Renovating a Condo Before Selling It in Vancouver: Approvals and Records for the Buyer

What a buyer will read about your unit

The main document is the Information Certificate, known as Form B. It is the form a strata must give, within one week of a request, to an owner, a purchaser or a person either of them has authorized. The Province of BC's page on the form says it is typically requested by potential buyers.

Section 59(3) of the Strata Property Act lists what the certificate must disclose. The table shows the entries a renovation can affect.

The information is binding on the strata toward a person who relied on the certificate and acted reasonably (section 59(5)). The most a strata may charge for it is $35 plus copying at up to 25 cents per page.

Why unapproved work is a risk at sale

Standard Bylaw 5(1) requires the strata's written approval before an owner alters the items on its list, which under the Standard Bylaws include original flooring and original plumbing and electrical fixtures. Work done without that approval contravenes the bylaw, and the strata can act on it.

The strata has two powers. It can fine: the Strata Property Regulation lets a building's bylaws set up to $200 for each contravention of a bylaw, repeated as often as every 7 days while the contravention continues. And under section 133 of the Act it can do what is reasonably necessary to remedy the contravention, including work on the strata lot, and require the owner to pay the reasonable cost. Section 135 requires a complaint, written particulars and a chance to answer first.

Money owed to the strata has to be settled before the transfer. Section 256 of the Act stops the land title office from registering a transfer of a strata lot without a current Certificate of Payment, known as Form F. Under section 115, the strata gives that certificate when the owner owes it no money, or when the money has been paid in trust or an arrangement to pay has been made. The certificate may include fines and remedy costs, and it is current for 60 days.

If work in your unit was done without approval, write to the council before you list. Ask what it needs to approve the work as built, and get the answer in writing.

The three business days after an offer is accepted

BC gives a buyer a period to withdraw. The BC Financial Services Authority's page on the Home Buyer Rescission Period states: "A buyer has the right to rescind a home offer within three business days after the offer is accepted, regardless of whether a real estate licensee is involved in the transaction. The three-day rescission period excludes weekends and holidays." The page lists a residential strata lot among the property types covered.

The same page says a buyer who rescinds must notify the seller in writing before the period expires and pay the seller a rescission fee of 0.25% of the offer price. It adds that the right "cannot be waived by the buyer or the seller" and that buyers do not need to give the seller a reason.

For a seller, the practical step is to have the records ready when the unit is listed, so a buyer can read the approval, the permits and the reports inside those three days.

Work that needs approval needs time before the listing date

Count back from the date you want to list. Three steps come before the first day of work, and each takes time that we cannot state for your building in advance.

• The hazardous materials inspection. Section 20.112 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation requires it before renovation work begins.
• The strata's written approval. The deadlines in the Act start when you ask for a hearing in writing: section 34.1 gives the council 4 weeks to hold it and one more week to give a written decision.
• Permits. Ask the City of Vancouver which permits your scope needs. The licensed electrical and gas contractors apply for their own.

The file to give the buyer

Keep one folder for the renovation and give a copy to your real estate licensee before the listing. It should hold:

• Your request to the strata and the strata's written approval.
• The signed agreement on expenses, if the strata required one.
• Each permit and its inspection record. Technical Safety BC says permits are a legal requirement in BC and "are often necessary for home insurance purposes".
• The hazardous materials inspection report, and the written confirmation of removal if anything was removed.
• Product sheets for the flooring and the layer under it, where your building has a flooring bylaw.
• Photographs of the pipes and wiring taken before the walls were closed.
• A dated list of what was replaced. The Province of BC says an owner's policy can cover improvements made by the current and previous owners, so the buyer's insurance broker can use the list to set that limit.

Cost and resale value

We publish no figure for what a renovation adds to the sale price of a condo, and this page gives none. A real estate licensee who knows your building is the person to ask.

The renovation ROI calculator on this site compares the cost of a renovation with the value it adds. It is built on our published figures for houses, so read its result as a house figure.

How we work toward a listing date

Tell us the listing date at the first meeting. We set the order of work back from that date, and we set the start date after the strata's written approval arrives.

At the end of the job we give you the file described above: the approval, the permits, the hazardous materials report, and the photographs taken before the walls were closed.