Fire Safety Plan Port Coquitlam

Who needs a fire safety plan in Port Coquitlam

Port Coquitlam Fire & Emergency Services applies Section 2.8 of the BC Fire Code by building use: every building with a fire alarm system, every assembly, care, treatment, or detention occupancy, every high building, sites with sprinkler or standpipe systems, and storage or hazardous-process areas the Code names separately. That covers the apartment buildings and stratas along Shaughnessy Street and Kingsway Avenue, the offices and restaurants downtown, the schools and daycares, and every industrial unit in Mary Hill and the Dominion Triangle.

The City is clear about sequence on new projects: a building under construction needs a construction fire safety plan first, then a complete fire safety plan before it is ready for occupancy. Occupancy does not get signed off on a construction plan.

How Port Coquitlam Fire & Emergency Services reviews a plan

Fire Prevention works out of the fire hall at 1725 Broadway Street (604-927-5288, FPS@portcoquitlam.ca). Port Coquitlam follows the Tri-Cities pattern that Coquitlam set, and it publishes its own supporting documents:

• Three documents per submission: the fire safety plan, a pre-incident plan written for the responding crews, and the City’s Vital Information Form. The department will not treat a fire safety plan on its own as complete.
• Port Coquitlam’s own FSP and PIP drawing symbols on every site plan and floor plan. The City publishes the symbol set; drawings in another city’s symbols come back.
• A $200 review fee, tax included, per submission, so a plan that needs a second submission costs twice.
• Everything sent to FPS@portcoquitlam.ca for review and approval.
• A Fire Safety Director and Deputy with appointment letters, trained in the plan, and a fire drill at least once a year under BC Fire Code 2.8.3.2.

The buildings we plan for in Port Coquitlam

Port Coquitlam is compact, and its building stock divides into a few clear areas. Since 2003 we have prepared more than 1,000 fire safety plans across BC; our Port Coquitlam work runs to four types:

• Downtown and Shaughnessy apartments and stratas along Shaughnessy Street, Kelly Avenue, Welcher Avenue, and Hawthorne Avenue: three- and four-storey wood-frame buildings from the 1980s and 90s with a single-stage alarm, emergency lighting, and a parkade, plus the newer mid-rise concrete buildings replacing them.
• Kingsway Avenue and Mary Hill industrial along Kingsway Avenue, Broadway Street, Industrial Avenue, and McLean Avenue: multi-tenant warehouses and office-warehouse strata where each unit’s hazardous materials, exits, and fire department access have to appear on the pre-incident plan.
• Dominion Triangle and Oxford Connector commercial: big-box retail, car dealerships with service bays and paint booths, bank branches, and restaurants, where the tenant plan and the base-building plan both have to line up with the City’s symbol set.
• Westwood Street, Coast Meridian Road, and Prairie Avenue commercial strips, medical offices, and schools, where the Vital Information Form and the annual drill matter as much as the drawings.

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

Keeping a Port Coquitlam plan current

The plan should be reviewed every year and updated whenever the Fire Safety Director, property manager, service contractors, or building systems change. A revised plan goes back through the same three-document submission. Port Coquitlam’s fire inspectors check for a current plan on site during business-licence and routine inspections. 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 that includes the City’s $200 review 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 in Port Coquitlam’s symbol set, the fire safety plan, the pre-incident plan, and the Vital Information Form, sent to you for review before submission.
4. Submission to FPS@portcoquitlam.ca with the fee, 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 Port Coquitlam Fire & Emergency Services rejects a plan we prepared, we revise it until it is accepted.

Frequently asked questions

Is the pre-incident plan really separate from the fire safety plan?
Yes. Port Coquitlam requires it as its own document with the Vital Information Form, and the submission is incomplete without both. We prepare all three together.

What does Port Coquitlam charge to review a plan?
$200 including tax, per submission. We include it in your quote.

We are finishing a new building. When do we need the full plan?
Before occupancy. The construction fire safety plan covers the site during the build; the complete fire safety plan has to be accepted before the building is ready for occupancy.

Our unit is in a multi-tenant warehouse. Does the landlord’s plan cover us?
Usually the building has one plan that lists every tenant’s hazards and exits, and each tenant has responsibilities under it. We confirm which applies during the site visit.

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