Strata Property Transactions in BC: What Realtors Need to Know

BC Strata Property Act: The Basics

The Strata Property Act (SPA), in force since July 2000, is the primary legislation governing strata corporations in British Columbia. It replaced the Condominium Act and significantly modernised the regulatory framework for strata living. As a BC realtor, you are not required to know every section of the SPA, but you do need to understand its core concepts as they apply to buying and selling strata property.

A strata corporation is automatically created when a strata plan is deposited at the Land Title Office. Every owner of a strata lot is automatically a member of the strata corporation. The strata corporation owns and manages the common property — everything outside the individual strata lots, plus any limited common property designated for specific lots. The strata council is elected by lot owners and handles day-to-day management.

Monthly strata fees paid by lot owners fund both the operating budget (day-to-day expenses) and the CRF contributions. Under the SPA, the strata corporation must contribute at least 25% of its operating budget to the CRF each year — though this minimum is widely regarded as insufficient for aging buildings.

Form B Information Certificate

The Form B Information Certificate is arguably the most important document in a strata transaction. It is a standardised disclosure form completed and certified by the strata manager or strata council on behalf of the strata corporation, and it must be provided within one week of a written request.

What Form B Discloses

• Current monthly strata fees for the specific strata lot
• Amount currently in the contingency reserve fund (CRF)
• Any money owing to the strata by the current lot owner (arrears)
• Any current or anticipated special levies (including levies approved but not yet collected)
• Whether the strata has any outstanding strata loans
• Current bylaws and rules (typically attached or referenced)
• Any current bylaw violation notices issued to the subject strata lot
• Any current or pending litigation involving the strata corporation
• Any known material claims by or against the strata
• Whether the strata has obtained a depreciation report and the date it was obtained

The Form B Rescission Right

Under section 36 of the SPA, a buyer who has signed a purchase contract for a strata lot has the right to rescind (cancel) the contract without penalty if they were not provided a Form B before signing, or within one week of receiving the Form B if it is provided after contract execution.

This rescission right is separate from the standard subjects clause in the purchase contract. A buyer can rescind even if all subjects have been removed, if the Form B was not provided on time. This makes timely Form B delivery a critical risk management issue for listing agents.

Strata Minutes Review: What to Look For

Strata council meeting minutes are a narrative record of everything discussed and decided by the strata council at each meeting. For an experienced buyer's agent, strata minutes are as valuable as a home inspection report — they reveal the history of the building and signal what may be coming.

Under the SPA, a buyer may request the minutes of strata council meetings held in the 2 years before the request. The strata must provide them within one week. Review at minimum 2 years; for older buildings or those with visible deferred maintenance, request 3-5 years if available.

Specific Items to Flag in Minutes

Depreciation Reports and Special Levies

Effective November 2023, the BC government amended the Strata Property Regulation to require that strata corporations with 5 or more lots obtain a depreciation report every 3 years. Prior to this change, stratas could pass an annual three-quarter vote to waive the report — and many did, particularly those with older buildings where the findings would be uncomfortable. The mandatory requirement closed that loophole.

A depreciation report (often called a reserve fund study or RFS) is produced by a qualified professional (typically an engineer, architect, or CPA with building science expertise) and must include:

• An inventory of all common property components with estimated remaining lifespan
• Projected costs to repair or replace each component over a 30-year planning horizon
• Current CRF balance and adequacy assessment
• Three funding scenarios (low, mid, high contribution levels) with projected CRF balances
• Recommendation on annual CRF contributions

Reading a Depreciation Report

When reviewing a depreciation report for a buyer, focus on three questions:

Special Levies: Calculation and Responsibility

A special levy is a one-time charge assessed to lot owners for a major expense not covered by the CRF. Common triggers include: emergency repairs after a fire or flood, building envelope remediation, elevator replacement, and parkade restoration. Special levies are allocated based on unit entitlement (the proportionate share of common expenses assigned to each strata lot).

In a transaction, the critical disclosure question is: has a special levy been approved (voted on by owners) before the sale? An approved but unpaid special levy is disclosed on Form B and is typically the seller's responsibility to pay before completion. A levy under discussion but not yet voted on is not disclosed on Form B — it appears only in minutes. This is why minutes review is as important as the Form B itself.

Strata Insurance Requirements

Strata insurance in BC has undergone significant changes since 2020 when the Insurance Bureau of Canada reported crisis-level premium increases and coverage restrictions, particularly for strata corporations with a history of water damage claims. Understanding the current landscape is important for advising both buyers and sellers.

What the Strata Corporation Must Insure

Under Section 149 of the SPA, a strata corporation must obtain and maintain property insurance on common property and buildings (including strata lots) against major perils — fire, lightning, smoke, explosion, water escape, and similar. The policy must be for full replacement value. This means that even though a lot owner owns their unit, the strata's insurance policy typically covers the structure of the unit (walls, floors, fixtures, built-ins) up to the original construction standard.

