The Strata Plan (22:IV): Difference between revisions
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→3. Building Systems
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When utility systems serve multiple strata lots or the common property, they are considered common property, even when located within a strata lot. These are not shown on the strata plan, and it can be difficult to delineate where common property starts and ends. For instance, see [https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcpc/doc/2012/2012bcpc409/2012bcpc409.html ''Fudge v Owners, Strata Plan NW2636'', 2012 BCPC 409], where the court held that a washing machine discharge pipe found inside a strata lot was nevertheless common property due to being integrated with the building’s wastewater collection systems. | When utility systems serve multiple strata lots or the common property, they are considered common property, even when located within a strata lot. These are not shown on the strata plan, and it can be difficult to delineate where common property starts and ends. For instance, see [https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcpc/doc/2012/2012bcpc409/2012bcpc409.html ''Fudge v Owners, Strata Plan NW2636'', 2012 BCPC 409], where the court held that a washing machine discharge pipe found inside a strata lot was nevertheless common property due to being integrated with the building’s wastewater collection systems. | ||
A building component that only serves one strata lot despite being located outside the lot’s boundaries may nevertheless still be common property if it is a fixture at common law. | A building component that only serves one strata lot despite being located outside the lot’s boundaries may nevertheless still be common property if it is a fixture at common law. See [[Common Property and Common Assets (22:V)|Fixtures as Common Property]] under Section V below. | ||
Section 72 of the ''SPA'' allows bylaws to make an owner responsible for limited common property that they have the right to use, but not undesignated common property | Section 72 of the ''SPA'' allows bylaws to make an owner responsible for limited common property that they have the right to use, but not undesignated common property. Thus, a fixture found on limited common property may be an individual owner’s responsibility, but a fixture found on undesignated common property is unlikely to be any individual owner’s responsibility with regards to repair and maintenance. For instance, a bylaw assigning responsibility to owners for repairing and maintaining undesignated common property without a regulation authorizing such a bylaw may be held to be unenforceable: see [https://canlii.ca/t/jx0ws ''Joyce v The Owners, Strata Plan EPS3046'', 2023 BCCRT 365] [''Joyce''] at para 30. To circumvent this, strata corporations are free to designate the areas as limited common property before then assigning responsibility for repair and maintenance to individual owners ([https://canlii.ca/t/jx0ws ''Joyce'']). The courts have ruled that section 72 does not prevent a strata corporation from assigning responsibility for common property to entire sections: see [https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2018/2018bcsc1690/2018bcsc1690.html ''Norenger Development (Canada) Inc. v Strata Plan NW 3271'', 2018 BCSC 1690]. | ||
If | If a building component is not a fixture, such as being insufficiently attached to the building or being primarily attached to facilitate its own use, it may instead be a chattel owned by the strata lot owner. The responsibility to repair and maintain falls on the owner, although the strata corporation may have authority to remove it under its bylaws, subject to the prohibition against significantly unfair action: see [https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bccrt/doc/2023/2023bccrt350/2023bccrt350.html?resultIndex=1 ''Estrin v The Owners, Strata Plan LMS3758'', 2023 BCCRT 350]. | ||
== B. Parking and Storage Facilities == | == B. Parking and Storage Facilities == | ||