When the property management team at this Jervis Street highrise contacted us, the building had no current Fire Safety Plan. The existing documentation was outdated — no BC Fire Code 2018 compliance, no structured maintenance schedule, no organized hazardous materials inventory for the pool chemical room.
On the surface this looked like a standard residential highrise file. Once you’re inside the building, it’s anything but.
Here’s how we built the plan from scratch and got it approved by Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services.
The Building at a Glance
| Street | Jervis Street, Vancouver BC |
| Type | Residential highrise |
| Year built | 1974 |
| Construction | Concrete with glazing |
| Floors above grade | 18 (no 13th floor) |
| Below-grade levels | 6 (Parkade P1–P6) |
| Total suites | 136 |
What Made This File Complex
1. A 50-Year-Old Building With BC Fire Code 2018 Requirements
This highrise was built in 1974 — before the current fire code framework existed. Getting a 50-year-old concrete highrise to full BC Fire Code 2018 compliance means auditing systems that have been patched, upgraded, and modified over five decades.
The fire alarm configuration alone is unusual: two separate panels. The Notifier Panel handles elevator recall only and is not connected to any other fire life safety equipment. The main panel — a Model 910D three-wire single-stage alarm — controls full building evacuation. Both panels need clear documentation so any firefighter entering the building knows exactly what they’re working with and what triggers what.
2. Six Below-Grade Levels
Most Vancouver highrises have one or two underground parking levels. This building has six.
That means six levels of evacuation routing, six levels of emergency lighting to test and maintain, and six levels of sprinkler and standpipe coverage — from Level 1 all the way down to Parkade Level P6. The north parkade stairwell exits directly to the exterior; the main building stairwells serve the upper floors. Every route was mapped in the CAD floor plan drawings.
3. Pool Chemical Storage — A Hazardous Materials File Within the File
This building has an indoor pool. That means a pool pump room in the basement and a dedicated chemical storage area: chlorine-free oxidizer, pH Plus, shock treatment, and alkalinity control compounds — stocked in bulk.
4. Emergency Generator With a Decades-Long Maintenance Schedule
The building runs an Onan diesel genset in Parkade Level 2. It supplies emergency power to exit lighting, parkade gates, and the key FOB system — not a system you want failing during an evacuation.
An emergency generator isn’t just an equipment line in the plan — it’s a maintenance commitment. If the generator isn’t ready when the alarm sounds, people are navigating underground parkade levels in the dark.
5. Fire Department Access and Utility Shutoffs
Every fire safety plan documents what firefighters need to find fast: where to connect, where to shut off, and how to get in. For this building that means four siamese inlet connections on the exterior wall and a gas shutoff at grade — both mapped, photographed, and documented.
What the Fire Safety Plan Covers
- Supervisory staff structure — Fire Safety Director, Deputy FSD, and 24-hour management contacts
- Inspection and maintenance schedules — Daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual, and annual schedules for every fire life safety system, plus long-interval milestones up to 50 years for the sprinkler system
- Emergency generator protocols — Full startup, testing, and contractor service schedule for the diesel genset
- Hazardous materials documentation — Pool chemical inventory, storage location, quantities, and emergency procedures
- Fire alarm procedures — Locations for both panels, alarm/reset/test sequences, and monitoring company details
- Evacuation routing — All exit routes, two main stairwells, the north parkade stair, and the unusual centre-core scissor stairwell that alternates on each floor
- Sprinkler and standpipe system documentation — Including 3-year, 15-year, and 50-year testing milestones mapped to future dates
- Fire department connections and utility shutoffs — Siamese inlets, gas shutoff, water shutoff, and electrical disconnect all photographed and mapped
- BC Fire Code 2018 compliance — Complete update from outdated documentation
- CAD floor plans — 28 pages covering every level from Parkade P6 to the roof
Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services reviewed the plan and issued written approval in October 2022.
Why Older Highrises Need a Fresh Fire Safety Plan
A 50-year-old building isn’t a liability — but outdated paperwork is.
The fire alarm may have been upgraded three times since original installation. The sprinkler system may now cover floors the old plan didn’t document. The pool may have been added after construction. Every change that required a permit should have triggered an FSP review. In many buildings, it didn’t.
If your Vancouver residential highrise hasn’t had its Fire Safety Plan reviewed in the last few years — or you’re not sure when it was last approved by the city — that’s worth knowing before your next fire inspection.
One Flat Fee. Approval Guaranteed.
GetFirePlan.com serves residential strata buildings and property management companies across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. We draw the floor plans in CAD, write the complete plan, and submit it to the fire department. If it doesn’t get approved, we keep working until it does.
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See more Vancouver fire safety plan projects: Fire Safety Plan Vancouver | Fire Safety Plan — Cypress Street, Vancouver | Fire Safety Plan — Regent Medical, West Broadway