Are Fire Pits Legal in Vancouver, BC?

Are Fire Pits Legal in Vancouver, BC?

Vancouver is a city known for its natural beauty and locals that love the outdoors, so making your garden a beautiful space is just as important.  A comfortable, warm, and inviting garden is essential to enjoy your home year-round and adding a fire pit is the perfect way to do so.  However, wood burning fire pits have been banned across BC as the number of forest fires increases annually on both public and private property, commercially and residentially.  Whether your fire pit resides in Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond or Burnaby, the rules and regulations remain the same.  

In fact, if a wood burning fire is spotted, the BC government website recommends calling 911.  According to gov.bc.ca, fines for such fires can vary from $1,150 to 100,000 depending on their severity (if they start a forest fire).  Therefore, the best alternative to wood burning fire pits are gas and propane fire pits.  They are virtually smokeless, easy to maintain and don’t spark, risking unintentional fires or injuries and are legal.

Fixed connection outdoor gas and propane fire pits are allowed in the City of Vancouver (with a permit) and the entire fire pit appliance is subject to CSA certification.  Although this is not a worry with Solus Decor as all of our modern gas fire pits are CSA, ANSI, CE & UKCA certified in their entirety (not just the burner).  Which is important to consider as many other fire pits on the market do not meet these criteria.  Additionally, our contemporary propane fire pits can be moved, therefore they are technically portable appliances.  Portable appliances do not require a permit, making it even easier to add one to your home and garden.

Moreover, if you run a commercial business, such as a hotel, bar or restaurant, or you rent out a private property, ensuring your fire pit is certified could be extremely important. In the event of an insurance claim resulting from the fire pit, insurance companies often won’t pay out if it is not certified. Also with gas fire pits, it is important to consider whether only the burner has been certified, or if the appliance has been certified in its entirety. If the fire pit isn’t certified as a whole, this could also cause issues with insurance claims.

Click here for more info on CSA/ANSI Certification

The traditional wood burning fire pit harkens back to the past and perhaps a sense of Canadiana, but when sitting around a wood fire one soon remembers complaints of wood smoke that sting the eyes and  leaves the wood smoke smell in clothes and hair.  Gas and propane fire pits not only avoid this but allow heat output to be controlled with little to no storage requirements for fuel such as with kindling or logs.  Equally, gas fire tables require some preparation to be installed as they have to be connected to a natural gas line that should run under your deck or patio.  Once installed however, fuel supply isn’t a worry and there are no unsightly hoses running on the top surface.  Propane fire pits also require a connection to a propane tank which needs to be stored outdoors, in a well ventilated area.  This may seem like a hassle that you would rather avoid, but finding firewood storage, wet firewood and maintenance of a wood burning fire pit will require far more time and cleaning each and every time it is used.  Additionally, if you are looking for a more aesthetically pleasing way to store your propane tank, check out our tank table.

In summary, gas and propane fire pits and fire tables are legal in Vancouver, BC and are a modern and clean-burning alternative to your classic wood burning fire pit.  Virtually smoke free, safer and easy to maintain, we believe that they are the best alternative for those that want to make the most of their outdoor space and keep toasty all year round.

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