Seismic
Seismic upgrades & retrofits
Bracing, hold-downs and shear walls that bring older Island homes up to current seismic expectations — designed to add resilience without gutting the house.
Home · Services
Building design and structural engineering.
Mavericks BC is a Victoria building design firm with licensed P.Eng structural engineering in-house. From a single load-path calculation to a stamped permit set for a custom home, we cover the whole arc — design, engineering, permits and project management — across Victoria and Vancouver Island.
Consultation & Feasibility
Know what's possible before you pay for drawings.
Most projects go sideways at the start — when a homeowner's vision meets a zoning bylaw nobody read, or a wall that turns out to be load-bearing. A Mavericks consultation puts a building designer and a structural engineer on your property early, so you commit your budget with eyes open.
We review the municipal zoning and bylaws against your intended scope, assess the existing structure, and tell you plainly what the property will support — what's straightforward, what's complex, and what simply isn't worth doing. For homeowners weighing a renovation, it's the cheapest, highest-leverage hour you'll spend.
For buyers and sellers, we also diagnose specific structural concerns flagged in an inspection — cracks, settlement, a questionable beam — and give you an unbiased third-party read before money changes hands.
Building Design & Drafting
From 3D concept to permit-ready set.
We design custom homes, complex renovations, additions and suite conversions — and because the structural engineer is in the room from the first massing study, the drawings that leave our office are already coordinated against the load paths. Fewer revisions, cleaner permits, buildings that go up the way they were drawn.
Every permit package includes the technical construction detailing that gets a project cleanly through municipal review. We model in Revit, ArchiCAD and SolidWorks, and draft in AutoCAD — and we'll produce design renderings when they help you make a decision.
In Victoria, many character and centennial homes qualify for multi-unit conversion. We plan suites carefully around existing load-bearing paths to keep structural upgrades — and your costs — to a minimum.
Structural Engineering · P.Eng
Stamped structural engineering, standalone or bundled.
Our licensed P.Eng team engineers in wood frame, concrete, masonry and steel — and increasingly in mass timber and cross-laminated timber (CLT), sized for both structural strength and fire rating so the material can stay beautifully exposed.
Engage us as a standalone structural consultant or bundle the engineering with our design work. Builders, designers and architects bring us drawings we didn't draft; we run the calcs against your scope and stamp what we sign off. When the engineering ships with the design, the fee is folded into the package — an unusually cost-effective way to get both.
Structural specialties
Foundation
Foundation design & underpinning
New foundations, full replacements and underpinning of existing footings — including crawlspace conversions and basement deepening for added headroom.
House lift
House lifting
Structural design to safely lift a home for a new or repaired foundation, added storey, or flood-resilience — coordinated with your lifting contractor.
Retaining
Retaining walls & slope stabilization
Engineered retaining walls and slope-stabilization details for the sloped and waterfront lots that define so much of Vancouver Island.
Shoring
Temporary shoring
Shoring and temporary-works design to keep adjacent structures and excavations safe during foundation and renovation work.
Reports
Reports & opinions
Engineering reports, issue-specific structural assessments and sealed letters of professional opinion for permits, insurance and real-estate transactions.
Project Management & Permits
We deal with the city, so you don't have to.
The permit process on the Island doesn't have to be a relay race. We act as your agent with the municipality — preparing and submitting the application, answering RFIs, turning around revisions, and having the conversations in between. Our project management is led by a PMP-certified principal who ran construction engineering operations for the Air Force and Navy.
When a project needs more than a building permit, we handle the development side too: rezoning, variances and development permits. You stay focused on the build; we navigate the paperwork and keep everything moving.
Where we work
Serving Vancouver Island.
VictoriaSaanichOak BayEsquimaltView RoyalLangfordColwoodSookeSidneyCentral SaanichMetchosinVancouver Island
Based at 2009 Fernwood Road in Victoria, BC — working across the Capital Regional District and up-Island on request.
Common questions
Good to know.
Do you provide structural engineering as a standalone service?
Yes. Our P.Eng team works as a standalone structural consultant — stamping drawings produced by others, running calculations against your design intent, and issuing sealed letters of professional opinion. Engage us at concept, at permit, or anywhere in between, and we'll stay out of the way of your client relationship.
What areas do you serve?
We serve Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Langford, Colwood, Sooke, Sidney and the wider Vancouver Island from our office at 2009 Fernwood Road, Victoria. Projects further up-Island are welcome — just ask.
Can you handle the building permit with the city for me?
Yes. We can act as your agent with the municipality — preparing and submitting the permit application, answering RFIs, managing revisions, and handling rezoning, variances and development permits where they're needed. It's PMP-led project management from submission to permit-in-hand.
Do you design seismic upgrades, foundations and house lifts?
We do. Seismic upgrades and retrofits, foundation design and replacement, underpinning, retaining walls, house lifting and temporary shoring are all core to our structural practice — in wood frame, concrete, masonry and steel.
How much do your services cost?
Design and drafting for renovations is billed hourly, while new-construction design is typically priced by square footage and complexity. Because the engineering is in-house, it's folded into the design fee rather than billed by a separate firm. See our pricing page for current rates, or request a written fee proposal for your specific scope.
Start a project
Tell us what you're building.
We reply by email within one business day — or write to info@mavericksbc.com.