Selling The Units | Early Marketing
Selling Before the Building Exists
A developer can sell units before the approvals and the financing are in place, but only for a defined window. BCFSA sets that window in Policy Statements 5 and 6, and for a multiplex it is 12 months. The extension announced in 2025 does not reach a project of this size.
Key takeaways
- The standard window is 12 months to market ahead of local government approvals and a satisfactory financing commitment.
- Policy Statement 5 covers the building permit limb, Policy Statement 6 covers financing and services.
- An 18-month pilot opened 25 February 2025, extending the window by six months.
- The pilot requires 100 or more development units, so no multiplex qualifies for it.
- The window is a deadline as well as a permission. Selling early in it means committing to deliver within it.
What early marketing means
Presale developments sell before they exist. That is the point of a presale: the buyer commits early, and the developer uses those commitments to demonstrate demand to a lender. The tension is that a buyer signing at that stage is committing to a building whose approvals may not be granted and whose financing may not close.
REDMA handles this by allowing marketing to start before those milestones, on a clock. Policy Statement 5 addresses marketing before a building permit is in hand. Policy Statement 6 addresses marketing before a satisfactory financing commitment and confirmation of services. In both cases the developer gets up to 12 months.
The clock exists so a buyer's money is not tied up indefinitely against a project that never proceeds. It bounds the period during which the buyer is committed and the developer is not yet able to build.
The 2025 pilot and why it excludes multiplexes
On 25 February 2025 BCFSA launched a pilot program extending the early marketing period from 12 months to 18 months. The extension responded to a real problem: approval timelines and financing conditions had lengthened to the point where 12 months was no longer enough for large projects to reach a building permit and a financing commitment.
Eligibility is limited to residential developments containing 100 or more development units, and participation is subject to BCFSA approval granted case by case for each project. A multiplex does not approach 100 units. Neither does a small apartment building. The extension is aimed at towers.
For a multiplex developer the practical takeaway is that the window is 12 months and will stay 12 months. Any planning assumption built on the extended period is wrong for a project of this size.
Planning the 12 months
Twelve months sounds generous until it is measured against a municipal approval process. The window starts when marketing starts, so a developer who launches sales before the permit application is well advanced has spent part of it before the file reaches a planner's desk.
The safer sequence for a small project is to get the approval work well advanced first and use the early marketing window for the tail rather than the whole process. This is easier on a multiplex than on a tower, because SSMUH-enabled projects often proceed without rezoning, which is the step that consumes the most calendar time.
A developer who reaches the end of the window without the milestones is in a difficult position with buyers who signed on the strength of a schedule. Treat the 12 months as the outer bound of a plan rather than the plan itself.
Below five units the policy statements do not apply
The Policy Statements are issued under REDMA, so they govern development properties. A four-unit project is outside the Act and therefore outside the policy framework, which means no 12-month window applies to it. Nothing constrains how long a fourplex developer may market ahead of approvals.
That is more freedom and less structure. A fourplex buyer has no regulated outer limit on how long their commitment can remain live against an unapproved project, so the completion terms in the purchase agreement do the entire job. An agreement with a long stop date and a clear remedy if it passes is what supplies the discipline the policy statements would otherwise provide.
Why presales exist at all
A presale is a financing instrument as much as a sale. Lenders underwriting construction want evidence the finished units will sell, and signed purchase agreements are that evidence. On larger projects a lender may require a proportion of units sold before advancing construction funds at all.
That is why the early marketing window exists in the first place. If a developer could only sell after securing financing, and financing required sales, no project would start. The policy statements break the circle by allowing sales ahead of the financing commitment for a bounded period.
On a multiplex the circle is often weaker, because the sums are smaller and an owner with equity in the land may fund the build without needing presale evidence. A developer in that position can skip early marketing entirely and sell finished units, which removes the window, the disclosure timing pressure, and the buyer's exposure in one decision.
Selling finished instead
Selling completed units avoids most of what this page describes. There is no early marketing window to manage because the approvals are done and the building is standing. The buyer views the actual unit rather than a floor plan, the completion date is not a forecast, and the deposit is held for weeks rather than a year.
The cost is carrying the project to completion on the developer's own capital and taking market risk on the sale price at the end rather than fixing it at the start. A developer who presells at today's prices knows their revenue. A developer who sells finished units finds out what the market pays when the units are ready.
Neither route is generally better. On a four-unit project where the owner already holds the land and can fund the build, selling finished removes a great deal of complexity for a manageable amount of price uncertainty.
Best for, fails when, verify before
Early marketing works when
Approvals are close and the sales evidence is what your lender needs to close construction financing.
It fails when
Sales launch before the permit application is filed, spending the window on a process that has not started.
Verify before launch
The current text of Policy Statements 5 and 6 on BCFSA's site, and your realistic approval timeline against the 12 months.
