives fire crews immediate access to a physical copy of your plan when they arrive at the building. Contact the Burnaby Fire Administration Office (604-294-7195) to confirm the required installation location before you order or install.
This catches a lot of building owners off guard — especially those updating existing plans who assume the box is already handled. If your building doesn’t have one, or the existing one doesn’t meet current specs, it needs to be addressed before your submission is complete.
Fee Schedule
Burnaby charges a review fee based on building height. Fees include GST:
| Building Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Low-rise (6 storeys and under) | $171.15 |
| High-rise (7 storeys and above) | $342.30 |
| Revisions to existing plan (same company, within 10 years) | No charge |
The no-charge revision provision matters. If your building’s Fire Safety Director, deputy, or service contractors change, revisions submitted by the same company that originally prepared the plan are free for 10 years. That’s part of why it matters who prepares your plan in the first place.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
The Burnaby Fire Department enforces compliance through fire inspections. If an inspector flags your building for a missing or outdated plan, you’ll receive a notice requiring you to engage a qualified company and submit a letter of intent before the re-inspection date.
That re-inspection date matters. Missing it — or failing to file the letter of intent — escalates the issue. The bylaw gives the fire department authority to enforce compliance, and Burnaby uses it.
If you’ve already received a notice, the letter of intent has to come from a qualified company. That’s the starting point — not the finished plan, but confirmation that a qualified designer is engaged and working on it.
Working With a Qualified Company
The Burnaby Fire Department’s submission requirements — 4 PDFs, official symbols, pre-incident plan, FSPB coordination, 60-day deadline — are specific enough that a generic template or non-specialist won’t cut it.
We’ve prepared fire safety plans for Burnaby buildings across building types: wood-frame residential stratas, commercial mixed-use complexes, and 26-storey concrete high-rises. We know the Burnaby submission process, we use the correct symbols, and we handle the pre-incident plan and FSPB coordination as part of every engagement.
One flat fee. Approval guaranteed.
Recent Burnaby fire safety plan projects:
- Residential strata on Burlington Avenue — 24-suite wood-frame
- Commercial mixed-use at HighGate Village on Kingsway
- 26-storey residential high-rise on Halifax Street
Contact us to get started, or learn more about how our service works.