• About
    • Back
    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Newsletter
    • Plans and Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Heritage BC AGM 2025
  • Programs
    • Back
    • Heritage BC Awards
    • Conference
    • Heritage Week
    • Online Course: Community Heritage Fundamentals
    • Webinars
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Heritage 101
    • Advocacy
    • Accessibility for Historic Places
    • Climate & Sustainability
    • Cultural Maps
    • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Homeowners
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Reconciliation
    • Webinars On-Demand
  • Grants
    • Back
    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Membership
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
Heritage BC
Membership Donate Newsletter
  • About

    About

    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Newsletter
    • Plans and Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Heritage BC AGM 2025
  • Programs

    Programs

    • Heritage BC Awards
    • Conference
    • Heritage Week
    • Online Course: Community Heritage Fundamentals
    • Webinars
  • Resources

    Resources

    • Heritage 101
    • Advocacy
    • Accessibility for Historic Places
    • Climate & Sustainability
    • Cultural Maps
    • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Homeowners
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Reconciliation
    • Webinars On-Demand
  • Grants

    Grants

    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Heritage 101
    • Heritage Quick Studies
    • Definitions and Heritage FAQs
    • Organizations to Know
  • Advocacy
    • A Guide to Making a Case for Heritage
    • Election Resources
    • Reports : Heritage Conservation in BC
    • State of Heritage: Provincial Roundtables
    • Heritage Week
  • Accessibility for Historic Places
  • Climate & Sustainability
    • Building Resilience and Sustainability
    • Climate Adaptation : Making A Case Resource Guide
    • Climate Adaptation: Framework and Implementation
    • Seismic Risk & British Columbia’s Historic Streetscapes
  • Cultural Maps
    • Mapping Heritage Resources
    • Classroom Resources
  • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
      • Community Heritage Commissions
      • Community Heritage Register
      • Heritage Conservation Areas
      • Heritage Designation
      • Heritage Revitalization Agreements
    • Conservation in BC : Reports and Factsheets
    • Heritage Real Estate
      • Insuring Heritage Properties
    • Publications on Heritage Place Conservation Practices
  • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Heritage Legislation in BC
    • Local Government: Library of Source Documents
    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
    • Webinars for Heritage Commissions, Committees and Local Governments
  • Homeowners
    • Building Code, Heritage Standards & Laws
    • Heritage Designation
    • Heritage Professionals
    • Energy Improvements & Sustainability
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Insurance
    • Materials, Construction & Design
    • Heritage Building Maintenance
    • Safety & Hazardous Materials
  • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Resource Guide
    • ICH: Creating a Community-Based Inventory
  • Reconciliation
    • Indigenous Cultural Heritage
    • Setting the Bar: A Reconciliation Guide for Heritage
      • 1. Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge
      • 2. Acknowledging Land and People
      • 3. Celebrating Days of Recognition and Commemoration
      • 4. With a Commitment to Learn
      • 5. Committing to Strategic Organizational Diversity
      • 6. Mission-Making Room for Reconciliation
      • 7. Possession, Interpretation, Repatriation and Cultural Care
      • 8. Shared Decision Making
      • 9. Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents
      • 10. Heritage Conservation Tools, Local Government Act
    • Racism: Do Not Let the Forgetting Prevail
    • Taking Action: resources for diversity and inclusion
  • Webinars On-Demand
  • Resources
  • Homeowner Resources

Homeowner Resources : Safety & Hazardous Materials

When owning an older home, it is important to know what risks and safety hazards you could face. Some of these risks have simple fixes, but others can be more difficult or may stop you from purchasing a heritage home altogether.

Questions to ask yourself regarding the safety of your old home:

  • What are your fire risks? Does the house have knob and tube wiring? “DIY” electrical work?
  • What materials were used? Were asbestos and lead used in construction?
  • Have you inspected from the bottom to the top? How stable is the foundation? The roof?

Resources

Overview of potential safety concerns:
» Antique Home: What Should I Look for When Buying an Old House?

Electrical and Fire Risks Explained:
» PowerChek: Electrical Risk of Heritage Homes
» PowerChek: Older Homes – Fire Risks Explained
» PowerChek: Knob and Tube Wiring Explained

Hazardous Materials:
»  Vancouver Heritage Foundation : Hazardous Materials & Safety in Older Buildings
»  Worksafe BC’s Asbestos Hazards When Renovating Older Homes and watch their video on the same topic.


FAQ

What aspects of renovating a heritage home can be potentially dangerous?

Many of the safety risks of renovating an older home consist of the risks expected in any renovation project. You can read BC Housing’s pamphlet on Managing Environmental Risks During a Renovation Project for an overview of these risks.
Additional risks for older homes are often associated with the increased degradation of materials as a result of their age. Caution is recommended for all renovation projects, and those working on older homes must be aware of the increased risk when working on projects that might appear simple.

 

How do I test for asbestos and eliminate it if present?

From Worksafe BC:
In order to properly identify asbestos in your home, you must hire a qualified testing company or asbestos surveyor. The testing company or surveyor will take samples of possible asbestos-containing materials in your home, and send them to a lab for testing. The surveyor will then provide you with a report of the location of asbestos in your home.
Once you have identified the asbestos-containing materials in your home, the next step is to have the identified asbestos removed by a qualified asbestos abatement contractor. Provide the contractor with the report from the surveyor to ensure that all of the identified asbestos-containing materials are removed. Once the work has been completed, the abatement contractor will provide you with a report confirming that all asbestos has been removed, and your property is ready for demolition or renovation.


More Homeowner Resources

Homeowner Resources - building codes, heritage standards and laws Homeowner Resources - Heritage designation Homeowner Resources - Heritage Professionals Homeowner Resources - Insurance
Homeowner Resources - energy improvements and sustainability Homeowner Resources - Building Maintenance Homeowner Resources - Funding Opportunities Homeowner Resources - materials, construction and design
Submit a Nomination
Apply for the 2025 Heritage Legacy Fund
2024 Annual Report

Support Us

Membership Donate
Heritage BC

604-417-7243

PO Box 846
Ladysmith, BC
V9G 1A6

Connect with Us

© 2025 Heritage BC.
Website by SplitMango

As an organization of provincial scope, Heritage BC recognizes that its members, and the local history and heritage they seek to preserve, occupy the lands and territories of B.C.’s Indigenous peoples. Heritage BC asks its members and everyone working in the heritage sector to reflect on the places where they reside and work, and to respect the diversity of cultures and experiences that form the richness of our provincial heritage.