Fire Safety Plans New Westminster

Who needs a fire safety plan in New Westminster

New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services enforces the BC Fire Code through the City’s Fire Protection Bylaw No. 6940. Section 2.8 of the Fire Code requires a fire safety plan in every building with a fire alarm system, every assembly or care occupancy, every high building, every building with sprinkler or standpipe systems, and every storage or hazardous-process area the Code names separately. New Westminster is the oldest city in the province, and that shows in the plans: heritage walk-ups in Queen’s Park and the West End sit beside forty-storey towers at Plaza 88 and the Quay, and the industrial buildings of Queensborough and the riverfront have been rebuilt three times over.

The Public Safety & Prevention Division publishes its own Fire Safety Plan Guidelines with the Fire Code excerpts it sees misread most often, which tells you where its reviewers look first.

How New Westminster Fire & Rescue reviews a plan

The Public Safety & Prevention Division (604-519-1004, Monday to Friday 8am–4pm) reviews plans against the City guideline:

• Electronic submission in PDF, with the drawings submitted as separate files from the text.
• A Vital Information Form with every fire safety plan, on the division’s template, summarizing the building and its systems for responding crews.
• A copy of every equivalency the building relies on, included in or with the plan. Older New Westminster buildings often carry alternative solutions from past permits, and the plan has to show them.
• A twelve-month review: the guideline restates the Code requirement that the plan be reviewed at intervals of not more than twelve months to take account of changes in use and other characteristics of the building.
• Dangerous goods contacts: where dangerous goods are stored or handled, the plan must give the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons to contact after hours, with a 24-hour number.
• Fire drill frequencies by occupancy: annually for most buildings, more often for schools with children and for high buildings within the Building Code’s Subsection 3.2.6, where drills are held at intervals of not more than two months.
• A review fee under the City’s fee bylaw, updated by Council; we confirm the current amount at submission.

The buildings we plan for in New Westminster

Since 2003 we have prepared more than 1,000 fire safety plans across BC, and New Westminster gives us the widest range of building ages of any city we work in. Our work there runs to four types:

• Downtown and Quayside towers along Carnarvon Street, Columbia Street, Eighth Street, and Quayside Drive: concrete high-rises from the 1980s to the 2020s with parkades, generators, standpipes, firefighter elevators, and floor warden programs, several on their original alarm panels.
• Uptown and West End walk-ups along Sixth Street, Seventh Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Princess Street, Queens Avenue, and Sharpe Street: three- and four-storey wood-frame rental and strata buildings from the 1960s to 90s, some with heritage exteriors, where elevators without recall and partial sprinkler coverage have to be described as they are.
• Sapperton and Brunette around Keary Street, Coburg Street, Royal Columbian Hospital, and the Braid Street industrial lands: mixed-use buildings, medical offices, care homes, and workshops.
• Queensborough and the riverfront: warehouses, distribution centres, boat yards, and the Queensborough Landing retail centre, where hazardous materials and after-hours contacts are the sections reviewers read first.

Our commercial fire safety plan page covers restaurants, retail, and offices in more depth.

Keeping a New Westminster plan current

The twelve-month review is in the Code and in the City’s guideline. Update the plan whenever the Fire Safety Director, property manager, monitoring or service contractors, tenants, or building systems change, run the drills at the frequency your occupancy requires, and keep records on site for at least two years. Business-licence and routine inspections check for a current plan. Under the 2026 BC Fire Safety Act an out-of-date plan is an owner-liability issue, not a paperwork gap. Name and contact updates on plans we have written are free.

How it works with GetFirePlan

1. Firm quote in one business day, one flat fee. See what a fire safety plan costs in BC.
2. Site visit to confirm exits, equipment, shut-offs, and layout, and to photograph every fire protection system.
3. Draft in 5–7 business days: CAD drawings as separate files, the full written plan, and the Vital Information Form, sent to you for review before submission.
4. Electronic submission to New Westminster Fire & Rescue, any revisions they request at no extra charge, and delivery of the accepted plan in print and PDF with wall plaques and a fire safety plan box if you need one.

Approval is guaranteed. If New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services rejects a plan we prepared, we revise it until it is accepted.

Frequently asked questions

What is an equivalency and why does the plan need it?
An equivalency is an alternative solution a past building permit accepted in place of a Code requirement, common in older New Westminster buildings. The guideline requires copies to be kept in or with the fire safety plan so inspectors and crews know what was approved.

How often do we have to run fire drills?
At least once a year for most buildings. High buildings within the Building Code’s Subsection 3.2.6 hold them at intervals of not more than two months, and schools attended by children more often still.

Does New Westminster charge to review a plan?
Yes, under the City’s fee bylaw. Council updated the fire safety plan review fees recently; we confirm the current amount at submission and include it in your quote.

Our heritage building has no sprinklers. Can it still have a compliant plan?
Yes. The plan describes the building as it is, including any equivalencies on file, and puts the weight on detection, evacuation procedures, and supervisory staff training.

Do you handle construction fire safety plans in New Westminster?
Yes. Our construction division at constructionfiresafetyplans.ca prepares those. Request a quote and we reply within one business day.