Fire Safety Plan Richmond

Who needs a fire safety plan in Richmond

Richmond Fire-Rescue enforces the BC Fire Code through the City’s Fire Protection and Life Safety Bylaw No. 8306. Section 2.8 of the Fire Code requires a fire safety plan in any building with a fire alarm system, in assembly and care occupancies, in high buildings, where sprinkler or standpipe systems are installed, and where dangerous goods are stored. Richmond also requires a construction fire safety plan for every building or part of a building under construction or alteration, prepared before the work starts and submitted electronically for review.

Once Richmond Fire-Rescue accepts a plan it is registered with the department, and an electronic copy is kept by the fire and building inspectors. The plan is not filed and forgotten. It is loaded into the pre-incident file that responding crews use, so an inaccurate plan follows the building until it is corrected.

How Richmond Fire-Rescue reviews a plan

Richmond runs the review through the Fire Prevention Office at Brighouse Fire Hall No. 1 (6960 Gilbert Road, 604-278-5131). The process has a few features that catch owners who assume it works like Vancouver’s:

• Online upload, not email. Plans go in through Richmond Fire-Rescue’s fire safety plan upload portal, up to four files per submission, with the company name, the building address, and an address to send the invoice. Word and PDF are accepted.
• A review fee is invoiced under the City’s Consolidated Fees Bylaw, usually once per plan; a second fee can apply if a plan needs substantial rework, which is a good reason to submit a complete plan the first time.
• A pre-plan vital building information form. Richmond’s Fire Prevention Officers build a pre-fire incident file for the property: hazardous materials by name and quantity, construction type, roof and truss construction, fire load, areas of refuge, utility shut-offs, private hydrants, alarm panel and annunciator locations, sprinkler and standpipe type and shut-offs. The fire safety plan has to supply that information accurately, because it is what the incident commander reads on the way in.
• Scaled CAD drawings of every level showing exits, fire equipment, shut-offs, assembly areas, and hazard rooms.
• A Fire Safety Director and Deputy with letters of appointment, trained in the plan, plus supervisory staff duties and a fire drill schedule (at least once a year under BC Fire Code 2.8.3.2).

The buildings we plan for in Richmond

Richmond’s building stock is flatter and more industrial than Vancouver’s or Burnaby’s, and the plans reflect it. Since 2003 we have prepared more than 1,000 fire safety plans across BC; our Richmond work runs to four broad types:

• Concrete residential towers around Brighouse, Minoru, and Granville Avenue. Twelve to twenty storeys from the 1990s and 2000s, often two towers on one site sharing a parkade, an EST or Simplex alarm, an emergency generator, a fire pump, standpipes, firefighter telephones, and a floor warden program. When two towers share an alarm network, the plan has to explain what a trouble signal in one tower means in the other. See the Golden Leaf Towers project.
• Wood-frame residential along No. 2 Road, Steveston, and the London Landing waterfront. Three- and four-storey buildings from the 1990s with 20 to 40 suites, a single-stage Mircom panel, a sprinkler system, a parkade electrical room with individual suite meters, and an elevator that does not recall on alarm. The Covenant Court case study shows how those details end up in the plan.
• Tilt-up warehouses and office-warehouse strata in Ironwood, Riverside, and along Horseshoe Way, Coppersmith Way, and Fraserwood Way. Multi-tenant exit layouts, fire hose cabinets, racked storage, and hazardous materials inventories that the pre-plan form depends on. See the Crestwood Place warehouse and office building.
• Commercial offices, retail, and restaurants along No. 3 Road, Alderbridge Way, Cambie Road, and Bridgeport, including the Aberdeen and Capstan corridors, where a two-storey steel-frame building with a sprinkler system and an elevator still needs a full plan. The Alexandra Road office building is typical; our commercial fire safety plan page covers restaurants, retail, and hotels in more depth.

Keeping a Richmond plan current

Because Richmond registers the plan and keeps an electronic copy, changes to the Fire Safety Director, the property manager, the monitoring or service contractors, or the building systems should be sent through the same upload portal so the pre-incident file matches the building. Fire drills are required at least annually, and Richmond Fire-Rescue inspections check for a current plan on site. 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, the full written plan, and the pre-plan building information, sent to you for review before submission.
4. Upload to Richmond Fire-Rescue, any revisions they request at no extra charge, and delivery of the registered plan in print and PDF, with wall plaques and a fire safety plan box if you need one.

Approval is guaranteed. If Richmond Fire-Rescue rejects a plan we prepared, we revise it until it is accepted.

Frequently asked questions

Can I email my plan to Richmond Fire-Rescue?
Richmond directs submissions through its online upload portal. We handle the upload, the invoice details, and any follow-up with the Fire Prevention Office.

What does Richmond charge to review a plan?
Richmond invoices a review fee under its Consolidated Fees Bylaw after the plan is uploaded. We confirm the current amount at the time of submission and include it in your quote so there are no surprises.

Our building has two towers on one alarm system. Do we need two plans?
Usually one plan per tower, with the shared systems documented in both. We have done exactly this on Granville Avenue.

Do warehouses really need a fire safety plan?
Yes, if they have a fire alarm or sprinkler system or store dangerous goods, which covers nearly every industrial building in Richmond. The hazardous materials inventory is the part inspectors look at first.

We are renovating a unit in Richmond. Is a construction plan required?
Yes. Richmond requires a construction fire safety plan for every building or part of a building under construction or alteration. Our construction division at constructionfiresafetyplans.ca prepares those. Request a quote and we reply within one business day.