Strata Alteration Requests in BC: Who Approves What, and the Agreement Owners Must Sign

Almost every alteration dispute in a BC strata starts the same way: somebody applied the wrong rule. Owners think section 71 governs their kitchen renovation. Councils think a 3/4 vote is needed to let someone replace a window. Both are usually wrong, and the confusion costs buildings real money in unwound work and tribunal claims.

Here is the actual architecture, in the order a council should think about it.

This article is general information about the Strata Property Act and the Schedule of Standard Bylaws, not legal advice. Your strata's registered bylaws may differ substantially from the standard ones, and they govern. Confirm anything significant with a strata lawyer.

Two completely different approval routes

The first question is not "what does this alteration involve." It is who is doing the altering.

When the strata corporation alters common property

Section 71 of the Strata Property Act is about the corporation's own actions. It says the strata corporation must not make a significant change in the use or appearance of common property or land that is a common asset unless:

• the change is approved by a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting, or
• there are reasonable grounds to believe an immediate change is necessary to ensure safety or prevent significant loss or damage

The Act now also allows a majority vote where the change is for electric vehicle charging infrastructure — a deliberate softening covered in our guide to EV charging in BC stratas.

So: repainting the building a different colour, removing a lawn to put in xeriscaping, converting a guest suite to a gym, enclosing a breezeway. Those are owner decisions taken at a general meeting, not council decisions.

Note the qualifier. Section 71 catches significant changes. Repainting the same colour, replacing a failed pump with the same pump, and routine maintenance are repair and maintenance under section 72, not alterations, and they do not need a vote.

When an owner alters

An owner's alteration is governed by the bylaws, not section 71. Under the Schedule of Standard Bylaws:

• Bylaw 5 requires an owner to obtain the strata corporation's written approval before altering a strata lot where the alteration involves the structure of the building, the exterior of the building, chimneys, stairs, balconies and other things attached to the exterior, doors, windows and skylights on the exterior or fronting on common property, fences and railings enclosing a patio or balcony or yard, common property located within the boundaries of the strata lot, and those parts of the strata lot the strata corporation must insure under section 149.
• Bylaw 6 requires written approval before an owner alters common property, including limited common property, or common assets.

Both bylaws let the strata corporation require, as a condition of approval, that the owner agree in writing to take responsibility for expenses relating to the alteration. Bylaw 5 also says the strata corporation must not unreasonably withhold its approval.

"Written approval of the strata corporation" here means the council acting for the corporation. It does not mean a general meeting.

Check your own bylaws — many stratas have amended 5 and 6 heavily, adding application procedures, deposits, insurance requirements and specific prohibitions.

The overlap that catches everyone

An owner alteration can also be a significant change in the use or appearance of common property — at which point you are in both regimes and you need both council approval and a 3/4 vote.

Classic candidates: enclosing a balcony, mounting equipment on an exterior wall, changing window glass to a different tint on a street-facing elevation, installing a visible satellite dish, adding a gate across a limited common property patio.

The test the tribunals apply looks at things like visibility from other lots and the street, whether the change is permanent, whether it affects the building's uniform appearance, and whether it affects the use or enjoyment of common property by others. There is no bright line. When the answer is genuinely unclear, the cheap move is to put it to a general meeting anyway; the expensive move is to approve it at council and be told two years later that you could not.

What a complete alteration application looks like

Councils that publish a form get better applications, faster decisions and fewer arguments. Require, at minimum:

• A written description of the work and its purpose
• Drawings or a sketch, dimensioned, showing what is being removed and what is being added
• Which parts of the building are affected — strata lot, common property, limited common property. Our guides to reading a strata plan and common property versus limited common property settle most of this in ten minutes
• The contractor's name, business licence, WorkSafeBC clearance and proof of liability insurance
• Any municipal permits required, or a written statement that none are
• For anything touching structure or the building envelope, a letter from a professional engineer
• For buildings constructed before 1990, confirmation of a hazardous materials survey where the work could disturb materials containing asbestos — this is a WorkSafeBC requirement, not a strata preference
• A schedule, including work hours, elevator booking, and how debris and access will be handled
• A signed alteration agreement

The alteration agreement, and what belongs in it

This is the document that protects the other owners, and a one-paragraph version is worse than none because it creates false confidence.

