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Richmond

Farm Plan for a Richmond Building Permit

The farm plan Richmond asks for with an agricultural building permit on AG1 land, prepared and sealed by a Professional Agrologist based in Richmond.

Farm Plan for a Richmond Building Permit, Titrin AgriSoil Solutions

Richmond's Bulletin BUILDING-51 applies to every agricultural building or structure on AG1 land. Where the property is not yet assessed as a farm, the City asks for a farm plan prepared by a Professional Agrologist before the permit moves. We write that plan from test pits on the parcel, tie it to your designer's drawings, and seal it in Richmond, where the practice is based.

What's included

  • A sealed farm plan written to Richmond's Bulletin BUILDING-51: soils and unimproved and improved agricultural capability, drainage and irrigation, the proposed farm product and operator, the agricultural improvement cost estimate, and the rationale for the building in relation to the farm business
  • One site visit with test pits, with the soil logs and the capability interpretation behind every claim
  • The farm plan site plan returned on your designer's base drawing, so the permit set and the plan agree
  • A written review of how the proposed building sits against the AG1 zone and the farm home plate, so the plan and the drawings tell one story
  • Two rounds of written comments on the layout before the seal
  • Where the pad, driveway or farm road needs fill, the soil deposit permit report and ALC notice that go with it, scoped separately

Why Richmond asks for it

Richmond treats an agricultural building as part of a farm, not a stand-alone structure. Bulletin BUILDING-51, the City’s building permit requirements for agricultural buildings and structures on AG1 land, asks every applicant to show a farm business on the property and to explain why the building is needed for it. For a property that BC Assessment already classes as a farm, the City accepts that classification with a letter from the operator. For everything else, it asks for a farm plan prepared by a Professional Agrologist.

That is the point at which designers, architects and owners come to us. The drawings are ready, the City has asked for the plan, and the permit is waiting on it.

What the plan has to show

The bulletin is specific about content, and a plan that reads as a formality gets sent back. It has to demonstrate that the property is capable of achieving farm status, with the soils described, the agricultural capability rated as it stands and as it could be improved, drainage and irrigation addressed, the farm product and the operator named, and the cost of the improvements estimated. It then has to tie the building to that operation: what it is for, where it sits, how big it is, and what the development does to the agricultural capability of the land.

Those are agrology questions. They are answered from the ground, which is why every plan here starts with a site visit and test pits rather than a template. Our guide to what a farm plan involves explains the document in general terms; this page is about the Richmond permit version of it.

How it runs with your designer

Most of our Richmond farm plans arrive through the designer or architect on the file. The handoff is simple: send the drawings, the civic address or PID and any letter from the City, and we reply within one business day with the scope for the owner. We contract with the owner under our own agreement, the designer stays designer of record, and the farm plan site plan comes back on the designer’s base so the permit set and the plan agree. Drainage design, geotechnical and structural stay with the engineers; we describe observed drainage conditions and their agricultural implications and refer engineered work to a P.Eng.

After the retainer we do the desk review (title, ALR status, zoning and the farm home plate, mapped soils, prior ALC and City files), then one site visit with test pits, then a draft to you and the owner for a fit check against the drawings. The sealed final follows, on the date we confirm at scoping.

Fill under the pad

A surprising number of Richmond building permits turn into soil permits. If the pad, the driveway or a farm road needs fill, two more instruments come into play. On ALR land the Commission’s authorization is needed unless the work fits an exemption, and the exemption for a farm structure or principal residence covers an area of 1,000 square metres or less with the floodplain elevation rules met. Richmond’s Soil Deposit and Removal Bylaw 10200 then requires a City permit for any deposit on ALR land, and the City will not issue it until the Commission has approved. We flag this at scoping so the building permit and the soil permit move together instead of in sequence.

Where the plan comes from

Titrin AgriSoil Solutions is based in Richmond. Tish Titina, P.Ag., M.Sc., reviewed these files from inside the City of Richmond and the Agricultural Land Commission before starting the practice, which is why the plans are written the way the reviewers read them. The plan is written to what the operation and the soils support, never to justify the drawings; that is what makes it worth the seal, and it is the reason the City can rely on it.

For the wider service, see farm plans across the Lower Mainland. For the soil side, see soil deposit permits in Richmond. If your property is in Delta, Surrey or Langley, those cities publish no farm-plan rule for building permits, and we can tell you what each one does ask for.

If the City has asked for a farm plan on your permit, send us the drawings and the address. We scope within one business day.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a farm plan for a barn, greenhouse or farm building permit in Richmond?
Often, yes. Richmond's Bulletin BUILDING-51 (revised July 2025) applies to every agricultural building or structure on land zoned AG1. Every application must show evidence of a farm business on the property and the reason the building is needed. Where the property is already assessed as a farm by BC Assessment, the City accepts that assessment plus a letter from the operator. Where it is not, the City asks for a farm plan prepared by a Professional Agrologist. So the question is whether your property already carries farm assessment.
What does Richmond require the farm plan to cover?
The bulletin lists the content: that the property is capable of achieving farm status, with information on unimproved and improved agricultural capability and suitability, soils, drainage and irrigation, the proposed farm product and operator, and an agricultural improvement cost estimate; the rationale for the building in relation to the proposed farm business, including its use, location and size; and a discussion of the development's impact on the agricultural capability of the land. A plan that skips any of those is the one the City sends back.
Who is allowed to prepare the farm plan?
Richmond's bulletin names a Professional Agrologist. In British Columbia the title is reserved under the Professional Governance Act and the Agrologists Regulation, so only a registrant of the BC Institute of Agrologists may use it. Tish Titina, P.Ag., M.Sc., prepares and seals every farm plan here, and the practice is based in Richmond.
My property already has farm status. Do I still need the plan?
Under BUILDING-51 an existing farm business is shown with the BC Assessment farm classification and a signed letter from the agricultural operator giving the rationale for the building. A farm plan is the route for a new farm business. If your classification is partial, lapsed or under review, tell us; that is usually the case where the City still expects the fuller document.
Will the farm plan get my property farm status with BC Assessment?
No document grants it; BC Assessment decides against the Classification of Land as a Farm Regulation. The gross annual value test is $2,500 for a farm operation between 0.8 and 4 hectares, $2,500 plus 5 percent of the farm value over 4 hectares for larger operations, and $10,000 for one under 0.8 hectares, and the application must reach the assessor by October 31. A farm plan sets out an operation capable of meeting that test, which is exactly what the building-permit bulletin asks it to demonstrate.
Will the building pad or driveway also need a soil permit or an ALC notice?
It can. On ALR land, placing fill to build or maintain a farm structure or principal residence is permitted without ALC authorization only where the area is 1,000 square metres or less and the floodplain elevation rules are met (ALR Use Regulation, section 35). Beyond that, a notice of intent or application to the Commission comes first, and Richmond's Soil Deposit and Removal Bylaw 10200 requires a City permit for any deposit on ALR land, issued only after the Commission has approved. We tell you at scoping which side of that line your project sits on.
How long does a farm plan take?
We confirm the date when we scope the file, because it depends on site access and the season for test pits. The City's review time is the City's, and we do not promise it. What we can promise is a complete submission the first time, which is the part that usually costs applicants the most weeks.
See also: Farm Plans across the Lower Mainland and our Richmond home page .

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