How to get strata approval for a renovation in BC

Start with your building's own bylaws

Read your building's bylaws before you plan anything. They decide which work needs approval, and two buildings on the same street in downtown Vancouver can have different answers.

BC has one set of default bylaws, called the Standard Bylaws, printed as a schedule to the Strata Property Act. Section 120 of the Act says the bylaws of a strata corporation are the Standard Bylaws "except to the extent that different bylaws are filed in the land title office". A strata can change its bylaws through a 3/4 vote of the owners and file the changes. The Province's strata housing page says stratas often have bylaws that differ in some or many ways from the Standard Bylaws.

Renovation is one of the places where they differ. The same Province page says: "Bylaws may require strata lot owners to get written permission from the strata council before making changes to their strata lot, such as moving walls, changing flooring or making plumbing or electrical changes; often known as alteration agreements." A strata lot is the Act's name for your unit.

You can ask the strata for the current bylaws and rules at any time. Under section 36 of the Act the strata must provide copies of the bylaws and rules within one week of an owner's request, and the Province's page gives a maximum charge of 25 cents per page. Bylaws that differ from the Standard Bylaws are also on file at the land title office.

A strata can have rules as well as bylaws. The two cover different things. Only a bylaw can govern how a strata lot is used. Rules govern the use, safety and condition of the common property, which is the part of the building all owners own together. Booking an elevator or using the loading area during a renovation is a subject a rule can cover, so ask for both documents.

This guide explains the Standard Bylaws because they are the starting point the law gives every building. Treat each answer below as the default, then check it against your own building's text.

What renovation work needs strata approval

Under the Standard Bylaws, most kitchen, bathroom and flooring renovations need written approval, because they replace parts of the unit that the strata must insure.

Standard Bylaw 5(1) lists seven kinds of alteration to a strata lot that need the written approval of the strata corporation before the work is done. Six of them name a part of the building: the structure of the building; the exterior; chimneys, stairs, balconies and other things attached to the exterior; doors, windows and skylights on the exterior or that front on the common property; fences and railings that enclose a patio, balcony or yard; and common property located inside the unit.

The seventh item covers the most renovation work. It reads: "those parts of the strata lot which the strata corporation must insure under section 149 of the Act". Section 149(1)(d) makes the strata insure fixtures that the original developer built or installed in the unit. Section 9.1(1) of the Strata Property Regulation defines fixtures as "items attached to a building, including floor and wall coverings and electrical and plumbing fixtures".

Put those three texts together. Under the Standard Bylaws, replacing the original flooring, the original wall coverings, or the original plumbing and electrical fixtures is an alteration that needs written approval first. A kitchen or bathroom renovation replaces items attached to the building, so plan on a written request for it.

The same definition leaves some items out. Refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, microwaves, washers and dryers are outside the meaning of fixtures if they can be removed without damage to the building.

Standard Bylaw 6 adds a second rule. An owner needs written approval before altering common property, limited common property or common assets. Limited common property is common property set aside for the use of one or more units. The Province's page gives balconies and parking spaces as examples.

One more point from the Province's page on common property: if an owner's alteration would cause a significant change in the use or appearance of common property, a resolution passed by a 3/4 vote at a general meeting of the owners must be obtained. Work that stays inside the unit and leaves the common property looking and working as before is decided by the strata council, which section 26 of the Act makes responsible for exercising the strata corporation's powers.

Where your unit ends and the common property begins

Your unit usually ends in the middle of its outer walls, floor and ceiling. Section 68(1) of the Act puts the boundary midway between the surface of the structural part of the wall, floor or ceiling that faces your unit and the surface that faces the neighbouring unit or the common property, unless the strata plan shows a different line.

The strata plan is the registered drawing of the building. It shows each strata lot, the common property and any limited common property. Check it before you assume a balcony, a storage room or a parking stall is part of your unit.

Pipes and wires follow their own test. The Act's definition of common property includes pipes, wires, cables, chutes and ducts for water, sewage, drainage, gas, electricity, heating and cooling when they sit inside a boundary wall, floor or ceiling. It also includes those that run wholly or partly inside a strata lot when they are capable of being used, and intended to be used, by another strata lot or the common property.

