Backflow fines and penalties in BC

BC authorities enforce the annual test and the report through their own bylaws. These are the penalties and consequences we have read in them:

• The Capital Regional District: a minimum fine of $2,000 for contravening Bylaw 3516, and each continuing day a separate offence (s.29.1–29.2).
• The City of Nanaimo: a $200 bylaw notice for failing to provide a test report or to test ($150 early, $250 late); up to $10,000 on conviction, each day a separate offence.
• The District of Squamish: a $500 bylaw notice for breaching s.8.1–8.3 of Bylaw 2259.
• The City of Mission: a fine of up to $10,000 on summary conviction.
• The City of Dawson Creek: $100 for failing to provide test reports and $250 for failing to test (Bylaw 4277).
• The City of Kamloops: a report received 30 or more days late may be rejected, which voids the test.
• The City of Surrey: a report received 90 or more days after the test may be rejected, which invalidates the test.

In the CRD enforcement is staged and notice-driven. Elsewhere a late report can be rejected outright, which means paying for the test again (Kamloops and Surrey, above). The cheapest protection is knowing each building's date: check one building or audit a list.

Source for the CRD: Bylaw No. 3516, s.29.1–29.2. The rest link to each authority's page, which cites its bylaw.

Every city's deadline

Quoted from each authority's own bylaw or form:

Abbotsford · Burnaby · Capital Regional District · Castlegar · Chilliwack · Clearbrook Waterworks District · Coquitlam · Duncan · Enderby · Fort St. John · Kamloops · Kelowna · Mission · New Westminster · Parksville · Penticton · Pitt Meadows · Port Moody · Prince George · Regional District of Nanaimo · Regional District of North Okanagan · Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen · Salmon Arm · Sunshine Coast Regional District · Terrace · Township of Langley · UBC · University Endowment Lands · Vancouver · West Kelowna · Whistler · White Rock · Williams Lake

More guides

• What a backflow test is, and who has to have one
• What a backflow test costs in BC
• Backflow fines and penalties in BC
• Choosing a backflow tester in BC
• Backflow duties for strata councils and property managers
• My backflow test failed — what happens now
• Backflow reports: portal or email, authority by authority
• Backflow records to keep, and for how long