Every building permit application in BC has a line for the owner. On a 70-unit condo in Burnaby, the owner on that line is none of the 70 people who live there. It is the strata corporation, and a strata corporation can only act through its council. That one fact decides who applies for a strata renovation permit in BC, who signs the application, and who gets the call when an inspector finds a problem.
Most of the permit delays we see on strata projects start with a misunderstanding about that line. Council assumes the property manager filed. The property manager assumes the consultant did. An owner renovating a suite assumes the city's approval covers the strata's, while council assumes the city checked what the owner was building. Each assumption holds until somebody opens a wall.
Who applies for a renovation permit on a strata building in BC?
For work on common property (cladding, windows, balconies, the roof), the strata corporation is the owner of record. Council authorizes the application by resolution and a signed letter, and the envelope consultant or contractor submits it as the strata's agent. For work inside a strata lot, the owner or their contractor applies, with the strata's written approval attached. Buildings over three storeys or 600 square metres of building area also need letters of assurance from registered professionals.
Common property or strata lot: settle this first
Before anyone fills in a form, find out who owns the part of the building being renovated. The registered strata plan and the bylaws answer that question. The property manager usually has both on file, and if not, a copy of the plan from the Land Title and Survey Authority takes minutes to order online.
Exterior walls, the roof, the structure, and the pipes and wiring that serve more than one suite are usually common property. Section 72 of the Strata Property Act makes the strata corporation responsible for repairing and maintaining them. Balconies and patios are often limited common property: one owner uses them, all the owners own them.
Windows and exterior doors are where owners get surprised. Under the Standard Bylaws, the strata corporation repairs and maintains doors, windows and skylights on the exterior of the building, along with balconies and the structure, even where those parts sit inside a strata lot's boundary. Plenty of buildings have amended their bylaws, so read your own set before assuming either way.
The answer sorts every strata renovation permit into one of two kinds. Whole-building work on common property runs through the strata corporation, which applies as the owner. Work inside a suite runs through the owner, with the strata's consent. Most real projects have some of both, and that overlap is where the paperwork tangles.
Whole-building projects: council authorizes, someone signs for the strata
On a building envelope renovation, a re-clad, a window replacement program or a balcony membrane project, the strata corporation is the owner on the strata renovation permit. Council members do not sign as individuals. Council passes a resolution, recorded in the minutes, that authorizes the application and names who signs for the strata corporation. Usually that is the property manager under the management agreement, or two council members.
The city then wants a letter of authorization on strata letterhead. Most Metro Vancouver building departments, Vancouver's included, will not accept an application for work on common property without one, and a vague letter comes back with questions. We suggest the letter covers:
- The strata plan number and civic address, matching the city's property records
- A scope description that matches the permit drawings word for word, such as "rainscreen re-cladding of all four elevations and replacement of 212 windows"
- The name and firm of the agent who will submit the application and correspond with the city
- The date of the council resolution, and the name of the person who signs for the strata
- A contact for booking access to suites and balconies during inspections
Building size changes the rest of the paperwork. The BC Building Code handles residential buildings of up to three storeys and up to 600 square metres of building area under Part 9, the simpler rules written for houses and small buildings. Anything larger falls under Part 3, and a Part 3 permit comes with letters of assurance. Schedule A is signed by the owner and by the coordinating registered professional, an architect or engineer who takes responsibility for coordinating the design and the field reviews. So on a four-storey condo near Metrotown, a person signing for the strata puts their name on a code document next to the consultant's. Each registered professional then signs a Schedule B for their part of the design, and a Schedule C-B at the end confirming they reviewed the work in the field.
The area limit catches councils off guard. A three-storey walk-up with a long footprint can pass 600 square metres and land in Part 3, along with the professional requirements that come with it.
Budget for both. Envelope consultants on strata remediation commonly charge 8 to 12 percent of construction cost for design, tendering and field review. Building permit fees sit in the same 1 to 1.5 percent band as house renovations, so a $1.8 million re-clad in Vancouver carries roughly $20,000 to $25,000 in permit fees. Review time is the larger cost. In Vancouver, three months or more for a Part 3 envelope permit is common, counted from the day the city accepts the application as complete. Our guide to renovation permit costs and timelines breaks the fees down by municipality.
The owners' vote and the permit are separate gates
A council can authorize a permit application without an owners' vote. Paying for the construction is a different matter. A special levy under section 108 needs a 3/4 vote at a general meeting, and a significant change in the appearance of common property needs its own 3/4 vote under section 71. Contingency reserve spending on repairs recommended in the current depreciation report can pass by majority. Our article on the votes a strata needs to approve exterior work walks through each threshold.
