Interior British Columbia valley orchards beside a long lake below dry grassy hills with scattered pines and forested ridges beyond.
City of Kamloops, British Columbia BC Interior & Northern BC

Barndominium Builders in Kamloops, British Columbia

Kamloops covers a lot of ground, and inside its boundary there is more than suburban streets: there are farm parcels zoned for agriculture, some of them in the Agricultural Land Reserve. That gives a barndominium buyer real choice without leaving the city. On a serviced lot, a steel-clad or post-frame house is designed to the lot's zone and permitted by the City's Building Section. On land zoned A1, a single-detached house sits alongside farming on a large parcel, and where that parcel is in the reserve, the reserve's limits on house size apply as well. Further out, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District issues building permits in its electoral areas. Post-frame homes and steel-frame barndominiums suit an open main floor with a shop or equipment bay attached, and custom plans fit that layout to the zone's setbacks. We take on Kamloops projects from our base in Calgary. Use the survey to send the parcel, and we will check its zone, reserve status and servicing before the drawings start.

Kamloops at a glance

Municipality
City, Thompson-Nicola Regional District
Population
97,902 (2021 Census); 108,793 (July 2025 estimate)
Building permit
City building office
Land and acreage
City land and rural land; acreage in Thompson-Nicola Regional District
Wastewater
Municipal sewer
Water
Municipal water
Tell us about your land

Barndominium Builders Near Kamloops

From a turnkey build to a shell you finish yourself, the work starts with the parcel: the access, the building pad, the route to a sewer or a private sewage system, and the water source. The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so each option is priced against your land rather than a rate card.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: one team from bare land and permits to a finished, inspected house, water and septic planned in.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans for Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: floor plans and permit drawings drawn for your parcel, your loads and your municipality.

Site Preparation

Barndominium site preparation in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clearing, grading, drainage, access and the building pad, planned around well and septic.

Permitting

Barndominium permits in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: development and building permits, trade permits, septic, and who issues each one.

Post-Frame and Steel-Frame Barndominiums Near Kamloops

A post-frame home, often called a pole barn home, sets its frame on widely spaced posts and suits a wide, simple layout with a shop bay under the same roof. A steel-frame barndominium uses a bolted steel frame, and an RTM (ready-to-move) home is built off site and moved to the land. Which one fits comes down to the land use rules, the site and the design values for your location.

Post-Frame Homes

Post-frame and pole barn homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a wide-open shop and a house on one column-and-truss frame, built as a real home.

Steel Construction

Steel-frame barndominiums and metal building homes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: clear-span frames for a shop and a house, finished for winter.

RTM Homes

RTM homes in Alberta and Saskatchewan: ready-to-move barndominiums built in our yard, moved to your land and set on the foundation built there.

Shouses

Shop houses (shouses) in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC: a working shop and a home under one roof, planned around the land use bylaw, water and septic.

Building a Barndominium in Kamloops: Permits, Land Use, Sewage and Water

On acreage the land use, sewage and water answers often come before the building answer. Here is who decides each part in Kamloops, taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so check them again against your parcel before anything is drawn.

Who issues the building permit City building office

City of Kamloops Building Section (Building and Plumbing)

Kamloops takes single-family dwelling permit applications online through a MyCity profile. A contractor's application needs a title search under three months old with its charges on title, the BC Housing new home registration form, an Energy Step Code pre-construction checklist with its energy model report, a lot grading plan, truss and floor joist layouts, and design drawings that include braced wall band details.

Source: Residential Contractor Single-Family Dwelling Permit, City of Kamloops (kamloops.ca)

Who decides the land use City and rural landAgricultural Land Reserve inside the boundary

City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55 and Agricultural Land Reserve applications; Thompson-Nicola Regional District beyond the city

For a Kamloops parcel inside the Agricultural Land Reserve, removing land from the reserve, subdividing it or using it for non-farm purposes takes an application to the Agricultural Land Commission. It is filed through the Commission's portal and referred to City staff, Council holds a public hearing, and Council then decides whether to forward it to the Commission, which makes the final decision.

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve Applications, City of Kamloops (kamloops.ca)

Sewer or private sewage Municipal sewer

City of Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre

Serviced Kamloops homes drain through the City's pipes to the Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre, which handles millions of litres of wastewater a day and separates it into treated water and biosolids, both put to beneficial reuse. A parcel with no sewer main needs an onsite system planned and filed with Interior Health by an authorized person instead.

