15 Feb If you’re buying a home right now, the worst thing you can do is move fast. Especially when the home you’re looking at has a recent renovation.
My LinkedIn feed has two themes clearly splashed all over it these days: it’s a buyer’s market, and everything and anything to do with AI.
The AI conversation is all about speed. Move fast or die. Automate everything. Ship yesterday.
But I want to talk about slowing down.
Because if you’re buying a home right now — in a market that’s finally giving you room to breathe — the worst thing you can do is move fast. Especially when the home you’re looking at has a shiny new renovation.
I Fix What Unqualified People Build
I’m an unpermitted work order specialist. I’ve completed over 1000 permit applications across the Lower Mainland, and a growing share of my work involves cleaning up the mess left behind by renovations that were never designed, never permitted, and never inspected.
Here’s what most people don’t realize about residential construction in BC:
There is no regulation governing who can design or build Part 9 additions and renovations.
Single-family homes. Duplexes. Triplexes. Multiplexes. Laneway houses. Any one of these can have a major addition designed by ChatGPT and built by someone holding a $150 business license and a hammer. Or by a homeowner who watched a YouTube video and figured they could frame a wall.
No HPO license required. No professional oversight. No accountability until something goes wrong.
And things go wrong.
What “Wrong” Actually Looks Like
In my work resolving unpermitted work orders, I’ve walked into:
- Rotted-out structural beams under leaking showers that were never inspected
- Mushrooms and mold growing in attics from a lack of venting or moisture management
- Doors that open directly over stairs — a life-safety hazard hiding behind fresh paint
- Two-foot-wide hallways that don’t meet basic egress requirements
- Stairwells with dangerous configurations that no inspector ever signed off on
These aren’t abandoned houses. These are listings with staged furniture, quartz countertops, and “completely renovated” in the description.
The Irony of AI and Speed in This Industry
Here’s where the two themes on my feed collide.
AI is transforming industries at breakneck speed. And yes, it’s going to change construction and permitting too. But right now, in this exact moment, AI is also making it easier than ever for unqualified people to produce drawings that look legitimate, generate specs that sound right, and create a false sense of competence.
A polished floor plan generated by AI doesn’t mean it meets code. A confident renovation scope written by ChatGPT doesn’t mean the person building it knows what a rain screen is.
The speed culture is exciting. But your home purchase is not the place to move fast and break things.
You Have Time Right Now. Use It.
In a buyer’s market, you have something that was impossible two years ago: leverage and breathing room.
So before you close on that dream home with the gorgeous new reno, slow down and do this:
Request copies of ALL plans on file at the city. Ask the selling realtor to provide every drawing and permit associated with the property.
Compare those plans to the floor plan on the listing. If the listing shows a finished basement suite, an enclosed deck, an extra bathroom, or any layout that doesn’t appear in the city’s records — that’s your red flag.
If the plans don’t match — walk away. Or understand exactly what you’re signing up for.
There Is No “But I Bought It That Way” grandfather clause in BC
This is the part that catches every buyer off guard:
If you buy it, it’s yours. Every unpermitted alteration becomes your legal responsibility the moment you take possession.
That shower added without permits — and therefore without inspections? If it’s been quietly leaking and has rotted out the structural beam beneath it, your home insurance may not cover the repair.
And if they do pay out? The permit to repair it will likely trigger a requirement to address every other identifiable unpermitted alteration in the home. All brought up to current code.
That means legalizing an unauthorized basement suite — or ripping it out. Rebuilding every wall, floor, and ceiling on an enclosed deck to meet current habitable space requirements — or returning it to an open deck. Reconfiguring that non-compliant stairwell to allow a maximum of one winder.
What looked like a renovation bargain can become a six-figure code compliance project overnight.
Everyone’s Talking About Moving Fast. I’m Asking You to Move Slowly.
The market is giving you a gift right now. Time. Choice. Negotiating power.
Don’t waste it by rushing into a property with undocumented renovations because the finishes look good and the price feels right.
Ask the hard questions. Pull the city records. Compare the plans. Hire someone who knows what to look for.
Because in BC, the moment you sign, every shortcut the last owner took becomes your problem to solve — and no amount of AI is going to fix a rotted beam behind your shower wall.
Shira is an ASTTBC-certified Part 9 BC Building Code consultant and the owner of PermitSet.com, specializing in unpermitted work orders and residential permit applications across the Lower Mainland.
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