Burnaby Tenant Improvement & Commercial Contractor

01What a commercial TI includes

Scope varies with the space and the use, but a Burnaby commercial tenant improvement usually pulls from the same set of trades. Enduro coordinates all of them under one contract and one schedule:

• Demolition & strip-out of existing partitions and services
• Steel-stud framing & drywall — new demising and interior walls
• Structural alterations — openings, reinforcement, new roof or floor penetrations
• Electrical — distribution, power, lighting and controls
• Mechanical / HVAC — units, ductwork, ventilation and controls
• Plumbing — washrooms, kitchenettes and specialty fixtures
• Fire protection & life-safety — sprinkler, alarm and exit systems
• Interior & storefront glazing — demising glass, doors and feature walls
• Millwork & casework — reception, counters and built-ins
• Ceilings & acoustic treatment — grid, drywall and sound control
• Flooring & wall finishes — paint, tile, resilient and specialty finishes
• Doors, frames & hardware — including access control
• Data, low-voltage & audio-visual (AV) integration
• Signage & wayfinding coordination
• Accessibility upgrades to the BC Building Code
• Permits & code coordination with the City of Burnaby and consultants
• Commissioning & testing of systems before handover
• Closeout, warranty & O&M documentation

02Where we build across Burnaby

Burnaby is organized around four town centres and a set of employment lands, and each has its own building stock — which shapes what a fit-out costs and how it's built. Enduro works across all of them:

• Metrotown — Burnaby's downtown: high-rise strata and multi-tenant office towers around Kingsway and Central Boulevard, plus the mall and big-box retail core. Fit-outs here are usually occupied-tower work with strict base-building rules and shared loading and elevator access.
• Brentwood — a fast-changing mixed-use town centre off Lougheed Highway with new office-over-retail podiums and older commercial stock. A lot of the work is first-generation retail and office fit-out in newly built shells.
• Lougheed — a north-east town centre around Lougheed and Austin: mall retail, medical and clinical space, and mixed-use podium commercial.
• Edmonds & Burnaby Heights — established neighbourhood commercial corridors: street-front retail, restaurants, clinics and small professional offices in older two- and three-storey buildings.
• Big Bend, Glenlyon & Discovery employment lands — light-industrial, flex and life-science space near BCIT and Willingdon, where lab, warehouse-office and specialty mechanical fit-outs are common.

Much of Burnaby's commercial inventory is aging strata and multi-tenant space where the base building — mechanical capacity, demising, accessibility and fire separations — drives the real scope. Enduro reads the base building first so the estimate reflects the space you actually have, not a generic square-foot number.

03General contractor or construction manager — which fits

Enduro delivers tenant improvements two ways. The right one depends on how settled your design is and how much of the process you want to hold yourself.

Simply put: GC to build it, CM to steer it. Not sure which? Tell us where your Burnaby project stands and we'll give you a straight recommendation — see our plain-language CM-or-GC guide.

04The City of Burnaby permit process

A tenant improvement in Burnaby lives and dies on its permits and coordination — the build itself is the straightforward part. Burnaby runs its own commercial building-permit process through the City's Building Division, and it works differently from the City of Vancouver next door:

• It's a City of Burnaby permit, not a Vancouver one. The application, plan review and inspections all go through Burnaby's Building Division under the BC Building Code — not the City of Vancouver, and there is no equivalent of Vancouver's Tenant Improvement Program fast-track. A complete, code-ready first submission is the single biggest lever on your timeline.
• Most interior TIs need a building permit. The common triggers are moving interior walls, changing how a space is used, or altering plumbing, electrical, gas or mechanical systems.
• Trade permits. Plumbing permits are pulled through the City of Burnaby; electrical and gas permits run through the City of Burnaby or Technical Safety BC depending on the scope. We coordinate whichever applies so nothing is missed at submission.
• Change of use and life-safety. Converting a space from one use to another — say retail to restaurant, or office to clinic — can raise occupancy, exiting, ventilation and fire-separation requirements and triggers deeper plan review.
• Before demolition. We coordinate the WorkSafeBC-required hazardous-materials (asbestos) survey by a qualified person — Burnaby's older strata and commercial stock frequently contains materials a survey has to clear before demolition starts.

Here is how Enduro runs a Burnaby TI end to end:

1. Feasibility & budget

   We walk the space, test your program against the base building and lease, and give you an early, honest number — so you know what fits before design gets expensive.

2. Design coordination

   We work alongside your architect and consultants, cross-checking drawings for buildability and code — BC Building Code, accessibility, and where a change of use raises occupancy and life-safety requirements that trigger deeper City of Burnaby review.

3. City of Burnaby permits & approvals

   We assemble a complete building-permit application for the City's Building Division, coordinate the trade permits, and front-load the WorkSafeBC hazardous-materials survey so demolition isn't held up.

4. Procurement & long-lead

   We lock trade and material commitments at agreed prices and place long-lead orders — switchgear, custom millwork, specialty equipment — early, so nothing stalls your finish date.

5. Construction

   Subcontracted trades are sequenced and managed under one contract, with a super on site running trades, deliveries and safety day to day. We file the WorkSafeBC Notice of Project where the work requires it, book the City's inspections, and check quality as it's installed.

6. Closeout & warranty

   We work the deficiency list to zero, prove HVAC, electrical and life-safety systems, pass final City of Burnaby inspection and hand over the keys with as-builts, warranties and O&M manuals.

05What a tenant improvement costs in Burnaby BC

Fit-out cost is driven by the level of finish and how much base-building and mechanical work the space needs — and in Burnaby's aging strata and multi-tenant stock, base-building condition often carries more of the number than the finishes do.

