The short version
Two things decide what your plan must be: whose road the work sits on, and which of three categories the job scores into under Section 3.3 of the 2020 Traffic Management Manual. Neither is a judgement call.
Two questions decide everything
Before a plan is drawn, two things settle what it has to be: whose road the work sits on, and which category the work falls into. Get either wrong and the plan is not a document that needs editing — it is one that has to be redone.
Whose road is the first question because it decides the authority. A provincial highway is the Ministry's regardless of which municipality it runs through; a city street belongs to the city. Our permit guide covers who issues what across the communities we work in.
The category is the second, and it is the one most people are unaware of.
The category is scored, not guessed
Section 3.3 of the 2020 Traffic Management Manual sorts work into three categories, and Section 3.3.1 sets out how the category is arrived at: an initial project category assessment using Table 3.1, which scores the job on road and traffic characteristics and on the specific work activities involved.
Posted speed is one of the inputs — a 50 km/h road scores lower than a 60–70 km/h road, which scores lower again than 80 km/h and above. The points total is what indicates whether the project is initially assessed as Category 1, 2 or 3.
That matters because the manual sets different documentation requirements for each category. The plan a Category 3 job needs is a different document from the one a Category 1 job needs, and the category is not a judgement call made by whoever is filling in the form.
Category 1
Minimal impact on the travelling public
Typically simple terrain and two-lane highways or roads, often with lower speeds and traffic volumes.
Category 2
Moderate impact, some complexity
May sit on higher-speed or higher-volume corridors. Impact is moderate because of the roadway characteristics or the type of work involved.
Category 3
Complex, significant impact
Driven by factors such as higher volumes and speeds, project duration, active night work, mountainous terrain, and any requirement for lane closures or detours.
Who actually signs it off
For work on provincial highways, the manual is explicit: the District Manager of Transportation, or a designate, shall approve the closure of travel lanes for any road works on Provincial Highways.
On Ministry projects, the documentation requirements are developed by district staff — area and operations managers — and in more complex situations in consultation with Traffic Engineering. For projects the Ministry has not initiated, the responsibility sits with the agency or group carrying out the work.
On municipal roads the approving authority is the municipality, and each runs its own process. Vancouver is the notable outlier: it operates under the Vancouver Charter rather than the Community Charter that covers every other BC municipality, so its street-use process is genuinely its own.
Why the plan is a legal document, not paperwork
The Traffic Management Manual is not advisory. Section 18.3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation makes the Ministry's manual the standard that applies to work zones in British Columbia, which is what turns a plan from a drawing into the thing your work zone is measured against.
The 2020 edition took effect in January 2020 and must be used for all work on Ministry roadways unless stated otherwise.
What this page will not tell you
How long approval takes. You will find specific turnaround figures published elsewhere — a number of business days, quoted confidently. Those numbers do not appear in the Ministry's own material, and we are not going to repeat them.
Review time varies by authority, by season, by the category of the work and by how complete the submission is. A contractor who schedules against a figure nobody official ever published is exposed, and the exposure lands on the job, not on the website that printed it.
Build permit time into the schedule, ask the authority for its current position, and submit a complete application — that is the honest version, and it is the one we work to.
Frequently asked
For lane closures on provincial highways, the 2020 Traffic Management Manual states that the District Manager of Transportation, or a designate, approves the closure. On municipal roads it is the municipality, and each runs its own process.
The manual sorts work into three. Category 1 has minimal impact, typically simple terrain and two-lane roads with lower speeds and volumes. Category 2 may involve higher-speed or higher-volume corridors with some complexity. Category 3 is complex work with significant impact — higher volumes and speeds, duration, night work, mountainous terrain, or a requirement for lane closures and detours.
Section 3.3.1 uses an initial project category assessment — Table 3.1 in the manual — which scores road and traffic characteristics along with the specific work activities. Posted speed is one input among several, and the points total indicates the initial category.
Section 18.3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation makes the Ministry's Traffic Management Manual the standard applying to work zones in British Columbia. The manual sets out documentation requirements by category.
We do not publish a figure, because the Ministry does not publish one and it varies by authority, season, category and how complete the submission is. Build permit time into the schedule and confirm the current position with the issuing authority.
Yes. We prepare plans to MoTI, TAC and municipal requirements and submit them on your behalf as part of the work. Each is prepared for the specific site rather than taken from a template.
Sources
Section references are to the 2020 Traffic Management Manual and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. This page is a summary; those documents are the authority, and they change.
Last checked against source: 2026-08-25.
Who approves
Provincial highways
The District Manager of Transportation, or a designate, approves the closure of travel lanes.
Municipal roads
The municipality, each running its own process.