Annual Electrical Operating Permit

Technical Safety BC or your city’s electrical department (eg. City of Vancouver) requires an annual electrical operating permit to safely maintain and inspect equipment. It also ensures records are available on request by safety officers.

Under the supervision of a Field Safety Representative (FSR), owners can conduct regular maintenance work without having to take out multiple electrical installation permits.

Operating permits are required in buildings with a high voltage electrical service, public spaces, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and multi-occupancy buildings such as hotels, office high-rises, strata-owned condominiums and apartment buildings.

The cost of the annual permit is determined based on the KVA (kilovolt-ampere) rating of your building’s service.

In strata or multi-tenant buildings, all work pertaining to common areas must be performed by the operating permit holder. Individual unit owners or tenants may hire their own electrician for work within their respective units. It is important to note that any work carried out within the units must be permitted separately from the annual permit.

Prior to issuing the necessary information for your permit a preliminary inspection will be conducted to identify any potential hazards.

As part of the annual permit process, we will coordinate inspections each year with the inspector. These inspections are conducted to ensure compliance with electrical safety regulations and to maintain the overall safety of your building.

A log book will be placed in the electrical room of your building. It is essential that we fill out this log book every time we perform any electrical work in the building to maintain a record of all electrical work carried out and contributes to ongoing safety compliance.