The BC Home Owner Protection Act requires that all newly built homes (including strata properties) or buildings that have been substantially reconstructed be covered by third-party new home warranty insurance. You may often hear this referred to as the “2-5-10 New Home Warranty”. Basic coverage includes: 15 months for defects in labour and materials 2 years for building cladding and delivery systems (plumbing, HVAC,…
The current strata insurance situation in BC has been difficult to say the least. Many strata corporations have seen premium increases from 20% to 50%, with some high value/high risk stratas seeing increases in the 200% to 400% range. While the narrative around this problem has focused predominantly on premium increases, the lesser mentioned factor is that some strata corporations…
The Depreciation Report: A depreciation report provides important insights for buyers looking to buy into a strata corporation. It not only speaks about the current condition of the physical components (as long as the report is recent), but also the financial state of the strata corporation. Some of the most important information in a depreciation report can be found in the…
Most buildings that were built in the 90s or earlier came with more parking stalls and storage lockers than units. Today, we’re seeing many new strata developments that have less parking stalls and storage than units, which makes these components that much more important and valuable to consumers. You should be able to find information about a strata lot’s parking and storage on…
Are you unsure of what strata financial documents you should be checking? It’s really not that hard. Here are some pointers. One of the documents that is provided together with the Form B is the current budget. In addition to this, it’s recommended that the following financial documents also be reviewed: Previous Year’s Budget Income…
There’s a lot to go over when it comes to the Contract of Purchase and Sale. One thing that should not be overlooked is a subject clause giving the buyer the opportunity to review all the strata documents. While the BCFSA Knowledge Base has a “Receipt of strata documentation” standard clause, it may be useful…
The Form B is one of the documents that should always be reviewed when assisting a consumer looking to purchase a strata titled property. The strata corporation is required to provide the Form B within 7 days of a request.Technically speaking, the Form B is only current at the time it is issued. If the…
One pushback we often get when requesting all the strata documents is when we ask for the AGM/SGM notice packages. We’ve even had instances where we’ve been told the notices don’t exist, but since owners have to be notified of any general meetings, not giving proper notice would invalidate those meetings. Funny enough, the notice…
We’re back again with our strata tip. No matter where or who you get the strata documents from, it’s always important to verify that nothing is outdated or missing. Unfortunately, from our experience, more than 90% of the strata packages we receive are missing documents. While there is no legislation that specifically dictates how far…
Smoking restrictions have been implemented in many different areas of our society, and strata corporations are no exception. More and more stratas are adopting smoking restriction bylaws or rules, and here’s how they’re doing it. Lastly, it’s important to remember that regardless of whether your strata has a smoking restriction bylaw or rule, most strata…
