A BC strata depreciation report is the 30-year financial plan for the common property of your building. Done well, it tells your council what’s coming, when, and what you need to have saved to pay for it. Done poorly, or ignored, it’s the single biggest source of mid-size special levies that blindside owners.
This post covers what the Strata Property Act requires, what a real report contains, how to read the funding plan, and the red flags that reveal an underfunded Contingency Reserve Fund.
Key takeaways
- Required: Section 94 of the Strata Property Act and Regulation s.6.21 require a new depreciation report at least every five years for strata corporations of five lots or more.
- Cost: Depends on the size and complexity of the buildings; the Province publishes no price range. Owners approve paying for it by majority vote from the operating fund (in the budget) or the CRF, or by a 3/4 vote as a special levy.
- Produced by: A qualified person from one of six professions listed in the Regulation, such as a professional engineer, architect or certified reserve planner. Not the management firm.
- Contains: Component inventory, expected remaining life, replacement costs, and three or more funding scenarios covering a 30-year window.
- Must read: Every council member, cover to cover. The summary is not enough.
What a depreciation report actually is
A depreciation report, sometimes called a reserve fund study, is a technical document projecting the common-property capital expenses of a strata corporation over 30 years. It identifies every major component (roof, windows, plumbing risers, elevators, envelope, parking membranes), estimates how much life each has left, projects replacement costs adjusted for inflation, and maps those costs against a funding plan.
The report matters for three reasons. First, it’s the council’s planning document for Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF) contributions. Second, it’s a disclosure document, prospective buyers and their lawyers read it during due diligence, and insurance underwriters use it to price the master policy. Third, it’s a legal compliance document, Section 94 of the SPA requires it, and the Civil Resolution Tribunal can order compliance when it’s absent or outdated.
What Section 94 actually requires
Section 94 and Part 6 of the Strata Property Regulation apply to every strata corporation with five or more lots. The obligations are:
- Get the report on time. A strata created on or after July 1, 2024 needs its first report within 2 years of its first AGM (18 months if created on or after July 1, 2027). An older strata with no report since December 31, 2020 needed one before July 1, 2026 in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Capital Regional District, or before July 1, 2027 elsewhere. After that, a new report at least every five years (Regulation s.6.21).
- Get it from a qualified person. Since July 1, 2025, Regulation s.6.2 limits this to six groups: professional engineers and engineering licensees, architects and architectural technologists, applied science technologists and certified technicians, accredited appraisers (AACI), certified reserve planners (REIC) and professional quantity surveyors. The person must also understand your strata’s property.
- Keep it and share it. The strata keeps every depreciation report in its records (s.35), gives an owner a copy within 2 weeks of a request (s.36), and attaches the most recent one to every Form B (s.59(4)).
- Use it at budget time. Council must consider the most recent report when setting the yearly CRF contribution (Regulation s.6.1). The strata doesn’t have to adopt any of the report’s funding models.
Stratas with fewer than five lots are exempt (Regulation s.6.22). The old option to defer by a three-quarter vote ended on July 1, 2024: a strata with five or more lots now needs a new report at least every five years (Strata Property Regulation s.6.21).
The six components of a good BC depreciation report
Not all depreciation reports are equal. A thin report gives you a component list and a single funding scenario. A thorough report gives you six things.
1. Component inventory
Every common-property asset identified, classified, and photographed. A small low-rise can have dozens of line items; a high-rise has many more. Common misses on thin reports: underground parking membrane, fire-suppression risers, domestic water recirculation pumps, elevator machinery (not just the cab).
2. Remaining service life estimates
For each component, the report estimates how many years of useful life remain. This is where engineering judgement enters. Good reports cite the source of each estimate (manufacturer specs, visual inspection, industry norm). Weak reports give you round numbers with no justification.
3. Replacement cost estimates
Current-dollar replacement cost for each component, plus a separate line for inflation-adjusted cost at the projected replacement year. A report that doesn’t break these out is relying on you to do the math, which you will get wrong.
4. Funding scenarios
At minimum three funding models over 30 years (Regulation s.6.2(3)(e)). They can mix CRF contributions, special levies and borrowing. Common ones are fully-funded (CRF contributions sized to eliminate all future levies), threshold-funded (contributions sized to maintain a minimum balance above zero), and cash-flow (contributions sized to meet each year’s expected expense). The report ranks them against the corporation’s current CRF contribution rate so you can see where you stand.
5. Recommended CRF contribution
In dollars per unit per month, based on the scenario the report’s author recommends. This is the line that should drive next year’s budget.
6. Red-flag summary
The one-page executive summary that names which components are under-reserved, under-inspected, or likely to surprise the corporation within five years. Every report must include an executive summary (Regulation s.6.2(1)(g)). If yours doesn’t name the components to watch, ask the author to add them.
How to read a 30-year funding plan
The funding plan is a spreadsheet: years in columns, cash position in rows. Three numbers matter more than the rest.
Annual contribution required, in dollars per unit per month, under each funding scenario. Compare to what you’re contributing today. Gap = warning.
Minimum CRF balance, how close does the fund get to zero in any year? A strata that hits $0 in Year 8 has a special-levy event baked into the plan, or the plan is wrong.
Major expenditure years. When does the roof come off? When does the envelope go? When do the elevators get retrofitted? Circle those years on the spreadsheet. If three major expenditures cluster in the same three-year window, the levy math gets ugly fast.
Red flags in a depreciation report
Some patterns reveal an underfunded CRF or a compromised report. Council should flag these during annual budget review.
