Workup
Before you price a listing, you need to know what the lot can legally become. A Workup answers that for one City of Victoria parcel, reads it against the zoning bylaw the City has actually adopted, and cites the section beside every figure — so the answer holds up when your client's lawyer, lender, or the municipality asks where it came from.
A research document, not an approval. It reports what the adopted bylaw supports for that parcel — it does not commit the municipality to anything.
Read the badges, not the blanks.
This is Section B of a real Workup, with the parcel and its values redacted. Read the badges rather than the blanks. A green one means we hold the adopted bylaw text and can point at the clause. An amber one means we have a figure but not the bylaw behind it yet, and says so. Bylaw states none means we read the bylaw and it sets no limit — which on a Victoria parcel is the most useful line on the page, because the maximum number of dwelling units is a figure the bylaw simply does not contain. Anyone printing one is estimating.
Bylaw cited — we hold the adopted bylaw section behind that figure and it prints in the report. Estimate · confirm — a figure not yet verified against the adopted bylaw, flagged as such. Bylaw states none — we read the bylaw and it sets no limit. Not codified — we hold no rule, so the report asserts nothing and tells you to confirm it.
We send full reports by hand rather than posting one publicly: a Workup only leaves here once every figure in it carries a bylaw-grade citation, and we hold that line even when it costs us a download button. Ask and we'll send the cleared specimen.
Seven sections, and where each one gets its facts.
One city, read end to end.
The City of Victoria is codified to adopted-bylaw grade. Every envelope figure in a Victoria Workup is read from the City's adopted zoning bylaw — both of them, since Victoria has two in force — and cited to a numbered section.
The District of Saanich is read and in verification: its Schedule “G” is codified from the current consolidation, down to the floor-area ceiling that changes with the unit count. Oak Bay is read to the same standard. The rest of the Capital Regional District is not, and we will not sell it until it is.
That order is deliberate. Codifying a municipality means reading its adopted bylaw, checking it against the amendment record so the text is current, and citing every figure to a section — slow work, done once, properly. Shipping the region on secondary sources would put unverified numbers into listing packages and financing files, which is the exact failure this product exists to prevent. So we finish one city at a time and say plainly which one is finished.
Which municipality goes next is decided by who asks. Tell us where you work and it counts toward the order.
Permit picks up where the Workup ends.
A Workup tells you what a parcel can become. Permit is the tool for what happens after somebody decides to build it — the BC Building Code Part 9 and municipal submission path for that project, held to the same rule: sourced, or it says it isn't. It is a separate product with its own pilot, and it is not required to use a Workup. If your client is already past the “can we?” question, mention it when you get in touch.
One municipal letter costs more than a month of this.
The District of Saanich charges $200 for a Letter of Zoning Confirmation and takes up to ten working days. It confirms your zone, permitted uses, OCP designation and development permit area — it does not tell you what the lot can carry.
- Run a Workup on any codified parcel, as often as you need
- The full report, delivered as a PDF
- Every figure cited to a bylaw section, or flagged
- Straight software purchase — nothing tied to your deals
- For a one-off decision on a single lot
- Same report, same citations
- Priced on the parcel and turnaround
- Most people who ask this end up wanting the seat
- Seats for the desk, billed together
- One point of contact for the office
- Priced on volume and turnaround
- A division-level licence exists and is priced after a pilot
Prices in Canadian dollars. A Workup covers one parcel and is delivered as a PDF. A division-level licence exists for larger organizations and is priced after a pilot.
Built to survive a planner reading it.
Anyone can produce a confident answer about what a lot allows. The hard part is producing one that survives being forwarded to a municipal planner. That is the only standard we build to, and it is a standard about sourcing, not about certainty.
A Workup is a research and planning document. It is not a permit, an approval, a survey, a municipal decision, or legal, planning, or financial advice, and it does not commit any municipality to anything. Confirm the path for a specific project with the municipality and the appropriate professionals.
Answered plainly.
Can I build a garden suite in Victoria?
