I was looking at a few properties not too long ago and came across a building in East Vancouver, in what is now a very hot area. The unit was listed for significantly less than what others of equal square footage were going for.

It was clear that the building envelope issues were very extensive when we arrived outside. There were many patch jobs, discoloration and plywood nailed to the exterior. What I found out was that the strata council had disbanded and was no longer operating. One gentleman was collecting strata fees to pay the electricity bills and that was pretty much the extent of what the council was doing. The owners had continuously voted against having a special assessment, meanwhile the damage got worse and worse.

Under the Strata Property Act the strata corporation has to repair common property and common assets, they cannot shirk this responsibility. Just to be clear common property is designated on the strata plan, so things like the exterior, roof and parking lot are usually all common property. Sometimes decks are questionable because they can be designated as limited common property. Limited common property does not have to be repaired by the strata council.

Because the strata council has a duty to repair they can be taken to court and ordered to complete the work. There is a court case Tadeson V. Strata Plan NW 2644 where three strata owners went before the Supreme Court of BC and the court ordered the necessary repairs to the building envelope be completed. The court ordered all of the owners pay the special levy to complete the repairs. Previously the work to the building envelope was not being done because the owners opposed to the special levy amount required to get the work completed – this case happens more often than not and unfortunately the damage gets worse causing the special levy amount to increase.