When must a BC construction project submit a Notice of Project?

A British Columbia construction project needs a WorkSafeBC Notice of Project–Construction (NOP-C) when one of the conditions in OHS Regulation section 20.2 applies. The owner or owner-engaged prime contractor must normally ensure WorkSafeBC receives the written notice at least 24 hours before work starts and that a copy is posted at the worksite. The familiar trigger is an estimated labour-and-materials cost over $100,000, but it is only one route. Engineer-designed work, certain structures and specified entries into cofferdams, compressed-air environments, trenches or excavations can also trigger the notice. WorkSafeBC's current section 20.2 text is the controlling checklist.

There can be another notice as well. Hazardous-substance work covered by section 20.2.1 generally requires an NOP–Hazardous substances (NOP-H) at least 48 hours before that work activity starts, with its own information and site-copy requirements. WorkSafeBC's filing page explicitly says a project such as asbestos removal before construction may require both notices. The 24-hour construction deadline must not be copied onto the hazardous-substance filing, and a construction notice must not be assumed to cover every tower crane, diving or underground-work notice.

Start with the actual project and the right notice type

WorkSafeBC's NOP screening page describes construction broadly. It includes erection, alteration, repair, dismantling and demolition, but also structural or routine maintenance, painting, earth moving, excavating, trenching, grading, blasting, concreting and machinery installation. A site team should not stop at the contract label. A job sold as maintenance can still contain a construction activity for notice purposes.

Identify the worksite boundary, owner, prime contractor if engaged, employers responsible for each activity, start date and planned methods. Use the full estimated project cost of labour and materials rather than only one trade's quote. Note whether a professional engineer designs any part of the work, while checking the regulation's exclusion for pre-engineered or pre-manufactured building or structural components. Ask designers and supervisors about heights, structural repair, bridges, retaining structures, cofferdams, compressed air and worker entry into trenches or other excavations. A zero or low cost screen does not end the analysis.

Build a notice register with one line for each possible form: NOP-C, NOP-H, tower crane, diving, underground workings, blasting or another relevant type. The register should show the precise legal trigger, responsible parties, deadline, submission evidence, site-copy location and change owner. This is a practical coordination tool, not a new WorkSafeBC form. It is especially useful when different employers control construction, remediation and crane work on the same project.

What triggers NOP-C under section 20.2?

Section 20.2(1) lists alternatives. A construction NOP is needed when estimated labour and materials exceed $100,000. The word exceeds matters: do not rewrite the test as “$100,000 or more.” It also applies if all or part of the project, including a temporary or permanent aspect, is designed by a professional engineer, subject to the stated pre-engineered or pre-manufactured component exception. Capture the drawing or engineering scope that supports that decision.

The regulation separately lists a new erection, major alteration, structural repair or demolition of a building more than two storeys or 6 metres high, a bridge, an earth or water retaining structure over 3 metres, or a silo, chimney or similar structure over 6 metres. The same section covers workers in a cofferdam or compressed-air environment other than a defined underground working. It also covers a worker who may need to enter a trench over 30 metres long, or a non-trench excavation over 1.2 metres deep. WorkSafeBC's explanatory page summarises those triggers, but use the current regulation for a close call.

The conditions are not a general “large or dangerous project” test. A short deep trench and a long trench are not interchangeable categories. A small bridge repair may need an NOP even if its quote is below the cost trigger. An engineer's involvement as an informal reviewer is not automatically the same as an engineer-designed part of the project under section 20.2. Record the facts and the paragraph used, rather than a single yes/no cell with no reason.

Example: lower cost, engineer-designed temporary work

A contractor estimates a job at $70,000. The temporary support arrangement is designed by a professional engineer. The owner and prime contractor should review the engineer-design paragraph of section 20.2, not conclude that no NOP is required because the project is below $100,000. If the paragraph applies, submit NOP-C on the applicable timetable and keep the supporting design decision with the project file. The example does not decide whether a particular component falls within the statutory exclusion; that must be checked against the actual design.

Who files and when?

Under section 20.2(1), either the owner or the person engaged by the owner to be the prime contractor must ensure WorkSafeBC receives the written NOP-C at least 24 hours before work begins, subject to the section's immediate-work provision. Assign one individual to prepare the filing and another to verify receipt. A contract can allocate the administrative step, but it should not leave the statutory parties assuming the other one has done it. Put the filing decision on the pre-start agenda before the first crew is booked.

The NOP-C must identify the owner and any owner-engaged prime contractor; site address or location relative to the nearest highway; project scope and applicable section 20.2 triggers; start date and estimated duration; and estimated labour-and-materials cost. Cofferdam work can require the specified confirmation about ground-support drawings. Section 20.2(2) gives the full list. Use the current WorkSafeBC NOP portal, which collects project contacts, location and scope information. Do not invent missing data simply to get a form submitted; obtain it from the project team.

Section 20.2(3) requires the notice copy to be posted at the worksite before work begins and kept posted for the project's duration. A confirmation email in a head-office inbox is not the same as a site copy. Check what the site can actually show an officer, including when the usual manager is absent. Record the posted version and where it is displayed. If material section 20.2(2) information changes significantly, section 20.2(5) requires new information to be given to WorkSafeBC as soon as possible and posted at the site. A project cost, duration, scope or prime-contractor change should therefore prompt a filing review; not every minor administrative edit necessarily does.

