Fire Safety Plan Vancouver Island

Who needs a fire safety plan on Vancouver Island

Every fire department on Vancouver Island applies Section 2.8 of the BC Fire Code: a fire safety plan is required in every building with a fire alarm system, every assembly or care occupancy, every high building, every building with sprinkler or standpipe systems, every storage or hazardous-process area the Code names separately, and every construction and demolition site. What changes from one municipality to the next is how the plan is submitted, what it has to look like, and what the review costs. Greater Victoria alone has more than a dozen fire departments, and Victoria, Saanich, and Central Saanich each publish their own guideline. Nanaimo runs its program under its Fire Protection and Life Safety Bylaw, and the Comox Valley, Cowichan, and the smaller municipalities work from the Fire Code and the FPOABC format.

We prepare plans across the Island: Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Langford, Colwood, Sooke, Sidney, Central Saanich, Nanaimo, and the Comox Valley, from the same drawings and process, adjusted to each department’s guideline.

How the Island’s fire departments review a plan

The three largest programs show the range:

• Victoria Fire Department (Fire Prevention Division, 1025 Johnson Street, 250-920-3350, vfd@victoria.ca) reviews to its 2015 guideline under Fire Prevention and Regulation Bylaw 14-100: a red 8.5×11 three-ring binder with “FIRE SAFETY PLAN” on the front and spine, a cover photograph, red tabs, single-sided pages at 14-point headings and 12-point text, 11×17 colour drawings in landscape using NFPA 170 symbols, colour photographs of the alarm panel, generator, fire department connection, lock box, sprinkler and standpipe systems, roof access, and hazards with their UN numbers, and an acceptance letter placed at the front of the binder.
• Saanich Fire Department (760 Vernon Avenue, 250-475-5500) takes one paper copy and one digital copy with a $100 review fee, plus $125 if the review runs over two hours and $100 an hour beyond six. On approval it keeps the digital copy and returns the signed paper copy, which goes in the building’s binder. Its Fire Prevention Bylaw 8807 and a 2021 construction-site guideline cover the rest.
• Nanaimo Fire Rescue (Fire Loss and Prevention, 666 Fitzwilliam Street, 250-753-7311, fire.info@nanaimo.ca) works under Fire Protection and Life Safety Bylaw 7108, with its own fire safety plan form and a construction and demolition template, an inspection program for commercial and institutional buildings, and a $100 charge when inspection deficiencies are left uncorrected.

Esquimalt, Langford, Colwood, Sooke, Sidney, Central Saanich, and the Comox Valley departments each review to the Fire Code and their own bylaws; Central Saanich published a new guideline in early 2026. Fire drills are required under BC Fire Code 2.8.3.2 everywhere on the Island, at least annually and more often for daycares, care occupancies, and high buildings.

The buildings we plan for on Vancouver Island

Since 2003 we have prepared more than 1,000 fire safety plans across BC, and our Island work runs to four types:

• Victoria’s downtown and the shopping centres: Douglas Street offices and retail, hotels, restaurants, the Mayfair Mall tenants, and the mixed-use buildings along the Johnson and Yates corridors, where each tenant’s plan has to fit the base building’s plan.
• Esquimalt, Saanich, and the West Shore along Head Street, McKenzie Avenue, and Sooke Road: apartment buildings and stratas, seniors’ residences, care homes, schools, and the new Langford and Colwood mid-rises, several of which started with us as construction fire safety plans.
• Nanaimo and the mid-Island: the Woodgrove Centre tenants, hotels, industrial buildings, and the new residential buildings on Timbercrest Way and across the north end, where the construction plan turns into the occupancy plan.
• Sidney, Sooke, and the Comox Valley: marinas, hotels, care homes, churches, and community buildings, where long response distances and on-site water supplies shape the plan.

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

Keeping an Island plan current

Whichever department reviews it, the plan should be reviewed every year and updated whenever the Fire Safety Director, property manager, monitoring or service contractors, tenants, or building systems change. Saanich keeps a digital copy and Victoria issues an acceptance letter, so changes go back to the department. 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 department’s review fee where one applies. See what a fire safety plan costs in BC.
2. Site visit, scheduled with our other Island work so travel never adds to your fee, to confirm exits, equipment, shut-offs, and layout, and to photograph every fire protection system.
3. Draft in 5–7 business days: 11×17 colour CAD drawings and the plan in the reviewing department’s layout, sent to you for review before submission.
4. Submission to your fire department in the form it requires, any revisions they request at no extra charge, and delivery of the accepted plan in the binder with wall plaques and a fire safety plan box if you need them.

Approval is guaranteed. If your fire department rejects a plan we prepared, we revise it until it is accepted.

Frequently asked questions

Which fire department reviews our plan?
The one for the municipality the building sits in, which in Greater Victoria can change at the next block. Tell us the address and we will confirm the department and its process.

What does the review cost?
Saanich charges $100 for a review of up to two hours. Victoria and Nanaimo do not publish a plan review fee. We confirm any charge at submission and include it in your quote.

Do you travel to the Island for the site visit?
Yes. We group Island visits so the site visit never adds to your fee, and larger projects get a dedicated trip.

Our Nanaimo building has a bylaw inspection coming up. Can you help before then?
Yes. Nanaimo charges $100 when deficiencies from an inspection are not corrected, so buildings with an inspection date are prioritized.

Do you handle construction fire safety plans on the Island?
Yes. Our construction division at constructionfiresafetyplans.ca prepares those for Nanaimo, Greater Victoria, and the rest of the Island. Request a quote and we reply within one business day.