In plain terms: a drain or water line that serves other units is common property, even where it passes through your bathroom wall. Work that touches it falls under Standard Bylaw 5(1)(f) and Bylaw 6. This is why we ask to see what is behind a kitchen or bathroom wall before we price moving a sink, and why a request to the strata should name every pipe the work will touch.

What goes in a renovation request

A good request lets a council member who has never seen your unit understand exactly what will change. The Standard Bylaws ask for written approval and say nothing about the form of the request, so the form comes from your building. Your building may have its own application form or alteration agreement. Ask the strata manager or the council for it first.

The steps below are the order we follow when we prepare a request with an owner. The legal points in them are marked with their section numbers. The rest is our working method.

1. 1

   Get the current bylaws, rules and alteration form

   Ask the strata in writing. The strata must provide the bylaws and rules within one week of an owner's request (Act s. 36(3)). Ask in the same message for any renovation form, alteration agreement and contractor requirements the building uses.

2. 2

   Write the scope room by room

   List what will be removed and what will be installed in each room. Name every wall, pipe, drain, wire, duct, window and door the work will touch. State plainly which items stay where they are.

3. 3

   Attach drawings and product information

   Include a floor plan marked with the changes, and the product sheets for the flooring, the layer under the flooring, and the plumbing fixtures. If your bylaws set a sound requirement for floors, show how the product meets it using the maker's test data.

4. 4

   Name the contractor and attach the documents the building asks for

   Your bylaws, rules or alteration agreement set what the contractor must show, for example proof of liability insurance and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter. Send exactly what they list.

5. 5

   Give the planned dates and how the work will run

   State the start date, the expected length of the work, the working hours your building allows, how materials and waste will move through the building, and how the hallways and elevator will be protected.

6. 6

   Send it in writing and keep a dated copy

   Send the request to the address the strata uses for council business, usually through the strata manager. Keep a copy with the date you sent it. Dates matter if you later ask for a hearing.

7. 7

   Wait for the written approval before any work starts

   Standard Bylaw 5(1) requires the written approval before the alteration is made. Start only when you hold the approval in writing. Read every condition in the approval letter and sign any agreement it refers to before demolition.

What conditions a strata can set

The Standard Bylaws name one condition. Under Bylaw 5(2) and Bylaw 6(2), the strata may require the owner to agree in writing to take responsibility for any expenses relating to the alteration. Your building's own bylaws, rules and alteration agreement can add more.

Start with insurance. The amount a contractor must carry is set by your building's bylaws or alteration agreement, so read the figure there. The Strata Property Regulation does set one insurance figure, in section 9.2: the strata corporation must carry liability insurance of at least $2,000,000. That is the strata's own policy.

Work hours, elevator bookings, hallway protection and deposits are set building by building. Ask for each one in writing before you sign a contract with a contractor, because they change how long the work takes.

Fees for using common property have a legal test. The Province's page says a strata that charges a user fee for common property must make sure the amount is reasonable and that the fee is set out in a bylaw, or in a rule the owners have ratified at a general meeting.

Three Standard Bylaws apply during the work even when the approval letter is silent about them. Bylaw 3(1) forbids using a strata lot in a way that causes a nuisance, a hazard or unreasonable noise. Bylaw 3(2) forbids causing damage, other than reasonable wear and tear, to the common property. Bylaw 7 lets a person authorized by the strata enter your unit at a reasonable time on 48 hours' written notice to inspect, repair or maintain common property, and without notice in an emergency.

Damage has a cost beyond the repair. Under section 158(2) of the Act, a strata can sue an owner to recover the deductible on the strata's insurance claim if the owner is responsible for the loss or damage. The deductible is the first part of a claim that the insurer leaves the strata to pay. A water leak during a renovation is one example, so confirm that your contractor's insurance and your own policy cover the work before it starts.

How long the law gives a council to hear and answer

The Act's deadlines start when you ask for a hearing in writing. Section 34.1 gives an owner or tenant the right to request a hearing at a council meeting by writing to the council and stating the reason.

