At a glance
- A home renovation budget follows the structure and the engineering, so the number becomes real once someone has looked at what is holding the building up.
- The sequence that protects the budget is assessment first, then design, then construction, because any price set before the first two steps are done is a guess.
- Permits are a real line item in Revelstoke, and development cost charges apply only to the usable floor area a renovation adds, unless the work on the permit is worth $100,000 or less.
- Selections made before the work is priced are what allows a number to hold. Placeholder amounts for unchosen items are the part of a budget that moves.
- BC Housing recommends setting aside a contingency fund of 10 to 20 percent of the total project budget.
You have an older Revelstoke house and a large idea for it. Maybe the envelope is tired, or your family has changed shape around a layout that never suited you. Before you start phoning contractors, you want a home renovation budget that still holds once the walls are open, because your number depends on what the structure turns out to be.
On a new build you begin with engineered drawings and a clean site. On a whole home renovation, you begin with whatever someone else built decades ago, which may not match the drawings and generally does not meet current code. Everything below builds a budget around that, in the order the costs arrive.
What a home renovation budget has to cover in a structural project
Start with the parts of the building that hold it up and keep the weather out, because at this scale those govern the number. The foundation and the load path come first, because reinforcing or replacing a foundation, upgrading load bearing walls, adding steel where a new layout needs it and bringing the roof structure up to current requirements are engineering problems before they are carpentry problems. The envelope comes next, and once a wall is opened up, the sections we rebuild go back together to today’s standard for insulation and for air and vapour control. The windows and doors are held to that same standard, so they are part of the envelope budget too. After that come the mechanical systems, because the heating, ventilation, plumbing and electrical an older house ran on rarely suit the house you are making.
Interior finishing is part of every renovation, because it is the part of the house you see and live with once the work is done. The framing, drywall, flooring, trim, baseboards, cabinetry and fixtures all need their own line in your budget. Even so, most of the cost on a project like this is decided by the work that is hidden once the finishing goes in.
Scope draws the line between this kind of work and a smaller job. When a project changes the foundation, the framing, the envelope or the floor plan, and needs engineering and a full building permit before anything can happen, it carries the same planning as new construction. A smaller room by room project sits on the other side of that line, and a contractor who specializes at that scale will usually serve it better. If you are unsure which side of that line your project falls on, give us a call early and we will talk it through with you. It is much easier to sort out before any design work starts, and if your project suits a smaller contractor, we are happy to point you in the right direction.
Settle the selections before anyone prices the work
On a project of this size the design and the specifications are a job of their own, and they come before pricing. According to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, large projects often need the complete design, specifications and plans developed first as a separate job, and you should expect to pay a fee for that work. The size of that fee follows the size and complexity of your project.
What you get for it is the thing that makes every later number comparable. When contractors price from identical design and specification information, their quotes can be read against each other, and without it you are comparing documents that describe different buildings. The Association notes that work altering the structure of a home needs full construction drawings.
Making your selections before pricing matters because a quote that names the actual products, with brand names and model numbers and a cost against each one, has been thought through. A quote carrying lump sums for items nobody has picked yet leaves the real price to be discovered later, and the difference lands on you when the choice is made. Whether it becomes your problem or the builder’s depends on whether you are working under a fixed price contract or a cost plus arrangement. That is the model Straight Up Construction offers: a quote from the finished design with every selection made, so the build cost is one number with nothing hiding behind it.
Permits and development cost charges on a Revelstoke renovation
Structural work needs a building permit, and the fee is knowable to the dollar. Under the City of Revelstoke’s current fees and charges bylaw a single family dwelling permit is a $126 base fee plus $11.00 per $1,000 of construction value, about $11,126 on a $1 million project before taxes. Review typically takes 6 to 8 weeks, and the application sequence is set out in our guide to building permits in Revelstoke.
