Gibsons permits
Re-roofing permits in Gibsons and Roberts Creek
Two bodies issue permits in our Gibsons trade area. Inside town limits it is the Town of Gibsons, whose March 2025 Building Permit Guide lists "roof re-shingling" among minor repairs that are exempt, while "any structural repairs or alterations" need a permit. Roberts Creek is in Electoral Area D of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, whose permit page puts renovating or altering an existing home on its list of work that needs a permit.
Reviewed by Scott Plumptree, Director of Marketing, The Interlock Group · Updated October 24, 2026
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Town of Gibsons (Lower and Upper Gibsons)
Town of Gibsons building department
gibsons.ca, Building Permit Guide (March 2025)
Roberts Creek
Sunshine Coast Regional District, Electoral Area D
scrd.ca; Wikipedia, Roberts Creek
Town of Gibsons exempt minor repair
"roof re-shingling and window replacement (no window enlargements)"
Town of Gibsons Building Permit Guide
Needs a permit in town
"any structural repairs or alterations to a building or structure"
Town of Gibsons Building Permit Guide
Town of Gibsons or the SCRD: which one is yours
Lower Gibsons by the harbour and Upper Gibsons along Highway 101 are inside the Town of Gibsons, which runs its own building department. Roberts Creek, roughly halfway between Gibsons and Sechelt, is an unincorporated community in Electoral Area D of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, so the SCRD's Building Division handles it.
If you are not sure which side of the town boundary your home is on, we check the jurisdiction for your address at the estimate.
What the Town of Gibsons Building Permit Guide says
The Town's Building Permit Guide (March 2025) lists work that is exempt from a building permit. Under minor repairs it includes "roof re-shingling and window replacement (no window enlargements)." It also says exempt work "must still comply with the Zoning Bylaw and other planning and building bylaws."
The same guide says a permit is required for "any structural repairs or alterations to a building or structure." It also notes that some properties are in Environmentally Sensitive or Geotechnically Sensitive Development Permit areas, which the Official Community Plan maps.
Roberts Creek and the Sunshine Coast Regional District
The SCRD's Building Permits page says permits are needed for the "Construction of all buildings," except auxiliary buildings up to 10 square metres, and for any addition to, renovation of or alteration of a building that already stands. The SCRD's Homeowner Guide (August 2023) adds the "Repair of a damaged building or structure." Neither page lists re-roofing as exempt.
So in Roberts Creek we make no assumption either way. We confirm the address with the SCRD Building Division and pull the permit if it asks for one.
When a Gibsons re-roof becomes structural work
Laying a new Interlock® roof over sound decking is one job. Replacing rotted plywood across a whole slope, sistering rafters, cutting in a skylight or framing a dormer is another: those are structural repairs or alterations in the Town's own words, and a permit applies on both sides of the town line.
We look for soft decking and sagging at the estimate and write it into the plan, so a permit question is settled before the ferry is booked.
How we handle permits on a Gibsons roof
For each Gibsons or Roberts Creek address we confirm per address what the Town of Gibsons or the SCRD requires, pull any permit needed and, for a strata, get the council's approval in writing before booking. Bylaws are revised from time to time; this page was checked on the date shown.
Gibsons questions, answered
The Town's guide says re-shingling is exempt. Does that mean no permit for a metal roof in Gibsons?
The guide lists roof re-shingling as an exempt minor repair, but structural repairs or alterations still need a permit, and exempt work must meet the zoning and building bylaws. A change of roofing type, new sheathing or a skylight can move a job out of that category, so we confirm per address with the Town.
We're in Roberts Creek. Is it the Town of Gibsons we deal with?
No. Roberts Creek is in Electoral Area D of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, so the SCRD Building Division is the authority. Its permit page lists renovating or altering a home that already stands as permit work, and we check each Roberts Creek address with the SCRD before the job.
Is there a wildfire development permit to worry about in Roberts Creek?
The SCRD's 2021 Community Wildfire Protection Plan recommends revising the Roberts Creek Official Community Plan "to include wildfire as a Development Permit Area." That is a recommendation in the plan, not something we have seen adopted, so we check the current OCP for your property at the estimate.
Sources for this Gibsons guide
- Town of Gibsons — Building Permit Guide, March 2025 (PDF)
- Sunshine Coast Regional District — Building Permits
- Sunshine Coast Regional District — Homeowner Guide to Building Permits, Aug 2023 (PDF)
- Sunshine Coast Regional District — Community Wildfire Protection Plan, June 2021 (PDF)
- Wikipedia — Roberts Creek, British Columbia
- Wikipedia — Gibsons (Gibsons station climate normals, 1981–2010)
Product specifications are the manufacturer's (Interlock Roofing). Install counts are from our own job book. Reviewed by Scott Plumptree, October 24, 2026.
More Gibsons roofing pages
Planning a new roof in Gibsons?
A fixed price in writing after one visit, on Zoom or at your home. Most BC homeowners choose Zoom. Interlock Metal Roofing (BC) Ltd. · 9969 River Way, Delta, BC V4G 1M8