Two deadlines follow. The council must hold a council meeting to hear you within 4 weeks after the request. If the purpose of the hearing is to get a decision, the council must give you a written decision within one week after the hearing. The regulation defines a hearing as an opportunity to be heard in person at a council meeting.

Added together, the longest wait the Act allows from a written hearing request to a written decision is 5 weeks.

An ordinary request sent to the strata manager is answered on the council's own meeting schedule, which each council sets. Ask the strata manager for the date of the next council meeting and the last day to add an item to its agenda, then send your request before that day.

If the meeting passes with no answer, send the hearing request. It fixes dates the council must meet. Keep the wording short: your name and unit, the request you sent and its date, and a sentence stating that you are requesting a hearing under section 34.1 to get a decision on it.

Plan your contractor's start date after the written approval, with time left for the conditions in it. Booking trades for a date before the approval arrives puts your deposit at risk if the council asks for changes.

Strata approval and City permits are separate

The strata's approval and a City permit come from two different bodies, and each one decides on its own. The strata applies its bylaws. The City applies the building rules.

The Act links the two in one place. For removing a wall between adjoining strata lots, section 70(3) says the owner must give copies of any required building permits to the strata corporation when seeking its approval.

For all other work, ask the City of Vancouver whether your renovation needs a permit, and ask your strata whether it wants a copy before work starts. We confirm the permit question with the City for each project before we give a start date.

What happens if work is done without approval

A strata can fine the owner and can undo the work at the owner's cost. Section 26 of the Act requires the council to enforce the bylaws, so a council that learns of unapproved work is expected to act.

Fines have a legal ceiling. Section 7.1 of the Strata Property Regulation sets the most a strata may write into its bylaws: $200 for each contravention of a bylaw and $50 for each contravention of a rule. For a contravention that continues, the fine can be repeated at most every 7 days. A strata that still uses the Standard Bylaws has lower figures: Standard Bylaw 23 sets $50 for a bylaw and $10 for a rule.

The cost of undoing the work can be larger than the fine. Under section 133, the strata may do what is reasonably necessary to remedy a contravention of its bylaws, including doing work on or to a strata lot, and may require the person who can be fined to pay the reasonable costs. For a floor laid without approval, that can mean paying for its removal on top of what you paid to install it.

The owner answers for the contractor. Section 130(1) lets the strata fine an owner when a bylaw or rule is contravened by a person the owner admitted to the premises for business reasons. A contractor who works outside the building's hours or damages a hallway creates a contravention in the owner's name.

The strata must follow a process first. Under section 135 it must have received a complaint, given the owner the particulars in writing, and given a reasonable opportunity to answer, including a hearing if the owner asks for one. It must then give written notice of its decision as soon as feasible. Once that process is complete for a contravention, section 135(3) allows fines for the continuing contravention with no further process.

If you have already done work without approval, write to the council, describe the work and ask for approval now. The council decides that request under the same bylaws as any other.

What to do after a refusal

Ask for the reasons in writing, then fix what can be fixed. A refusal may name a missing document or one part of the scope. A revised request that answers each reason costs less time than a dispute.

Know which bylaw the refusal uses. Standard Bylaw 5(2) says the strata "must not unreasonably withhold its approval" for an alteration to a strata lot. Bylaw 6, which covers common property and limited common property, has no matching sentence. A request to change something inside your unit therefore has a protection that a request to change a balcony or a shared pipe lacks.

If a revised request fails, request a hearing under section 34.1. The council must hear you within 4 weeks and give a written decision within one week after the hearing. The hearing request is also a legal step toward the tribunal: 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, unless the tribunal directs that the requirement is waived.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal is the BC tribunal that hears strata disputes. Its strata page says: "The CRT has jurisdiction over most strata claims in BC, of any amount." Section 121(1) of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act lists what it can hear, including the interpretation or application of a bylaw, the common property, and a decision of a strata corporation or its council in relation to an owner.

The fees are published. Making a strata claim costs $125 online or $150 by email or mail. A final decision by a tribunal member costs $100. Individuals with low income can ask for the fees to be waived. If a strata claim settles by negotiation, the tribunal can refund the application fee, and a tribunal member who decides a claim might order the unsuccessful side to pay the other side's tribunal fees.

