Condominium - Purchase Of
1. Hire a professional home inspector of your own to assess the building.
2. Ask the developer for a list of projects the company has done in the past and check them out. If the company has had any problems with its projects before, how has it dealt with them? Check the company's reliability report with the BBB.
3. Make sure the developer used a "building envelope specialist" and ask what kind of rain screen system was used. Be aware that flat-roofed, multi-unit buildings with little or no overhang and designs with a profusion of angles have shown a propensity to leak. There is often no sign of a problem until years after construction is complete.
4. Contact the Homeowner Protection Office at (604) 646-7050. It also has a website at www.hpo.bc.ca.
As of September 30, 2000, regulations under the Homeowner Protection Act require the licensing of contractors who perform building envelope renovations on residential buildings of three units or more. The HPO keeps an up-to-date registry of all Licensed Building Envelope Renovators in the province on its website for consumers to reference.
Licensed Building Envelope Renovators are also required to arrange for third-party home warranty insurance on their work on multi-unit buildings through an insurance company approved by the British Columbia Financial Institutions Commission. The minimum coverage and standards for this warranty insurance must meet the requirements of the Homeowner Protection Act and as such will always include 2 years on labour and materials for any job that costs more than $2,000 per unit. If 60 percent or more of any wall is replaced, an additional 5-year warranty on water penetration is mandatory. For enquiries regarding building envelope remediation or for information about the regulations governing building envelope repairs, warranty requirements, and for a list of licensed building envelope renovators, please visit the HPO's website at www.hpo.bc.ca.
5. Get your own real estate agent. The seller's agent may put the best interests of their client first.
6. Ask whether the builder has an after-sales service program and get details.
7. Make sure the developer belongs to a professional association.
8. In a condo that's been operating for some time, ask your real estate agent to see the "Property Condition Disclosure Statement" for the unit you are considering buying.
9. Ask for a record of strata corporation minutes of recent meetings and read them to see what problems are being discussed.
10. You may wish to contact the Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners at www.myleakycondo.com for more information.
11. You may also wish to contact the Condominium Home Owners Association Of B C at (604) 584-2462 for further information. It also has a website at http://www.choa.bc.ca.
12. Another source you may wish to contact is the Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings at http://www.hadd.com.
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