04/02/2026– Jurisdiction British Columbia
Part 93 published on 01/03/2026
Courts determines responsibility of strata owners to share in certain repair costs
There was a dispute between the strata owners about responsibility for costs to repair the building envelope and other features of a mixed-use building on the strata property. The owners of “stand-alone” commercial lots argued that they shouldn’t pay for repairs to a building they didn’t occupy or use.
The court disagreed, ruling that the building envelope in question protects shared assets like the electrical transformer serving the entire property and is therefore a common expense. The Court said that the following general principle applied to other features of the property:
The bylaws of a section and the strata corporation may clarify which expenses relate solely to a section; however, the underlying principle is that for a section to be responsible for an expense, that expense must relate solely to that section.
The Court made the following declarations:
- The Strata Corporation (The Owners, Strata Plan NW 3365) is responsible to repair and maintain the building envelope and other related common property components of the building with civic address 918 Roderick Avenue, Coquitlam, British Columbia.
- The owners of the Strata Corporation must contribute to the cost relating to the repair and maintenance of common property and common assets of the Strata Corporation based on unit entitlement.The Residential Section of the Owners, Strata Plan NW 3365 v The Commercial Section of the Owners, Strata Plan NW 3365, 2026 BCS