The West End's Older Strata Buildings by the Numbers, and What to Ask Before You Renovate

What one record is

The City's property tax report holds one record per property on the tax roll, identified by a BC Assessment folio number. A record whose legal type is STRATA is one strata lot. The report has no field for how a lot is used, so the counts below cover every type of strata lot, homes included.

Each record carries a year built, which the City describes as "Year that the property was built. Assigned by BCA based on permit records". We placed each record in a local area by matching its land coordinate, the first 8 digits of the folio number, to the same key in the City's property addresses data.

West End strata lots by period built

The 9,888 lots sit on 211 properties, an average of 46.9 lots per property. The 4,242 lots built before 1990 sit on 119 of those properties, which is 56.4 percent of them.

The 1970s and 1980s hold 4,026 lots between them. Split five years at a time, the count rises through the period: 671 lots from 1970 to 1974, 729 from 1975 to 1979, 1,271 from 1980 to 1984 and 1,355 from 1985 to 1989.

The most common single years

The year 1998 is the most common, with 855 lots, followed by 1999 with 606 and 1974 with 504. The year 1990 itself has 413 lots. The oldest year on any West End strata record is 1900.

The 413 lots dated 1990 fall outside the "before 1990" count. WorkSafeBC says asbestos "was widely used in B.C. as a building material until the early 1990s", so we plan a 1990 building the same way as a 1989 one: the inspection described below decides.

Which zoning codes the older lots fall under

The tax report prints a zoning district code on each record. Of the 4,242 lots built before 1990, 1,475 carry the code RM-5A, 1,339 carry RM-5B and 651 carry RM-5. Another 382 are in numbered CD-1 districts, 319 carry DD, 41 carry C-6, 23 carry C-5 and 12 carry RM-5C. Those eight groups add to 4,242.

So 3,465 of the older lots, 81.7 percent, sit in the three codes RM-5, RM-5A and RM-5B. The City's zoning data shows those codes in the West End local area and in no other. Each code has its own district schedule in the City's Zoning and Development By-law, which the City publishes; we state no rule from it here.

What BC Assessment's improvement year adds

Each record also carries a "big improvement year", which the City describes as the "Year of major improvement to the property. Assigned by BCA based on permit records". For 3,770 of the 4,242 older lots (88.9 percent) that year equals the year built. For the other 472 (11.1 percent) it is later: before 1990 for 358 of them, in the 1990s for 108, and in 2000 or later for 6.

A later improvement year tells you that BC Assessment recorded a major permitted improvement on the property. The field names no work, so the strata's own records, described below, hold what was done.

The 1990 line in WorkSafeBC's guidance, and the inspection duty

WorkSafeBC's page on testing a home before renovation says: "if your home was built before 1990, it's likely that at least some parts of the home will contain asbestos that could be released with any renovation, demolition, or maintenance work." The page addresses homeowners, strata councils and property managers, and names drywall, textured ceiling coat, insulation, vinyl flooring and window putty among the materials that often contained asbestos.

The duty to check is in law for a building of any age. Section 20.112(2) of BC's Occupational Health and Safety Regulation says that before renovation work begins, "all employers responsible for that work, and the owner, must ensure that a qualified person inspects" the building and the worksite to identify hazardous materials. The duty sits on the employers and the owner together. The qualified person takes samples and writes a report that gives the location and approximate quantity of each hazardous material found, and that report stays at the worksite while workers are on site.

If the report finds material that the work would disturb, subsections (7) and (8) stop that work until the material is contained or removed and a qualified person confirms it in writing. Since January 1, 2024, a contractor who removes asbestos in BC must hold a WorkSafeBC licence.

The West End's heritage register entries

The City's heritage sites data, in an extract dated March 24, 2023, lists 135 heritage buildings in the West End local area. The data groups them as 27 in evaluation group A, 93 in B and 15 in C, and says to consult the Vancouver Heritage Register for what the letters mean. It marks 39 of the 135 as having a municipal designation, 6 as covered by a heritage revitalization agreement, and 3 as having an interior designation.

A municipal designation is made by by-law under section 593 of the Vancouver Charter. Where a building is designated, the exterior and the structure cannot be altered without a heritage alteration permit, and the same applies to any interior feature or fixture the by-law identifies. Ask the strata whether the building is designated and, if so, for a copy of the by-law.

Three documents to request from the strata before planning

All three exist by law in a strata with five or more lots, and section 36 of the Strata Property Act gives an owner the right to copies of the records the strata must keep, within 2 weeks of a written request. We read all three, look up the year built and the improvement year, and arrange the hazardous materials inspection before a price is fixed.

• The depreciation report. Section 94(2) of the Act requires one from a qualified person, and the Province says it is due on a five-year cycle. Regulation section 6.2 requires it to describe, with an estimated service life over 30 years, the building's structure, exterior, and systems, including "the electrical, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, fire protection and security systems". In a 1970s or 1980s building it shows which pipes and wiring the strata plans to renew, and when.
• The electrical planning report. The Province requires a strata with five or more lots in Metro Vancouver to obtain one by December 31, 2026. It gives the system's current capacity, existing demands and spare capacity. The Province adds that the report "cannot inform the installation of electrical loads", so a qualified professional still confirms capacity for a new oven, heat pump or in-suite laundry.
• The council minutes. Section 35(1)(a) requires the strata to keep minutes of general meetings and council meetings, including the results of votes. Minutes show earlier alteration requests in the building and any pipe, window or electrical work the council has discussed.