The immediate-work exception is narrow

Section 20.2(4) allows a project subject to subsection (1) to begin immediately when that is necessary to prevent risk of injury to workers or others, or damage to property. The owner or owner-engaged prime contractor must then ensure WorkSafeBC receives the notice as soon as possible and that a copy is posted as soon as possible and kept posted. This is a risk-prevention exception with follow-up duties, not a general fast-track for a late procurement decision or an impatient client.

Document the facts that made immediate work necessary, who made the decision, when work began, when the notice was submitted and when the copy was posted. If the team has time to wait and the statutory condition is absent, plan for the ordinary 24-hour route. If the project contains hazardous-substance work, examine section 20.2.1's separate immediate-work language rather than assuming section 20.2 automatically excuses a second notice.

When is NOP-H also needed?

Section 20.2.1 addresses construction work activities with hazardous-substance exposure risk. Its list includes moderate- or high-risk work with or near asbestos-containing material, alteration or demolition of a building where asbestos-containing material was processed, manufactured or stored, significant disturbance of lead-containing material, and similar activities that may expose workers to a significant occupational-disease risk from a biological or chemical agent or ionizing radiation. There are stated exceptions for specified inspections and planning work. Read the current section 20.2.1 and identify the actual activity, not just the word asbestos on an old building file.

All employers responsible for the covered activity, together with the owner or owner-engaged prime contractor, must ensure WorkSafeBC receives the NOP-H at least 48 hours before the activity begins, subject to the section's specified exceptions. The notice requires employer, owner and prime-contractor contacts; location; scope and duration; activity-specific safe-work procedures and hazardous substance; and certain section 20.112 report information where applicable. Section 20.2.1(5) requires a posted copy. Section 20.2.1(8) also imposes a 10-year retention duty on employers responsible for the activity. That retention rule is specific to the hazardous-substance notice; do not present it as a universal NOP-C retention period.

WorkSafeBC's portal guidance says a separate NOP is required for each project type. Where demolition includes asbestos removal, screen both NOP-C and NOP-H. Submitting the construction notice 24 hours before work does not make a 48-hour hazardous-substance notice timely. Schedule the remediation start accordingly and keep both copies in the notice register.

Example: renovation with asbestos removal

A multi-trade renovation meets NOP-C because the project cost exceeds the construction threshold. Before demolition, a separate employer will undertake moderate-risk asbestos work. The owner and prime contractor need to coordinate the 24-hour NOP-C deadline and the activity-specific 48-hour NOP-H deadline, with all responsible employers identified under the hazardous-substance rule. The survey and safe-work information must be checked against section 20.2.1 and the portal. A general note saying “asbestos present” does not substitute for the required activity-specific information or the second posted notice.

Other notices may have different lead times

The WorkSafeBC filing page currently lists a two-week tower-crane notice for covered erection, climbing, repositioning or dismantling activity, 24-hour notice for specified close-proximity blasting and diving, and 30-day notice for underground workings. Forestry has its own timing. These are separate legal tests and should not be wrapped into a generic construction NOP paragraph. A tower crane planned late in a construction project cannot rely on an NOP-C filed weeks earlier as proof that its specific notice was sent.

Not every notice type applies to every project. Use the official “Do I need to submit” tool and relevant current regulation sections. Confirm the form and timing at the time of filing, especially for specialist activities. The WorkSafeBC page is a process index, while the regulation states the binding conditions; both should be checked when a deadline or trigger is disputed.

Keep one reliable project notice record

Before mobilisation, store the dated trigger analysis, estimate, drawings or measurements, identities of the owner, prime contractor and relevant employers, submitted NOP, receipt or confirmation, posted site copy, and a list of separate notices considered. Assign a person to revisit the register when cost, design, method, hazardous-substance findings or specialist plant changes. A document controller cannot update a notice they never hear about; make notice review part of scope-change control.

Do not confuse filing with approval of the work. WorkSafeBC says an NOP submission does not oblige the regulator to inspect every project. The duty holders must still manage the actual hazards, coordinate employers and follow the applicable OHS Regulation. A project may have a perfectly filed NOP and unsafe excavation, asbestos or crane practice. The filing record shows communication to WorkSafeBC; it does not certify site compliance.

The Complys BC OHS overview covers broader provincial duties. This page owns the narrow NOP-C screening and multi-notice pre-start task. For a project team seeking software, the Canadian safety-management page is the relevant product destination. The verified Complys Canada site describes document, contractor and hazard records, which may help organise the underlying evidence if the deployed configuration supports it. Complys does not determine the statutory NOP trigger, submit a WorkSafeBC notice, grant approval or guarantee that a site copy is properly posted. Confirm the exact current features before relying on them.

Use the current WorkSafeBC regulation to screen the actual project, then file through the current NOP portal with enough lead time for each applicable notice type. Keep the posted copy where site personnel can produce it, and revisit the decision when project facts materially change.

For the related Complys product, see Safety Management Software. This guide is general information, not legal advice; verify current requirements against the official sources linked above.