What to Do When a BC Strata Refuses Your Renovation

Step 1: get the refusal and its reasons in writing

Write to the council and ask for three things: the decision, the bylaw it rests on, and the reasons. A refusal given by phone or in a hallway conversation leaves you nothing to answer.

You can also read the council's own record. Section 35(1)(a) of the Strata Property Act makes the strata prepare minutes of council meetings, including the results of any votes. Section 36 gives an owner the right to inspect those minutes and to get copies. The strata must comply within 2 weeks of the request. Inspection is free, and a copy costs at most 25 cents per page (Strata Property Regulation, s. 4.2).

If the council has sent no answer at all, go to step 4. A written request for a hearing is the document that starts the legal deadlines.

Step 2: find the bylaw the refusal rests on

The text the refusal uses decides how freely the council may refuse. Read your building's own filed bylaws first, because they replace the Standard Bylaws wherever they differ. Then compare the refusal with the table below.

The word "unreasonably" in Bylaw 5(2) has no definition in the Standard Bylaws. In a dispute, the body that hears the claim decides whether a refusal was unreasonable. Section 121(1)(a) of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act gives the tribunal power over claims about the interpretation or application of a bylaw.

Step 3: change the request to answer the stated reason

A revised request is the first route to try when the reason can be answered. It keeps the decision with the council, and the council can decide it at its next meeting.

This is how we match the change to the reason when we revise a request with an owner:

Send the revision as a new, dated request. Quote each reason from the refusal and put your answer directly under it, so a council member can check them one by one. When we revise a scope for an owner, we revise the price and the schedule in the same document.

• A document was missing: send it, and name it in the covering message.
• One item in the scope was the problem: remove that item or redesign it, and say which of the two you did.
• The concern is noise through a new floor: attach the maker's test data for the flooring and the layer under it, and show how it meets the building's own flooring bylaw.
• The concern is a pipe or duct that serves other units: add a drawing that marks which pipes stay in place and which ones the work touches.
• The concern is who pays for later repairs: offer to sign the written agreement on expenses that Standard Bylaw 5(2) lets the strata require.

Step 4: request a council hearing in writing

If the revised request fails, or the council stays silent, request a hearing. Section 34.1(1) of the Strata Property Act lets an owner or tenant request a hearing at a council meeting "by application in writing stating the reason for the request".

Two deadlines follow. The council must hold a council meeting to hear you within 4 weeks after the request (s. 34.1(2)). If the purpose of the hearing is to seek a decision, the council must give you a written decision within one week after the hearing (s. 34.1(3)). Section 4.01 of the regulation defines a hearing as "an opportunity to be heard in person at a council meeting".

State the purpose in the request: that you seek a decision of the council on your renovation request of a given date. That wording is what brings the one week deadline into effect.

Bring the drawings, the product sheets and your written answer to each reason. Ask the council to name any condition that would let it approve the work.

The hearing request has a second use. Under section 189.1(2) of the Act, an owner may ask the Civil Resolution Tribunal to resolve a strata dispute only after requesting a council hearing under section 34.1, unless the tribunal directs that the requirement be waived. Keep a dated copy of the request.

Step 5: where the decision belongs to the owners, ask the owners

Some requests need a vote of all the owners, and the council alone cannot approve them. The fourth row of the table above is the main case.

The Act gives owners two ways to bring a resolution to a general meeting. Under section 46(2), persons holding at least 20% of the strata corporation's votes may, by written demand, propose a resolution, and it must then be included in the notice and on the agenda of the next annual or special general meeting. Under section 43, the same share of votes may demand a special general meeting, which the strata must hold within 4 weeks after the demand is given.

Section 27(1) also lets the owners direct the council by a majority vote at a general meeting, within the limits in section 27(2). Get legal advice before you rely on it.

Step 6: the Civil Resolution Tribunal

The Civil Resolution Tribunal is the BC tribunal that decides most strata disputes. Its strata page says it "has jurisdiction over most strata claims in BC, of any amount". Section 121(1) of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act lists the claims it takes. Two items on that list fit a refused renovation: the interpretation or application of a bylaw, and a decision of a strata corporation or its council in relation to an owner.

The tribunal's process page describes 4 main stages and says the parties can agree to settle at any stage. You apply through the tribunal's free Solution Explorer, a set of questions that leads to the correct application form. The tribunal reviews the application and issues a Dispute Notice, which the strata answers. Next comes negotiation, then facilitation, where a tribunal case manager helps the two sides try to agree. If they cannot, a tribunal member decides the claim.

Plan for the wait. The tribunal's strata page, read on October 4, 2026, says: "Due to a high volume of claims, it can take several months for your application to be reviewed and a Dispute Notice issued."

There is a time limit for starting a claim. The tribunal's page on limitation periods says the period under the Limitation Act is usually 2 years, and that it stops only once you submit the claim application and pay any required fee. The tribunal will not calculate the period for you, so ask a lawyer about your own dates.

The fees are on the tribunal's fees page. A strata claim costs $125 online or $150 by email or mail. A final decision by a tribunal member costs $100. An individual with low income can ask for the fees to be waived. If the parties settle by negotiation, the tribunal can refund the application fee.

Expect to speak for yourself unless the tribunal permits a representative. The tribunal's page on representatives says that outside vehicle accident and intimate image claims, a party usually needs the tribunal's permission to have a representative, who is usually a lawyer, a family member or a friend. The strata takes part through a contact person, who must be an authorized member of the council.

What the tribunal can order, and what happens after

Section 123(1) of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act lists three orders for strata claims: an order requiring a party to do something, an order requiring a party to stop doing something, and an order requiring a party to pay money.

Section 123(2) adds a power aimed at strata decisions. For a claim about an action or a decision of the strata or its council, the tribunal may make an order directed at the strata corporation or the council "if the order is necessary to prevent or remedy a significantly unfair action, decision or exercise of voting rights".

A final decision can be enforced. Under section 57 of the same Act, a validated copy of the tribunal's order can be filed in the Supreme Court, and it then has the same force as a judgment of that court. The $100 decision fee includes the validated copy.

A party who disagrees with a final decision can apply to the BC Supreme Court for judicial review, which is a request that the court check the tribunal's decision. Section 56.6(1) of the Act requires the application to be started within 60 days of the date the decision is given.

The Supreme Court route for a significantly unfair decision

The Strata Property Act gives the Supreme Court its own power over strata decisions. Under section 164(1), on the application of an owner or tenant, the court may make any interim or final order it considers necessary to prevent or remedy a significantly unfair action or decision of the strata corporation, including the council, in relation to that owner or tenant.

Section 164(2) lists what the court may do: direct or prohibit an act of the strata corporation or the council, vary a transaction or resolution, and regulate the conduct of the strata corporation's future affairs.

"Significantly unfair" is the Act's own phrase, and section 123(2) of the tribunal's Act uses the same one. Speak with a lawyer who works on strata disputes before you choose between the tribunal and the court.

Keep the work on hold while the dispute runs

Wait for the written approval before any work starts, however strong your case looks. Standard Bylaw 5(1) requires the approval before the alteration is made, and a dispute leaves that rule in force.

Work done during a dispute gives the strata two powers to use. Section 7.1 of the regulation lets a strata set fines of up to $200 for each contravention of a bylaw, repeated at most every 7 days while the contravention continues. Section 133 of the Act lets the strata remedy a contravention, including by work on the strata lot, and charge the reasonable costs to the owner.

We hold the start date until the owner has the approval in writing. If a tribunal claim is likely, tell your contractor early, so that materials are ordered after the outcome is known.