Source: Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre, City of Kamloops (kamloops.ca)

Where the water comes from Municipal water

City of Kamloops (Kamloops Centre for Water Quality)

The City's drinking water comes from the South Thompson River and is filtered through ultra-filtration membranes at the Kamloops Centre for Water Quality, with the North Thompson River as the emergency backup. The Rayleigh and Heffley Creek waterworks districts run their own systems from the North Thompson. A parcel beyond the mains usually needs a drilled well.

Source: City of Kamloops Drinking Water Annual Final Report 2024 (kamloops.ca)

Code climate values for Kamloops
Ground snow load (Ss)
1.8 kPa
Rain load (Sr)
0.2 kPa
Hourly wind pressure, 1 in 50
0.4 kPa
January design temperature (2.5%)
-23 °C
Heating degree-days below 18 °C
3,450

The values the code table lists for Kamloops. The designer confirms the values for your actual site.

Source: BC Building Code 2024 (web version, revision 2), Government of British Columbia (British Columbia Building Code 2024, Division B, Appendix C, Table C-2; www2.gov.bc.ca)

Kamloops A1 (Agricultural) zone
Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55 (consolidation listing amendments to June 9, 2026) lists agricultural use and single-detached residential as principal uses in the A1 (Agricultural) zone, which preserves land the Official Community Plan designates Agricultural and may fall within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The minimum lot area for subdivision is 8 ha, and front, side and rear yards are at least 6 m.

Source: Consolidated City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55 (As Amended) (kamloops.civicweb.net)

Permits in the Thompson-Nicola electoral areas
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District requires a building permit for any new construction, alteration, addition or demolition of a structure in all of its electoral areas, accepts only complete applications, and requires the permit before any stage of the work begins, including excavation.

Source: Building Permits, Thompson-Nicola Regional District (tnrd.ca)

Building on Land Near Kamloops

Open land near Kamloops falls on one side or the other of the city boundary. Inside it, an A1 parcel of at least 8 ha allows a single-detached house with farming, and if the parcel is in the reserve, the house is limited to 500 m² of total floor area with no more than 42 m² of attached garage excluded, so an attached shop beyond that is counted. Outside it, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District permits every new structure in its electoral areas. Either way, plan the sewage route and the water supply early: river water reaches the serviced city, while rural acreage generally relies on a filed onsite system and a well. Check the zone on the City's map before you make an offer, and read our legal guide for the reserve rules.

Other places in this region

BC Interior & Northern BC

Barndominium builders across British Columbia

Have land in or near Kamloops? Tell us about the parcel and what you want on it, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.

Start your build survey (825) 465-3825

Building in Kamloops: questions

Start the survey
How much does it cost to build a barndominium in Kamloops?
Site conditions in Kamloops change the number a great deal. A serviced lot in town, a benchland parcel needing a long driveway, and a farm property with its own well and onsite sewerage are three different jobs even with one floor plan. We price against the actual property, and our barndominium cost guide walks through third-party ranges and what pushes a project up or down.
Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Kamloops?
Yes. Within the city, the Building Section issues single-family dwelling permits, and the application includes a recent title search, the BC Housing new home registration form, an energy model for the Step Code and full design drawings. Outside the city, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District requires a permit for any new structure in its electoral areas.
Can I put a house on agricultural land in Kamloops?
Yes, within limits. The A1 zone lists single-detached residential as a principal use alongside agriculture, on parcels of at least 8 ha for new lots. If the parcel is also in the Agricultural Land Reserve, the reserve caps the house at 500 m² of total floor area, and using the land for non-farm purposes needs a Commission application that Council reviews first. A custom plan is drawn to both.
What snow and wind values apply to a barndominium in Kamloops?
Table C-2 of the British Columbia Building Code 2024 lists Kamloops with a ground snow load of 1.8 kPa, a rain load of 0.2 kPa, a 1-in-50 hourly wind pressure of 0.40 kPa and a January design temperature of −23 °C. They are reference values for the listed location; conditions at a higher or more exposed parcel can differ, so the structural designer settles the loads for the real site.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Kamloops allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced price ranges and what moves the number on your land.

Read it

Can You Build a Barndominium in Canada?

Permits, licensing, warranty, land use, sewage and water in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

From parcel to move-in, and how the winter sets the clock.

Read it

Sources for this page

The published pages behind the Kamloops facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Other places near Kamloops

Nearby places with their own pages. Across a municipal boundary the permit office, the land use bylaw, the sewage rules and the water source can change, so each is covered separately.

Kelowna

British Columbia
Prince George

British Columbia

Building in Kamloops?

Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which offices decide it, what the land use rules allow, and a plan to fit.

Start the survey