Base-building condition, mechanical and electrical scope, permit-driven upgrades and finish level move the real number in either direction — and a first-generation shell in a new Brentwood podium prices very differently from an older Metrotown strata floor.

Enduro prices off real drawings when they exist and builds an open-book budget with you when they don't — then confirms the number in writing after a site visit. For a fuller BC breakdown, read our tenant improvement cost guide and office fit-out cost outlook.

06How long it takes

Construction is often the shorter part of the calendar — design coordination and City of Burnaby permitting usually drive the overall schedule. Typical planning ranges for a Burnaby commercial TI:

The most common cause of a slipped schedule isn't the City's queue — it's an incomplete permit application going back for rework. We front-load the survey, the drawings and the scope to keep that from happening. For how the calendar really breaks down, see how long a tenant improvement takes.

07Building while you stay open

Many Burnaby tenant improvements happen in occupied space — a Metrotown floor that's still working, a Brentwood store that's still trading, a clinic that can't shut down. Enduro phases these builds so your operation keeps running:

Done right, that's the difference between a build that shuts you down and one that keeps you trading. We built inside a working research lab around live growth chambers — the same discipline applies to an operating Burnaby office, clinic or store.

08Our Burnaby work

Enduro has delivered technical and institutional projects in Burnaby, including accessibility-driven work at the Bonsor recreation centre and for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) — plus fit-outs across office, retail and lab space that carry the same discipline into a Metrotown or Brentwood build:

Municipal · Recreation Bonsor Washrooms Burnaby, BC Institutional · Accessibility CFIA Accessibility Project Burnaby, BC Office fit-out Abdera Vancouver, BC

Burnaby also sits inside our wider life-science and institutional footprint — including CFIA in Burnaby and UBC across Metro Vancouver. See the full portfolio →

09Burnaby tenant improvement FAQ

How much does a commercial TI cost in Burnaby BC?

A cosmetic refresh keeps most of the existing layout and services; a full office or retail fit-out adds new partitions, ceilings, lighting and MEP; labs, clinics and food-service spaces add specialized systems and equipment. The base-building condition matters especially in Burnaby, where a new Brentwood shell and an older Metrotown strata space can require very different service upgrades. The existing building, services and finish level determine the actual number, which Enduro confirms from drawings and a site visit. These are scope bands, not a quote — Enduro confirms your number in writing after a site visit.

Who pays for a Burnaby TI — is there a tenant improvement allowance?

It depends on the lease. Burnaby landlords often provide a TI allowance — a set dollar amount per square foot toward the build — with the tenant funding anything above it; some deals are turnkey. Enduro works for either the landlord or the tenant, and our written estimate shows exactly where the allowance lands against the real scope.

How long does the City of Burnaby take to issue a TI permit?

It depends on scope and how complete the application is. Minor interior work with clean, code-ready drawings moves through Burnaby's Building Division faster; a change of use, structural or life-safety upgrade triggers deeper review and adds weeks. Burnaby runs its own process — no Vancouver-style TI fast-track — so a complete first submission is the biggest lever. Confirm current turnaround with the City of Burnaby.

Do I need a City of Burnaby permit for a tenant improvement?

Most commercial interiors do — the common triggers are moving interior walls, changing how a space is used, or altering plumbing, electrical, gas or mechanical systems. Plumbing permits go through the City; electrical and gas run through the City of Burnaby or Technical Safety BC depending on scope. Truly cosmetic work often needs nothing. Confirm current rules with the City of Burnaby and your consultants.

Which Burnaby business districts do you build in?

All of them — the Metrotown office and retail core, the Brentwood and Lougheed town centres, Edmonds and Burnaby Heights, and the Big Bend, Glenlyon and Discovery employment lands near BCIT and Willingdon. That spans office towers, mall and big-box retail, clinics, restaurants and life-science flex space.

Can you build in a Metrotown or Brentwood tower while it stays occupied?

Yes. We schedule disruptive work after hours, hoard and seal the work area, run dust and negative-air control, keep exits and life-safety live, and coordinate with building management on elevators, loading and shutdowns so neighbouring tenants keep operating.

Should I hire a GC or a construction manager for my Burnaby fit-out?

Hire a general contractor when the design is settled and you want one firm to hold the contract and hand you a finished space. Hire a construction manager when you want to stay owner-side with an open-book budget while design is still moving. GC to build it, CM to steer it — Enduro offers both.

Does Enduro self-perform the trades?

No. Enduro is the prime contractor and construction manager — we hold the contract, plan and sequence the work, run daily site control and quality, and manage the subcontracted trades as your single point of accountability. One company answers for budget, schedule and the finished space.

Do you build lab and life-science fit-outs in Burnaby?

Yes. Burnaby has a real life-science and research footprint around BCIT and Willingdon, and Enduro has delivered technical and institutional work in Burnaby — including accessibility work at the Bonsor recreation centre and for CFIA. Lab and clinical fit-outs need containment, specialty mechanical and controlled finishes, which we plan and manage as your prime contractor.

Are you licensed and insured to work in Burnaby and BC?

Yes — Enduro is a licensed BC builder, bondable and insured, and WorkSafeBC registered. On commercial work we file the WorkSafeBC Notice of Project where required and coordinate any hazardous-materials survey the demolition scope calls for.

What's the difference between a tenant improvement and a leasehold improvement?

They're the same work from two angles. "Tenant improvement" (TI) is the construction term for building out a leased space; "leasehold improvement" is the accounting and lease term for those fixed alterations. The scope Enduro builds is identical.

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