By Chris Richter, REALTOR®
Legalizing a basement suite in Calgary these days is becoming more common, due to recent up-zoning through the City and also a change in the way bylaws work for existing (or new) suites. You will have to get safety / developing inspectors from the City to confirm your suite as legal and you just have to make sure your secondary suite has a few main safety components in place for smoke / fire, but for the most part it’s not too difficult to get your Calgary secondary suite approved as legal.
Also, when you have an existing suite, say like a basement suite that been rented out in the past, it makes life a lot easier as the City is only asking for a few minor tweaks to make it legal. These will be highlighted in this article.
Parking – One main component you will need to look at first is, is there adequate parking on the property? You will need a minimum of two stalls in the rear for example, one for the primary suite and one for the secondary suite.
Common Area’s / Entrances: A common area or outdoor living space for each suite needs to be available. The main entrance can either be a shared entrance or a separate entrance, there is no criteria that it needs to be a separate entrance. However, once inside, there needs to be a separate entrance for each suite.
Drywall: There needs to be drywall between the secondary and primary suites. It doesn’t have to any special drywall, just normal drywall so smoke and fire can’t seep through. Some area’s like storage area’s under stairs get tricky so you might have to get creative in some area’s.
Sprinklers: In areas where you can’t get drywall up and/or between the suites, in rooms like the furnace area’s, you can use sprinklers instead of drywalling the area. Each sprinkler will cover a certain radius, so you may need a couple sprinklers in rooms where drywall is too difficult to install.
Smoke detectors: Hardwired or blue tooth connected Smoke detectors will need to be placed in the common area entrance, the main living area(s) in the secondary suite and in each bedroom in the secondary suite, plus they all have to be hard wired or blue toothed together between themselves and with the smoke detector in the primary (upper) suite.
Egress Windows – Each bedroom in the secondary suite needs to have a legal egress window in order to be considered Legal. Legal egress size keeps changing periodically so you will have to talk with your contractor to make sure you get the right size of window. There are different styles of windows you can order depending on your window size, style, so make sure you look at all options and choose the best one that works for your budget and needs.
At Chris Richter Realty Group we’re familiar with all the City and provincial rules and regulations relating to legal basement suites. We can help you to ensure that your basement suite development is in full compliance with the law for the most resale value.
Additional link: www.calgary.ca/pda/pd/home-building-and-renovations/legalize-an-existing-suite.html