What Strata Documents Are Important for a Home Inspection?

If you are looking at buying a strata unit, that being a housing unit that’s part of a common building like an apartment condo, you will likely find yourself confronted by a massive pile of documents that concern many different aspects of the unit you are buying. While all these documents are important, not all of them directly relate to the physical state of the unit and are thus not considered an important part of a home inspection. In today’s blog we will be looking at what strata documents are important for a home inspection and why they should be reviewed with help from a professional home inspector.

What are Strata Documents?

Strata Documents are an important set of records that cover information about the strata’s operations, financial health and the general condition of the strata building. These documents usually include the bylaws of the strata building, meeting minutes from the strata council meetings, meeting minutes from the general meetings, details about insurance, direct financial information about the strata unit, engineering reports and depreciation reports. All of these documents are important in some way and all of them should be reviewed before you make your final decision. If you are concerned about the complexity of these documents, you should speak to your realtor as many of them will be able to assist in deciphering the array of documents you need to look over.

What Strata Documents are important for a home inspection?

The strata document that is the most important for a home inspection is the engineering report. The Engineering Report covers the current physical state of the strata property and can be used to identify and deficiencies in the building’s structure, envelope or other building components.

What should an engineering report cover?

It should contain an assessment of the structural integrity of the property with details on the building’s foundation, roofing and overall structure, it should mention any instances of significant wear and tear or any potential building failures. It should contain details on any issues with the exterior walls, windows and balconies that could lead to water entering the property and causing damage. It should contain an assessment of the mechanical systems of the property like heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing as these can be some of the most expensive repairs.

Engineering Reports are important for highlighting the current condition of the strata property and any immediate concerns and defects that might affect the property. If you have any concerns about strata engineering reports or need help reviewing them please feel free to contact us and we can include this review as part of a condo or townhouse inspection.

The Inspectors is a group of very experienced home inspectors who bring reliability and integrity to the practice of home inspection. These inspectors follow closely the established standards of the Canadian National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.

If you have any questions about this article or would like to talk to us about home inspection, we encourage you to call us at (778) 788-5301.