Resource hub, Metro Vancouver

Driveway gates & entry systems in Metro Vancouver

A driveway gate is four projects at once: a metalwork project, an electrical project, a civil project, and a site-specific design exercise. Get the metalwork right and the gate fails because the footings undermine in the first wet season. Get the footings right and it fails because the operator was undersized for the wind exposure. Get the engineering right and it still fails inspection because the safety sensors were not commissioned to UL 325. This hub covers all four, from the first sketch through commissioning, for property owners, builders, and architects planning a custom driveway gate anywhere in Metro Vancouver.

What types of custom driveway gates can be fabricated in Metro Vancouver?

Six configurations cover almost every custom driveway gate built in Metro Vancouver. The right choice is driven by the driveway geometry, the side-yard clearance, the grade, the wind exposure, and how the gate has to behave for daily use.

Gate type	Best for	Typical operator	Notes
Single swing	8 to 10 ft openings, narrow driveways	Linear arm operator	Simplest, lowest cost
Double swing	10 to 18 ft openings, most residential	Two linear arms or underground hydraulic	Most common Metro Vancouver spec
Cantilever slide	Short driveways, uphill grades	Rack-drive operator	No ground track; needs side-yard runway
V-track slide	Wide flat driveways	Rack-drive operator	Requires level ground track
Bi-parting slide	20+ ft commercial openings	Two synchronised rack drives	Industrial / commercial scale
Estate (forged detail)	Heritage and luxury residential	Underground hydraulic	Highest cost; longest lead time

What does a complete driveway gate project involve, metalwork, footings, electrical, and code?

1. The metalwork

The gate frame is structural steel, typically HSS tube for the perimeter, flat bar or square bar for infill pickets, plate steel for hinge boxes and operator brackets. Every weld on the structural frame is performed under our C.W.B. certification to CSA W47.1. Hinge boxes are oversized and gusseted to handle decades of cyclic loading; weld preparation matches the wall thickness of the tube; finish prep is shot-blast or grind to bare steel before galvanizing or powder coat. Mild steel with paint over rust is the most common failure mode on cheap gates, it is not a finish system that survives the Pacific Northwest. The materials and finishes guide covers what we actually specify.

2. The civil work

A gate post takes the entire weight of the leaf, plus the dynamic loads of opening and closing thousands of times, plus the lateral wind load on the leaf area. Standard Metro Vancouver residential conditions need reinforced concrete footings 400 to 600 mm diameter and at least 1.2 m deep below frost line. Wind-exposed sites, North Shore hillside, West Vancouver waterfront, Sea-to-Sky, need 1.5 to 2 m depth and wider diameters. Soft or expansive soils may require helical piles or engineered widened pads. The footings have to cure for a minimum of 7 days before the gate can be hung. The footings page walks through the calculations and where the rules of thumb break.

3. The electrical and automation

Every powered gate is also a low-voltage and AC electrical system. AC supply runs from the house panel to an operator pad through buried conduit, sized for the operator load and any accessories. Low-voltage runs feed photo eyes, safety edges, keypads, intercoms, cameras, and access control. The hardwired AC connection requires an electrical permit through Technical Safety BC and a licensed electrician, we coordinate this on every automated install. The operators and automation page covers operator types, smart access integration, and how the wiring actually runs.

4. The safety code

Every powered vehicular gate in BC must meet UL 325 entrapment protection, primary plus secondary sensors on each direction of travel, with the operator reversing on obstruction within 2 seconds. Insurance carriers increasingly require documented UL 325 compliance after a claim, and Technical Safety BC verifies the sensor function during electrical inspection. The cost of doing this correctly at install is trivial; the cost of retrofitting after an entrapment incident is not. The safety and UL 325 page spells out exactly what is required.

How does the driveway gate fabrication and installation process work?

1. Site visit (week 0): Driveway measurement, slope check, side-yard clearance check, power availability, soil observation, and design discussion. Free for Metro Vancouver residential projects.
2. Design and quote (week 1): Design sketch, operator specification, automation scope, and fixed-price quote. For complex sites we provide two options (swing vs slide, two style directions) so the trade-offs are visible.
3. Engineering and permit (weeks 1 to 3): Engineered drawings if required by the municipality; electrical permit through Technical Safety BC for any automated gate; building permit for the gate posts and pad as required.
4. Footings (weeks 3 to 4): Reinforced concrete footings poured at the gate post locations. Minimum 7-day cure before steel goes in.
5. Shop fabrication (weeks 3 to 7, parallel): Gate leaves, posts, hinge boxes, and operator mount plates fabricated at our Burnaby shop. C.W.B. certified throughout.
6. Finishing (weeks 7 to 8): Hot-dip galvanizing for exterior steel followed by powder coat, the duplex finish is the durable answer for the Pacific Northwest. Galvanizing adds 5 to 7 days because it goes to a specialty facility.
7. Electrical rough-in (week 8): Conduit and wiring from the house panel to the gate location, completed by a licensed electrician.
8. Installation and commissioning (week 9 to 10): Gate hanging, operator installation, safety sensor placement, programming, and Technical Safety BC inspection. Owner walkthrough on operation, smart access setup, and warranty documentation.

Driveway gates by city

City-specific pages and blog guides for Metro Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky corridor:

Why choose Jeff and Simon for custom driveway gates in Metro Vancouver?

Three things matter when picking a driveway gate fabricator: certification, integrated process, and field experience with the local code. We are C.W.B. certified to CSA W47.1, the structural welding standard. We run fabrication and installation as one workflow from our Burnaby shop, which keeps quality control tight and the accountability single-threaded. And we have installed gates across every municipality in Metro Vancouver, which means the local permit and inspection workflow is not a learning curve on your project.

Practically, the shop is on Douglas Road in Burnaby, within a 10 to 60 minute drive of every Metro Vancouver project site. Site visits, follow-up adjustments, and warranty service calls are practical instead of expensive.

Related reading

• Swing vs slide gate guide, Metro Vancouver
• Custom metal gates, what shapes the design
• Driveway gate cost, what drives the number
• Permits for railings, gates, and fences in Vancouver
• Metal fence cost, for property owners pairing fence and gate

FAQs about driveway gates and entry systems