Data sources, terms and privacy

What this is, and is not

BuildHere estimates allowable units, floor area and a rough pro forma from public parcel and zoning data and a reading of each municipality’s zoning bylaw. It is not a zoning confirmation, a survey, a development permit assessment, or legal, planning, engineering, tax or investment advice.

Lot sizes are measured from published parcel outlines, not a survey. Bylaws change, data lags, and some things are not checked at all: heritage status, covenants and easements, trees, servicing, geotechnical conditions, and site-specific (comprehensive development) zones. Every report lists what was and was not checked. Confirm zoning, permitted uses, density and site conditions with the municipality, and get professional advice, before you buy, sell, design or build.

Where each municipality’s figures come from

Zoning data for every city except Vancouver was loaded in October 2026 and is not refreshed automatically; Vancouver is reloaded monthly. Each month we also check whether any bylaw schedule we read has changed. A rezoning adopted after a load will not show. A licence marked “being confirmed” means we are checking that the data owner’s terms allow this use.

Also used: BC Address Geocoder and ParcelMap BC (Open Government Licence - British Columbia), TransLink schedule data for frequent-transit stops (contains information licensed under the TransLink open data licence), and the UBC Sociology Zoning Project / MountainMath harmonised zoning. Map tiles are © OpenStreetMap contributors and the tile provider named on the map. Contains information licensed under the applicable Open Government Licences.

Comprehensive development (CD) and most mixed-use and commercial zones are not covered anywhere. Lots in them show “not covered yet” instead of an estimate.

Terms of use

By using BuildHere you agree to these terms. BuildHere is operated by Zach Ireland (“we”). If you do not agree, do not use it.

• No warranty. BuildHere and its reports are provided “as is” and “as available”, with no promise that they are accurate, complete, current or fit for a particular purpose.
• Your responsibility. You decide how to use a report. Do not make a purchase, offer, financing, design or permit decision on a report alone.
• Limit of liability. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss, cost or damage arising from using or relying on BuildHere, including lost profit or a failed or mispriced deal. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
• Pro forma figures use the editable assumptions you can see and change. They are illustrations, not forecasts or appraisals.
• Fair use. Use the site for ordinary lookups. Do not scrape it, overload it, or resell the data or reports in bulk without our written permission.
• Third-party data. Source data stays under its owners’ licences. Reports carry the required credits; keep them if you share a report.
• Changes. We may change the site, the coverage or these terms at any time. Using the site after a change means you accept it.
• Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada that apply there.

Privacy

BuildHere has no accounts and does not ask for your name or email. The text you type in the search box is sent to our servers to suggest addresses, and when you open a report or tap a lot on the map, your request reaches our servers so we can look up the lot and build the report; we do not tie it to your identity. Addresses and parcel data are held on our own database, so no address you search is sent to the BC Address Geocoder or another outside service. Our hosting and database providers (Vercel and Supabase) keep standard server logs, which can include your IP address and the page requested, for security and operation. The map loads base-map tiles from the tile provider directly in your browser, so that provider sees your IP address and the area you view. The address and any pro forma assumptions or lot changes you make are carried in the page address, so avoid sharing a link if you do not want those details shared. The PDF report is built on demand from the same details and is not stored.

Questions or requests about your information: hello@buildhere.ca. If we add analytics or cookies, we will update this section first.

Corrections and takedowns

If a municipality or owner of source data wants a correction, an attribution change or removal, or you spot a wrong figure, write to hello@buildhere.ca with the address and what is wrong.