The two milestones the window is measured against
Policy Statement 5 is about the building permit. Policy Statement 6 is about the financing commitment and confirmation that services will be available to the site. A project can satisfy one and not the other, so a developer should know which milestone their window is running against.
Amendments to Policy Statement 5 broadened what counts as a building permit to include a permit authorising excavation or construction of the development site, which helps a developer who holds an excavation permit while the full building permit is still in review. Confirm the current wording on BCFSA's site before relying on it, because policy statements are amended periodically.
What to tell buyers during the window
A buyer signing during early marketing is buying a project whose building permit or financing is still outstanding. That fact belongs in front of them plainly rather than buried. On a covered project the disclosure statement carries it, and the buyer's seven-day rescission right under section 21(2) exists so they can act on it after reading.
Set expectations on the schedule honestly at this stage, because the schedule is the thing most likely to move. A completion date presented as firm when the permit is not yet issued will generate an amendment later, and the buyer will read that amendment against what they were told at signing.
On a four-unit project none of this is compelled, which makes it more important rather than less. There is no filed document carrying the disclosure and no statutory cancellation right to correct a misunderstanding, so what the buyer was told at signing is what they will hold you to.
Where to go next
- Filing a disclosure statement is the step that precedes any marketing.
- Deposits and trust accounts covers where buyer money sits during the window.
- The Vancouver multiplex timeline shows what approvals actually take.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a BC developer market units before getting a building permit? +
Up to 12 months under BCFSA Policy Statement 5, which governs marketing ahead of a building permit. Policy Statement 6 provides a parallel 12-month window for marketing before a satisfactory financing commitment and confirmation of services. Both windows run from when marketing begins rather than from when the project was conceived.
What is the 18-month early marketing pilot? +
A BCFSA pilot program launched on 25 February 2025 that extends the early marketing period from 12 months to 18 months. It responds to lengthening approval and financing timelines. Participation is subject to BCFSA approval granted case by case, so an eligible developer applies for the extension rather than receiving it automatically.
Can a multiplex use the 18-month early marketing extension? +
No. The pilot is limited to residential developments containing 100 or more development units. A multiplex holds somewhere between three and six units, so it falls far below the eligibility floor. Every multiplex works to the standard 12-month window in Policy Statements 5 and 6.
What is the difference between Policy Statement 5 and Policy Statement 6? +
Policy Statement 5 covers marketing before the developer holds a building permit. Policy Statement 6 covers marketing before the developer has a satisfactory financing commitment and confirmation that services will be available. They address different milestones and each provides its own 12-month early marketing window.
When does the early marketing clock start? +
When marketing starts. A developer who launches sales before filing a permit application has begun spending the window on a process that has not yet reached a planner. On a small project the safer sequence is to advance the approval work first and use the window for the remaining stretch.
What happens if the window expires before approvals land? +
The developer is at the end of the permitted early marketing period with buyers who committed on the strength of a schedule that has not been met. This is a difficult commercial position as well as a regulatory one, which is why the 12 months should be treated as the outer bound of a plan rather than as the plan.
Does the early marketing window apply to a fourplex? +
No. The Policy Statements are issued under REDMA and govern development properties of five or more strata lots. A four-unit project sits outside the Act, so no 12-month regulatory window constrains how long it may market ahead of approvals. The purchase agreement supplies whatever limit exists.
Should a fourplex agreement include a long stop date? +
Yes. With no regulatory outer limit on the marketing period, a long stop date is what prevents a buyer's commitment from remaining live indefinitely against a project that has not been approved. Pair it with a stated remedy, so both sides know what happens to the deposit if the date passes.
Does early marketing require a filed disclosure statement? +
On a development property of five or more strata lots, yes. Filing precedes marketing, and the early marketing policy statements govern how far ahead of approvals that marketing may run. The two work together: the statement discloses the project's status, and the window bounds how long it may be sold in that status.
Why did BCFSA extend the period for large developments only? +
The pilot addresses projects where approval and financing timelines had grown beyond what a 12-month window could accommodate, which is characteristic of large developments with rezoning, extensive servicing, and complex financing. A small SSMUH-enabled project generally moves through approvals faster, often without a rezoning step.
Can I extend my own marketing period by pausing sales? +
Treat this as a question for BC development counsel rather than a planning assumption. The policy statements set the framework, BCFSA administers them, and a developer approaching the end of a window should get advice on their specific position rather than devising a workaround. [VERIFY] with counsel before relying on any pause.
Where can I read the current Policy Statements? +
BCFSA publishes them on its real estate developer resources pages, which is the authoritative source and the one to check before a sales launch. Policy statements are amended from time to time, so a summary written months earlier may describe a superseded version. The link appears in the sources at the bottom of this page.
Sources and references
Policy Statement periods and the pilot's 100-unit eligibility floor and 25 February 2025 start date are as reported by BCFSA and BC development counsel. BCFSA's Policy Statements page is linked below as the authoritative text.
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