What Individual Lot Owners Need

Individual owners need separate "strata condo insurance" (also called HO-6 in some markets) to cover:

• Improvements and betterments (upgrades above original standard — custom kitchen, hardwood floors)
• Personal property (contents, appliances, belongings)
• Liability for damage caused by the lot (e.g., a burst pipe in your unit that damages other units)
• The strata's insurance deductible assessed against their unit (deductible liability coverage)

What to Review in Strata Insurance Documents

Request the strata's current insurance summary (not the full policy) as part of the document package. Key items to review: total coverage amount and whether it reflects full replacement value, the deductible amount (particularly for water damage), whether the strata is properly insured for earthquake (many older BC stratas have dropped earthquake coverage due to cost), and whether the policy includes directors and officers liability coverage.

Rental and Age Restrictions

Two types of strata bylaws directly affect how a buyer can use a strata property after purchase: rental restrictions and age restrictions. Failing to identify and disclose these to a buyer before subjects are removed is one of the most common sources of post-sale disputes in BC strata transactions.

Rental Restriction Bylaws

Under the SPA, a strata corporation may pass a bylaw limiting the number of strata lots that can be rented at any one time. The restriction may be expressed as an absolute number (e.g., "no more than 10 strata lots may be rented") or a percentage (e.g., "no more than 25% of strata lots"). Once the rental cap is reached, new purchases cannot be rented until an existing renter vacates — meaning a buyer who intends to rent may be buying into a waitlist that takes years to move.

The Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act (in force May 2023) separately restricts short-term rentals (platforms like Airbnb, VRBO) to the host's principal residence in most of BC. Even where the principal residence exemption applies, a strata corporation can adopt a bylaw explicitly prohibiting short-term rentals — and most urban strata corporations have now done so.

When representing a buyer who intends to rent a strata property, confirm: (1) whether a rental restriction bylaw exists and what the cap is, (2) how many units are currently rented, (3) whether there is a waitlist to rent, and (4) whether there are additional strata rules governing the rental process (requiring strata approval, minimum tenancy periods, etc.).

Age Restriction Bylaws

The SPA allows strata corporations to pass bylaws requiring that occupants be a minimum age. The two most common designations are:

• 55+ communities: At least one occupant of each strata lot must be 55 years of age or older. Younger individuals may reside in the lot, but at least one person must meet the age requirement.
• 19+ communities: All occupants must be 19 years of age or older. This effectively prohibits families with children from residing in these strata lots.

Age restriction bylaws must be registered at the Land Title Office to be enforceable and are disclosed in Form B. A buyer purchasing a 19+ strata who has or plans to have children is purchasing a property they cannot legally use as intended — this requires explicit, documented disclosure before any offer is made.

Common Strata Red Flags

Experienced strata buyers and their agents develop a pattern-recognition instinct for strata red flags. Here is a consolidated list of the most significant warning signs, drawn from BC strata dispute data and common claims patterns.

CRM Data Enrichment for Strata Properties

A modern real estate CRM with BC data enrichment capabilities can automatically populate several layers of strata property information, reducing the manual research burden on the listing or buying agent and ensuring key data points are captured in the transaction file.

What Can Be Automatically Pulled

In Magnate360, the strata enrichment section of a listing file populates automatically when a strata address is entered. The system pulls BC Assessment data, ParcelMap PID and legal description, and LTO title information. The strata-specific fields (Form B, minutes, depreciation report) include a document upload section and a checklist to track which documents have been received and reviewed.

Disclosure Requirements for Strata Listings

When listing a strata property in BC, agents have specific disclosure obligations beyond the standard Property Disclosure Statement (PDS). Understanding these requirements protects your sellers from post-sale claims and your own licence from professional conduct complaints.

Seller's Disclosure Obligations in a Strata Sale

• Property Disclosure Statement (Form 11): The standard BCREA PDS includes a strata-specific section that asks about bylaw violations, pending special levies, strata litigation, and any known material defects affecting the common property.
• Latent defects: If the seller is aware of any latent defects in the strata lot or common property (hidden water damage, past envelope issues, prior insurance claims), these must be disclosed regardless of whether they are captured in the PDS form. Failure to disclose known latent defects is grounds for misrepresentation claims.
• Pending levies and assessments: Even if not yet approved by owners, any levy that the seller is aware of (discussed at council meetings they have attended) that is material should be disclosed to buyers. Concealing a known upcoming levy that the seller learned about as a strata council member is a serious disclosure failure.
• Rental and age restriction bylaws: These must be disclosed to buyers before they enter into a purchase contract, not as subjects. A buyer who purchases a 19+ strata not knowing about the age restriction has grounds to rescind.

Your Role as the Listing Agent

As the listing agent, you are not expected to be a strata expert — but you are expected to know what you do not know and advise sellers accordingly. Your practical obligations include:

• Advising sellers to complete the PDS strata section accurately and completely
• Ordering the Form B package before or immediately upon listing
• Reviewing the Form B for any items that require disclosure (violations, arrears, levies)
• Confirming the rental restriction status and ensuring it is reflected in the listing
• Confirming the age restriction status and ensuring it is reflected in the listing
• Attaching key strata documents (Form B, current bylaws, depreciation report) to the listing for buyer review

Frequently Asked Questions