Development cost charges are the line most renovation budgets miss, so it helps to know how the City’s bylaw works them out. When a renovation adds space, the charge is based on the difference in usable floor area between the house as it stands and the house when we are finished, including a second storey built inside the same footprint. In the Primary City area the residential rate is $162.39 per square metre of usable floor space, which works out to roughly $30,173 if you add 2,000 square feet. Usable floor area is measured from the inside of the walls, and attached garages and unenclosed patios, balconies and decks are not counted. No charge applies when the work on the building permit is valued at $100,000 or less. A renovation that adds no floor area is only charged if it raises the building’s occupancy load under the BC Building Code, and then only on the area being renovated. Adding floor area is therefore a step change in your budget, and that decision belongs in the design stage while it is still a drawing.
Most projects in and around town are permitted by the City of Revelstoke, and some properties in the Revelstoke area fall within CSRD Electoral Area B, where the regional district handles the permit. It is worth checking which one your property falls under before you budget, because that decides who reviews your permit, and the fee figures above are the City of Revelstoke’s.
What turns up inside old walls, and why the design changes partway
Open a wall expecting standard framing and you may find undersized lumber, no vapour barrier and insulation that would not pass today. The engineer redesigns the load path, the drawings change, the schedule shifts and the budget moves with it. With an assessment up front and a contingency in the budget, you can handle that kind of change without it turning into a costly surprise.
Which is why the structural assessment comes before the design on a project this size. An engineer evaluates the existing foundation, framing and roof, hazardous materials are tested for, and it is all documented before anyone draws a line, so the drawings describe the building as it is. Where the work reopens the envelope, the rebuilt sections come back together to the energy requirements that apply now.
Some of what sits behind a wall stays invisible until demolition, and that is what the contingency is for. BC Housing recommends a fund of 10 to 20 percent of the total project budget. On a renovation you should expect to spend some of that fund on what demolition uncovers, since covering those surprises is the reason you hold it. Put it in the budget on day one, and whatever is left at the end of the project comes back to you.
Settle how changes get handled before you need one. A change order amends the contract and has to be signed by both parties, which means every change gets your signature. Having one team carrying the design and the construction also shortens the loop between finding the surprise and pricing the fix.
How long a large renovation typically takes in Revelstoke
Time is a budget line of its own, especially if you are paying to live elsewhere while the work runs. A whole home renovation typically takes 6 to 9 months of design, 6 to 8 weeks for permit review and 9 to 12 months of construction, with interior finishing typically occupying 3 to 4 months inside that window. Your project lands at the short or long end of those ranges depending on how much structural work the assessment turns up and how quickly the selections are made. So we do the assessment before any design work starts, and we settle every selection with you before the work is priced.
Seasons shape the sequence. Exterior work is planned into the April to October window, where the weather economics favour it, and interior work carries on through the winter. We still work outside through the winter, as every builder here does, but it costs more, so the planning question is which parts of your project want the warm months. Settling that during design means the exterior work can be scheduled into the months when it costs less, before your price is set.
When a renovation becomes a new home for warranty purposes
The 2-5-10 home warranty covers two years on labour and materials, five years on the building envelope and ten years on the structure, and it applies to new home construction. A renovation of an existing building normally sits outside it. Workmanship is backed by your builder directly, and new products and systems carry their own manufacturer warranties.
There is an exception worth knowing before you budget. BC Housing treats a renovation as a new home under the Homeowner Protection Act once it goes far enough to count as substantially reconstructed. That happens when 25 percent or less of the original structure above the foundation remains, or when 75 percent or more of the reconstructed home is new. Residential builder licensing and home warranty insurance then both apply. BC Housing examines each case on its own merits and publishes an online query tool for a quick first read. Additions follow a related path: one creating a legal secondary suite needs no New Home Registration Form, one creating a duplex or triplex needs a form on the new unit, and one creating no new unit falls back under the 75 percent rule. If your plan leans toward adding or dividing space, raise this during design, because it changes the paperwork and the coverage together.
