Are bike repair & wash stations required in Metro Vancouver?

In a growing number of cities, yes. Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey, and Burnaby now require new buildings with bike parking to include maintenance facilities, not just storage.

For most projects, that means a repair stand and, in three of the four cities, a wash station, plus an air pump and a small work area in the bike room. The aim is the same everywhere: make basic upkeep easy, so people keep riding, which supports the transportation and climate goals each city has set.

Here is what each one requires, and when it took effect:

Coquitlam
New Westminster
Surrey
Burnaby
What this means for your project

Coquitlam

Coquitlam was the first of the four to adopt the requirement. Its Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, Part 7 sets out that wherever bike parking is required on a site, each building must include a bike maintenance area. At a minimum, that area must contain a “work space and desk, repair stand, wash station, and bicycle tire air pump.”

This is not limited to offices or other commercial buildings. It applies to apartment buildings as well, because Coquitlam requires apartments to provide bike parking at a rate of 1.25 long-term spaces for every dwelling unit. So a standard apartment project needs the repair stand and wash station, not just the racks. Coquitlam brought the rule in through zoning amendments adopted in 2021, so it has been in force for several years.

New Westminster

New Westminster added a nearly identical rule in 2023, through Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 8396. Where long-term bike parking is required for multiple-dwelling use in an apartment building, the bylaw requires a bike maintenance area with, at minimum, a work space and desk, repair stand, wash station, and bicycle tire air pump. The requirement applies city-wide.

There is one narrow exception, and it applies only to secured rental housing. If a site was already used for secured rental units before late 2014, the owner can add up to five more secured rental units without having to build a maintenance area. Anything larger or a new building has to meet the requirement.

Surrey

Surrey is the most recent to move, updating its bike-parking rules across 2024 and 2025. Its Zoning By-law No. 12000 now requires bicycle maintenance facilities within a secure bicycle parking area, which is the enclosed, long-term parking used in apartment buildings.

Surrey defines bicycle maintenance facilities as the tools used to maintain, clean, and repair bikes, including a repair stand, work space and desk, wash station, and bicycle tire air pump. That list lines up closely with Coquitlam and New Westminster, so a project that meets the requirement in one of those cities will be on familiar ground in Surrey.

Burnaby

Burnaby’s rule is narrower and focuses on repair rather than washing. Under Schedule X of its Zoning Bylaw, adopted in 2024, any building that must provide 10 or more long-term (Class A) bike spaces has to include at least one bike repair station for every 400 of those spaces. Each station needs a stand that holds the bike off the floor, a tire pump, and a bike-appropriate toolkit secured to the stand or wall.

Because Burnaby requires two long-term spaces per dwelling unit, most apartment buildings of roughly five units or more reach the 10-space threshold and need a repair station. Burnaby does not require a wash station, so the equipment list is shorter than in the other three cities.

What this means for your project

The repair stand, pump, and tools are simple wall or floor mounts, and they can go in late without much trouble. The wash station is the part to watch, because it needs a water connection and drainage. That has to be on the mechanical drawings early. It is far cheaper to rough in during design than to chase down once the bike room is being built out.

So the bottom line for most apartment projects is short: confirm your municipality’s exact trigger and equipment list, since they differ, then size the bike room and rough in the wash station plumbing from the start.

Alliance Installations manufactures and installs this category of equipment across British Columbia, including bike racks, bike lockers, repair stations, and wash stations.

If you are working through bike room requirements for a project and want a quote for bike maintenance and storage facilities, please feel free to reach out through our contact page.