The building department does not read your minutes for the levy vote. It reads the authorization letter. That gap creates an option most councils never use: if the consultant's permit drawings are funded and finished, the strata can submit the application before the general meeting, so the city's review runs while owners decide.
This cuts against instinct, because it feels like spending ahead of approval. Look at the calendar, though. A council that waits for a February AGM, then applies, may not hold a permit until May or June. Cladding comes off in the summer and goes back on during the October rains, which is the worst season to have open walls on the coast. Applied in November, the same permit is often in hand by the vote, and the contractor can mobilize in spring.
The risk is real and limited. If owners vote the levy down, the strata loses the application fees and the city review time already spent. If owners approve a scope that differs from the drawings, such as a different cladding colour or a phased start, the consultant revises the application. Councils should weigh both against a lost construction season, which on a large re-clad can mean another winter of water damage behind failed walls.
Owner renovations inside a suite
When an owner renovates their own strata lot, the owner applies for the strata renovation permit, or their contractor applies on their behalf. Kitchen cabinets, flooring and paint usually need no permit at all. Moving plumbing fixtures needs a plumbing permit. Removing or opening a wall needs a building permit, and so does anything structural.
The strata's approval is a separate step, and it comes first. Standard Bylaw 5 requires an owner to get the strata corporation's written approval before altering a strata lot where the work involves the structure, the exterior, exterior windows and doors, balconies, or parts of the lot the strata insures. Standard Bylaw 6 covers alterations to common property. Council must not unreasonably withhold approval, but it can make the owner agree in writing to take responsibility for expenses that come from the alteration. Many buildings add their own renovation bylaws on top: work hours, elevator protection, a damage deposit, proof of the contractor's liability insurance and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter.
Most building departments also want the strata's approval letter attached to any strata renovation permit an owner applies for. A council that meets monthly can add four to six weeks before the application even goes in, so owners planning an interior renovation in a strata suite should put the request to council early.
The mistake: two approvals, and nobody checking
The expensive mistake in strata permits is each approval relying on the other.
Take an owner in one of Vancouver's concrete towers who wants to move a bathroom. The new drain needs a core through the floor slab, and the slab is structure and common property. Council approves the request because the city will review it. The city reviews the plumbing layout and the code issues inside the suite. Many Vancouver towers have post-tensioned slabs, where steel tendons run through the concrete under high tension, and cutting one is a structural repair that can cost far more than the bathroom.
The strata's approval is the place to protect the building. For anything that touches structure, exterior or shared services, a council can reasonably ask for drawings, an engineer's letter, a scan of the slab before coring, and the owner's written agreement to cover any damage. None of that slows a well-planned renovation, and the city will not ask for it on the strata's behalf.
Who should hold the permit on a whole-building project
The usual advice is to have the contractor pull the permit, so code responsibility sits on a licensed builder rather than on an owner. For a suite renovation, that advice holds.
On a whole-building envelope project with a consultant, we would rather see the consultant submit as the strata's agent and the contractor named as the builder. The city relies on the consultant's drawings and field reviews, and an applicant who is independent of the company being paid to build keeps that review honest. On smaller Part 9 work without a consultant, such as a window replacement at a 24-unit townhouse complex, the contractor normally submits. In that case council should ask for copies of everything filed and keep them.
Inspections and closing the permit in an occupied building
A permitted envelope project goes through several municipal inspections, typically at sheathing and membrane, at insulation where the assembly changes, and at final. On a Part 3 project the consultant also makes field reviews, often weekly during cladding work. Inspectors and reviewers need balcony access and sometimes suite access. Under Standard Bylaw 7, the strata can enter a strata lot to inspect or repair common property on 48 hours' written notice, so the schedule has to build in notice periods for every stage.
Closing a strata renovation permit matters as much as getting it. A Part 3 permit closes after final inspection and the professionals' Schedule C-B letters. An open permit on a strata building turns up when buyers' agents check the property file, and the next depreciation report planner will ask for the final inspection records. Keep the permit, the stamped drawings, the letters of assurance and the final inspection with the strata's permanent records.
Working with MV Construction on a strata permit
MV Construction works on strata buildings across Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island, as the building envelope contractor on consultant-led projects and as the general contractor on smaller ones. We are fully licensed and WCB-insured, with more than 10 years of experience on BC buildings, and our craftsmanship is warranty-backed. Before work starts we give councils the documents they ask for: the WorkSafeBC clearance letter, the insurance certificate, the permit schedule and the inspection sequence. For suite renovations, we prepare the drawings and the package council needs to review an owner's alteration request.
If your council is planning exterior work, or an owner in your building is planning a renovation, call (778) 375-5672 or request a fixed-scope estimate. The written estimate shows who applies, which approvals the work needs and how long the municipality is likely to take, before anyone signs a contract.