For most City of Victoria lots the answer turns on the parcel, not the city: lot area and width, the zone the parcel sits in, servicing, and the conditions in the City's adopted zoning bylaw. A Workup reads your specific parcel against that adopted bylaw and returns what it supports, with the bylaw section cited beside each figure. Where we do not hold a bylaw-grade source for a rule, the report says so instead of guessing — you get a confirm-with-the-municipality flag rather than a number.
What is SSMUH eligibility, and can you check it for Saanich?
SSMUH — small-scale multi-unit housing — is the class of housing BC's Bill 44 requires municipalities to permit on many lots that used to be single-family only. What a given lot qualifies for is set by that municipality's adopted zoning bylaw, not by the provincial legislation directly. Today Kaplex serves the City of Victoria only: it is the one municipality we have codified to adopted-bylaw grade. Saanich and the rest of the Capital Regional District are in verification and not yet served. If you want Saanich next, join the waitlist — the waitlist is how we decide which municipality to codify.
Where does the data in a Workup come from?
Parcel geometry and identifiers come from ParcelMap BC under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. Zoning and envelope rules are read from the municipality's adopted zoning bylaw and cited to the section. Regulatory facts such as energy-step and development-cost-charge changes are cited to the municipal or regional source page, carry a status, and are date-stamped. Title charges, when included, come from an LTSA title pull. Every source travels with the report in its own section, so the recipient can follow each figure back.
Is this accurate enough to show a municipal planner?
That is the standard it is built to. A Workup only asserts a figure when we hold an adopted-bylaw source for it; anything else renders fail-closed — an explicit not-codified or confirm-with-the-municipality flag rather than an estimate dressed up as a fact. Proposed bylaws and rate changes are labelled as proposed, with their effective date, and are never presented as being in force. A Workup is a research and planning document, not a permit, an approval, a survey, or a municipal decision.
What is actually in the report?
Seven sections plus sources: a parcel snapshot; the unit and zoning math with a rulebook of each envelope figure and its citation; triggered obligations for that parcel, such as heritage, riparian, or septic servicing flags; title intelligence when a title has been pulled; the municipal energy and carbon standard the build must meet; a cost-cliff radar of dated development-cost-charge changes; a soft-cost ledger of obligations and opportunities; and a full data-source and licence list.
What does a Workup cost?
A Workup seat is $149 a month and covers any parcel in a municipality we have codified, delivered as a PDF. For comparison: the District of Saanich charges $200 for a single Letter of Zoning Confirmation and takes up to ten working days — and that letter confirms your zone, permitted uses, OCP designation and development permit area without telling you what the lot can carry. If you only need one parcel and don't want a seat, ask and we will price the single report. Offices running volume can bill seats together, and a division-level licence exists for larger organizations, priced after a pilot.
Is there a seat or a login I can buy?
A seat is the standard way to buy Workup — $149 a month. Reports are delivered as PDFs today rather than through a self-serve dashboard, so a seat means we run the parcels you ask for rather than handing you a login. We would rather describe that plainly than imply software that does not exist yet. Self-serve access is in development; tell us if you want it and it moves up the list.
Why only the City of Victoria?
Because codifying a municipality properly means reading its adopted zoning bylaw and citing every figure to a section, and that is slow work done once per municipality. Victoria is finished to that standard. Publishing the rest of the Capital Regional District before it meets the same standard would put unverified numbers into listings and financing files, which is the specific failure this product exists to prevent. The others are in verification and the waitlist sets the order.
Can I use a Workup in a listing or in a financing file?
It is built to be forwarded — every figure is cited and date-stamped so the person receiving it can verify it themselves. What it is not is an approval. It reports what the adopted bylaw supports for that parcel; it does not commit a municipality to anything, replace a survey, or constitute legal, planning, or financial advice. Say where the figures came from when you pass them on, and the report makes that easy.
How do I get one?
Send the address. We confirm the parcel, run it, and send the PDF back.
Send us the
address.
A seat is $149 a month and covers any codified parcel, delivered as a PDF. Or ask for the specimen report first — most people do.
Running volume?
A monthly block of reports is priced on volume and turnaround, and it's a conversation rather than a checkout. Say how many parcels a month and we'll quote it.
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