Plan for the time. The tribunal's strata page, read on October 4, 2026, says that because of a high volume of claims it can take several months for an application to be reviewed and a Dispute Notice issued. If your contractor is already booked, a revised request is the faster route wherever one is possible.

The tribunal can order a party to do something, to stop doing something, or to pay money (Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, s. 123(1)). The Supreme Court has a separate power under section 164 of the Strata Property Act to prevent or remedy a significantly unfair action or decision of a strata corporation. Get legal advice before choosing between them.

Who repairs altered parts later

Under the Standard Bylaws the owner repairs the unit and the strata repairs the common property, and an alteration agreement can move the cost of the altered part to the owner.

The default split is in two bylaws. Standard Bylaw 2 says an owner must repair and maintain the owner's strata lot, except for what the bylaws give to the strata. Standard Bylaw 8 gives the strata the common property and, inside a strata lot, a short list: the structure of the building, the exterior, balconies and other things attached to the exterior, doors, windows and skylights on the exterior or that front on the common property, and fences and railings that enclose patios, balconies and yards.

Your building can change that split. Section 72 of the Act lets a strata, by bylaw, make an owner responsible for limited common property the owner has the right to use, and lets a strata take responsibility for specified parts of a strata lot.

The alteration agreement changes it again for the parts you alter. If you signed an agreement under Bylaw 5(2) or 6(2), you took responsibility for expenses relating to that alteration. Read the exact words. Some agreements cover the cost of the work only. Others cover every later repair to the altered part.

These agreements are recorded. The strata must disclose them on the Information Certificate it gives to a buyer, which the next section explains. Ask a lawyer how an agreement signed by an earlier owner of your unit applies to you.

Keep a file for the unit: the approval letter, the signed agreement, the drawings, any permit, and photos of the pipes and wiring taken before the walls were closed. A later repair goes faster when the file shows what was changed.

What to read before buying a unit to renovate

Read the bylaws, the rules and the Information Certificate before you remove the conditions on your offer. Together they tell you whether the renovation you have in mind is allowed, and what the last owner agreed to.

The Information Certificate, also called Form B, is a form the strata must give to an owner, a buyer or a person either one has authorized, within one week of a request (Act s. 59(1)). The most a strata may charge for it is $35 plus copying at up to 25 cents per page (Regulation s. 4.4).

Section 59(3) lists what the certificate must disclose. For a buyer who plans to renovate, the item to read first is "any agreements under which the owner takes responsibility for expenses relating to alterations to a strata lot, the common property or the common assets". An entry there tells you that an earlier owner altered something and signed for its costs.

The certificate also carries facts that bear on what you can afford to renovate, and it attaches the rules, the current budget and the most recent depreciation report if the strata has one. A depreciation report estimates the repair and replacement cost of the building's major items and their expected life. The Act makes the certificate's information binding on the strata toward a person who relied on it and acted reasonably (s. 59(5)).

• The bylaws on file at the land title office, plus any bylaw changes the certificate lists as passed and waiting to be filed.
• The rules, which are attached to the certificate.
• Agreements that make the owner responsible for alteration expenses.
• Special levies already approved, with the dates they are due. A special levy is money the strata raises from the owners on top of the monthly strata fees.
• The amount in the contingency reserve fund, the strata's fund for expenses that come up less often than once a year.
• Court, arbitration or tribunal proceedings that involve the strata.
• Notices or work orders that remain outstanding against the unit or the common property.
• The summary of the strata's insurance coverage.
• The strata plan, to see what is part of the unit and what is limited common property.

How we prepare a strata renovation

We read the building's bylaws, rules and alteration form before we quote. They set the working hours, the insurance documents and the protection the building expects, and each of those changes the price and the schedule.

We look at the unit with the request in mind. That means finding out which pipes and ducts serve other units, what the floor is made of, and what the original developer installed, since those are the items the Standard Bylaws tie to approval.

We write the scope for the strata request in the same words as the contract, so the council approves the work that will be built. The request names us as the contractor and attaches the documents your building lists.

We set the start date after the written approval. If the council asks for a change, the scope, the price and the schedule are revised together and sent back as one document.