A workable agreement should deal with:

• Assumption of responsibility for all costs of the alteration, including making good any damage to common property
• Ongoing maintenance, repair and replacement of the altered element, and who bears it
• Removal and restoration — if the strata later needs access, or if the element fails, who pays to take it out and put things back
• Insurance — that the alteration does not become the strata's insured element by default, and confirmation of the owner's own coverage
• Compliance with permits, codes and the strata's bylaws
• Access for the strata to inspect and to reach anything behind or under the alteration
• Indemnity for loss the strata suffers as a result of the alteration
• Notice to future owners — the agreement should be filed in the strata's records and disclosed with the Form B Information Certificate

Whether an alteration agreement binds a subsequent owner is a recurring and genuinely contested question in BC. Do not assume it does. The safe practice is to disclose it clearly in the records and on the Form B, so the next buyer takes with notice, and to have a lawyer draft the wording once for reuse rather than improvising per application.

"Must not unreasonably withhold" — what that actually constrains

Under Standard Bylaw 5, a council cannot simply refuse because it would rather not deal with the request. What it can do is:

• Refuse for reasons connected to the building — structural risk, envelope integrity, noise transmission, fire separation, appearance, precedent
• Impose conditions that are proportionate to the risk
• Ask for more information before deciding

What gets councils into trouble is inconsistency. If three balcony enclosures were approved and the fourth is refused, the fourth owner will ask why, and "the council changed its mind" is a poor answer. Decide the policy, write it down, apply it to everyone, and put reasons in writing. An owner who is refused can request a council hearing, and the written reasons are what you will be defending.

Hard-surface flooring: the alteration councils under-police

Replacing carpet with laminate, engineered hardwood or tile is the most common alteration in BC stratas and the most common source of a noise complaint two years later. In many buildings it engages Bylaw 5 because it involves parts of the strata lot the corporation must insure, and in nearly all buildings a specific flooring bylaw applies on top.

If your building has a hard-surface flooring bylaw, the alteration application is where you enforce it — by requiring the underlay specification and the acoustic rating before the work, with an invoice or installer declaration afterwards. Once the floor is down, your options collapse to a bylaw enforcement process against a neighbour who has already spent the money.

Unauthorised alterations

They happen constantly, usually discovered during a sale or a leak.

The strata's tools are the ordinary bylaw enforcement tools. Following the notice-and-response process in the Act, a council may impose fines, and it may remedy the contravention and charge the reasonable cost to the person responsible. Our guide to bylaw enforcement and fines sets out the steps, and skipping them is how fines get overturned.

Two practical cautions. First, an ordered removal is a large remedy and tribunals expect proportionality — councils that go straight to "tear it out" without asking whether a retroactive approval with conditions would work sometimes get an unwelcome result. Second, if the alteration has been in place for years with the council's knowledge, the strata's position weakens. Deal with alterations when you find them.

The cleanest resolution for a good-faith unauthorised alteration is usually a retroactive approval with a full alteration agreement — the strata gets its protection, the owner keeps their kitchen, and the file closes.

Frequently asked questions

Does an owner need a 3/4 vote to renovate their unit? Usually no. An owner's alteration is approved in writing by the strata corporation under the bylaws, which in practice means the council. A 3/4 vote is needed where the alteration would also be a significant change in the use or appearance of common property — for example enclosing a balcony or mounting equipment on an exterior wall.

What is the difference between section 71 and Standard Bylaws 5 and 6? Section 71 constrains the strata corporation itself from making a significant change to common property without a 3/4 vote (or a majority vote for EV charging infrastructure). Bylaws 5 and 6 require an owner to get the strata corporation's written approval before altering a strata lot or common property. Different actors, different routes.

Can a strata council refuse an alteration request? Yes, but under the standard bylaw it must not unreasonably withhold approval. Refusals should be for building-related reasons, applied consistently, and given in writing. An owner who disagrees can request a council hearing and, ultimately, apply to the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Does an alteration agreement bind the next owner of the unit? That is a contested question in BC and should not be assumed. Keep the agreement in the strata's records, disclose it on the Form B so the buyer takes with notice, and have the wording drafted by a strata lawyer.

What can a strata do about an alteration that was never approved? Follow the bylaw enforcement process in the Act. Council can impose fines, and can remedy the contravention and charge the reasonable cost to the person responsible. In many cases the practical resolution is a retroactive approval on the condition that the owner signs a full alteration agreement.

Related reading

• Who's Responsible? Strata vs Owner Repairs and Maintenance in BC
• Common Property vs Limited Common Property in BC Stratas
• How to Read a BC Strata Plan (and Why It Settles Most Repair Arguments)
• Strata Bylaw Enforcement & Fines in BC: How to Do It Right
• Strata Council Hearings in BC: Your Right to Be Heard
• EV Charging in BC Stratas: Planning Infrastructure the Right Way

Section 71 sits in Part 5 and the Standard Bylaws in the Schedule of the Strata Property Act.

A clear alteration policy, a real application form and a lawyer-drafted agreement remove most of this friction permanently. Onehive builds those into the strata management we provide for communities across Metro Vancouver — request a proposal.