- Single funding scenario presented, a complete report requires at least three. If the board is only seeing one, ask what the others say.
- “Recommended contribution” equal to current contribution, worth a question. Ask the author how they arrived at that number; it should be independent of what the corporation is already doing.
- Remaining service life rounded to 5s or 10s, a real engineering estimate lands on specific numbers like 7 or 13, not always 5, 10, 15, 20.
- No inflation adjustment, a 2026 dollar replacing a 2046 roof is not the same as a 2046 dollar. If the plan doesn’t index, the numbers are wrong.
- Component list missing major items, envelope, parking membrane, fire-suppression, domestic water lines are frequently under-inventoried.
- Report older than five years, in breach of Section 94 as soon as the five-year mark passes.
How the depreciation report affects strata fees
A monthly strata fee pays into two funds (s.92): the operating fund (day-to-day expenses, including the management firm’s fee) and the CRF (savings for future capital work). The depreciation report drives the CRF contribution line.
Councils that under-contribute to CRF because the depreciation report was optimistic or thin eventually pay through special levies, one-time charges to owners approved by a 3/4 vote (s.108). Mid-size levies are the most common complaint at the AGM after fee increases.
Councils who fund to the recommended scenario don’t eliminate levies entirely, but they reduce their frequency and size. Owners in well-funded stratas pay more per month and less in emergency assessments. On a lifetime-owned-unit basis, well-funded is almost always cheaper.
If your strata fees feel high and you don’t know what your CRF funding scenario is, that’s the starting question. Benchmark your fees against comparable BC buildings to see whether your monthly number is reasonable, then read the depreciation report to see where the money is going.
Who the depreciation report is for
Council, primarily. Every council member reads the full report, not just the summary. Your job is to understand the funding picture clearly enough to present it to owners.
Owners can get a copy on request (s.36) and typically read it when they’re selling (their lawyer will ask for it) or when a special levy is proposed. A transparent council brings a one-page depreciation-report summary to the AGM every year, showing the current CRF balance against the recommended trajectory.
Lenders and underwriters are the quiet audience. Mortgages against stratas without current reports are getting harder to approve. Insurance underwriters use the report to price the master policy. When your depreciation report lapses, both of those doors start to close.
The management firm’s role
The management firm does not write the depreciation report. They help the council select a qualified provider, coordinate the site inspection, distribute the report to owners through the Section 35 records system, and build the funding plan into the annual budget.
Where firms add value: institutional knowledge of which depreciation-report providers produce thorough versus thin reports, and which consultants are familiar with your specific building type. Where firms fall short: treating the report as a one-time deliverable that disappears after filing, rather than an active planning document revisited at each budget cycle.
If your management firm doesn’t reference the depreciation report in the annual budget presentation, showing current contributions against the recommended scenario, that’s a red flag. Run the 6-question scorecard on your current firm and see where else the planning discipline is thin.
Related tools for your council
- Depreciation report providers in BC, by region, showing which have strata work on record. Ask two or three for written proposals.
- When the funding plan puts a roof replacement or exterior repaint in the next few years, compare strata roofing companies and painting companies early.
- Benchmark your strata fees, realistic fee range for your building size and city, free. If your fees look high, checking the depreciation-report funding plan is the first place to look.
- Should you switch your management firm? Run the scorecard, if the firm isn’t presenting the depreciation report at budget time, that’s one of the six signals.
- Browse BC strata management firms by city. Filter by Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, or your municipality.
- See up to five firms that fit your building, ranked with reasons, then ask each how it handles CRF planning.
Sources
Checked against the sources below on November 6, 2026 (BC Laws: Acts current to October 27, 2026; regulations to November 3, 2026). This is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
How often does a BC strata need a depreciation report?
At least every five years for stratas with five or more lots (Section 94 of the Strata Property Act and Regulation s.6.21). The old three-quarter vote to defer a report ended on July 1, 2024, so it is no longer an option. Stratas with fewer than five lots are exempt.
Who pays for a BC strata depreciation report?
The strata corporation pays. Owners can approve the cost by majority vote as an operating fund expense in the budget (section 92) or as a contingency reserve fund expense (section 96), or by a 3/4 vote as a special levy (section 108). The price depends on the size and complexity of the buildings, and the Province publishes no range, so get quotes. For scale, a developer of a strata created on or after July 1, 2027 must pay $5,000 plus $200 per lot, up to $30,000, toward its first report (Regulation s.6.23). The report must come from one of six professions listed in Regulation s.6.2: engineers, architects, applied science technologists, accredited appraisers, certified reserve planners or quantity surveyors. Management firms don't write them.
What happens if a BC strata doesn't have a current depreciation report?
The corporation is in breach of Section 94 of the Strata Property Act. An owner can ask the Civil Resolution Tribunal to order the strata to comply. Lenders increasingly require a current report before approving a mortgage against a unit, which affects sales. Insurance underwriters also use depreciation-report status as a risk input.
Can a BC strata opt out of the depreciation report requirement?
No, not any more. The three-quarter vote to waive a depreciation report was removed on July 1, 2024. Stratas with five or more lots need a new report at least every five years (Regulation s.6.21). Stratas with fewer than five lots are exempt.
Who reads the depreciation report?
The council reads it cover-to-cover, not just the summary. Any owner can get a copy within 2 weeks of asking (Section 36), and the most recent report must be attached to every Form B (Section 59(4)). Prospective buyers' lawyers review it during due diligence. Insurance underwriters use its findings to price the master policy. Lenders use it to assess mortgageability. Treat it as a public-facing document.