How to choose a contractor for renovations at this scale
Two checks cost nothing and take minutes, starting with a search of BC Housing’s Public Registry of Licensed Residential Builders to confirm the licence type and standing and to check the registry name against the name on your contract. Then ask for a WorkSafeBC clearance letter, which confirms the contractor is registered and current on payroll reporting and premiums. BC Housing is direct about why that second one matters: hiring a builder behind on required WorkSafeBC payments can leave you carrying a serious financial risk.
After that the questions get specific to structural work. Ask who does the engineering and how long that relationship has been running, how the load path gets redesigned when a wall comes open, and what happens to the schedule and the budget when demolition finds something the drawings did not show. Ask to see permits and engineering drawings from finished projects as well as photos, because the drawings show you how carefully the structural work was planned. Ask who your single point of contact will be, a question BC Housing also recommends alongside visiting projects in person and speaking with references directly.
All of these questions come down to matching the contractor to the size and type of work your project involves. A contractor who does small projects beautifully is doing a different scale of work, and a referral to the right person is the better answer there. What you are testing for on a whole home renovation is whether the company is built around engineering, permitting and sequencing, and the wider version of that conversation is in our guide to choosing a home builder in Revelstoke.
The bottom line
A realistic home renovation budget is assembled in the order the costs arrive. Assess the building, design to what the structure can carry, settle the selections, price the permits and any development cost charges the added floor area triggers, then hold 10 to 20 percent back for what the walls have not shown you yet. Done in that order, the number you finish with lands close to the one you started with, because the building was assessed and the selections made before anything was priced.
If you are weighing a whole home or structural renovation in Revelstoke and want to know where your project sits, book a complimentary 15 minute call and we will tell you straight and point you in the right direction.
Frequently asked questions
How much contingency should a whole home renovation budget carry in BC?
BC Housing recommends a contingency fund of 10 to 20 percent of the total project budget for unexpected costs or changes, and warns that an owner without one may be forced to choose between scaling back the plans and overextending their finances. On a renovation that fund carries a heavier load, because some of what is behind the walls stays unknown until demolition.
Do I need a building permit for a whole home renovation in Revelstoke?
Work that changes the structure, the envelope or the floor plan needs a full building permit. For a single family dwelling the City of Revelstoke charges a $126 base fee plus $11.00 per $1,000 of construction value, about $11,126 on a $1 million project before taxes, and review typically takes 6 to 8 weeks. Some properties in the Revelstoke area fall under CSRD Electoral Area B instead.
Do development cost charges apply to a renovation?
They apply when a renovation adds usable floor area, and the charge is calculated only on the area added, including a second storey built inside the same footprint. In Revelstoke’s Primary City area the residential rate is $162.39 per square metre of usable floor space, which works out to roughly $30,173 if you add 2,000 square feet. Usable space is measured from the inside of the walls, and attached garages and unenclosed decks are not counted. No charge applies when the work on the building permit is valued at $100,000 or less, and a renovation that adds no floor area is only charged if it raises the building’s occupancy load.
Does the 2-5-10 home warranty apply to a renovation?
Normally no, because the 2-5-10 program covers new home construction. The exception is a project that goes far enough for BC Housing to treat it as substantially reconstructed: 25 percent or less of the original structure above the foundation remaining, or 75 percent or more of the reconstructed home being new. Residential builder licensing and home warranty insurance then apply, and BC Housing decides each case on its own merits.
Is it cheaper to renovate or build new?
It depends on the condition of what is already standing. Where the foundation and the framing are sound, a large renovation can come in below new construction. Where the foundation needs replacing and the framing cannot carry current load requirements, building new may be the better path. The structural assessment answers this, which is one more reason it comes first.
How do I choose a contractor for renovations at this scale?
Confirm the licence on BC Housing’s Public Registry of Licensed Residential Builders, check that the name there matches the name on your contract, then ask for a WorkSafeBC clearance letter. From there the questions are specific to structural work: who does the engineering, how the load path gets redesigned when a wall comes open, and who your single point of contact will be. BC Housing also recommends visiting projects in person and speaking with references directly.
