Member Article

The British Columbia Law Institute published on September 1, 2016 its Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas seeking public comments on proposed reforms to the Strata Property Act and its regulations concerning sections, types, and phases.

The BCLI carries out scholarly research, writing and analysis for law reform, collaborating with government and other entities, and providing materials and support for outreach and public information.

Sections and types allow a strata corporation to manage cost sharing between owners, while phases permit the development of a strata property in segments over tended time. These tools are important in creating and sustaining sophisticated, architecturally varied, or mixed-use stratas. With the publication of the consultation paper, the public has an opportunity to consider and comment on a comprehensive list of needed reforms to sections, types, and phases.

The consultation paper has 68 tentative recommendations for reform, including:
- 29 tentative recommendations on sections, which propose clarifying the process for creating and cancelling sections, spelling out section powers and duties strengthening section governance, budgets, and finances;
- 14 tentative recommendations on types, which propose clarifying the process for creating and cancelling types and fine-tuning the operation of types; and
- 25 tentative recommendations on phases, which propose enhancing the phasing process, simplifying governance in a phased strata corporation and providing additional protections for the financial interests of owners in a phased strata.

Ed Wilson, senior partner of our Real Estate Group is a member of the BCLI's Strata Property Law Project Committee, which commenced its review of the Strata Property Act in October of 2013 and will continue its review of other important issues into 2017.  Lisa A. Peters, head of Lawson Lundell's Research and Opinion Group is the incoming Chair of the BCLI.