Telecom and Fibre Right-of-Entry Agreements: Read Before You Sign

A letter arrives from a major carrier. The building is being upgraded to fibre. There is no cost to the strata. Residents will get faster internet. Enclosed is a Building Access Agreement, and could the president please sign and return it at their earliest convenience.

It reads like a formality. It is not. That document grants a commercial party a long-term interest in your common property, and in many versions it is registered against title, runs for decades, and is not council's to sign. Free fibre is worth having. It is worth having on terms somebody read.

This article is general information and is not legal advice. Access agreements vary considerably between carriers and versions. Have a lawyer review the actual document before anyone signs.

What you are actually being asked to grant

Under the various names — Right of Entry, Building Access Agreement, Licence Agreement, Access and Licence Agreement — the substance is a grant of rights over the strata's common property: to enter, to install equipment in risers, service rooms and corridors, to run cable, to place equipment cabinets, and to return for maintenance.

That is a disposition of an interest in common property, not a maintenance authorisation. Some versions go further and are registered as a charge against the common property title, which means they bind every future owner and every future council whether or not anyone remembers agreeing. See easements and statutory rights of way on BC strata land for what a registered charge does to a building's freedom of action.

Council probably cannot sign it

The most consequential point, and the one carriers' representatives rarely raise.

Granting an interest in common property — a lease, a licence of any duration, an easement, a statutory right of way — is generally not within council's ordinary authority. Depending on the nature and term of the interest, it requires approval by owners at a general meeting, commonly by a 3/4 vote, and registration of a charge against title certainly belongs in that category. Selling common property or a strata-owned lot in BC covers the same principle for dispositions generally.

A president who signs a twenty-year registered access agreement because it arrived with a covering letter has created a problem for the corporation and potentially for themselves. When in doubt, the answer is not to sign faster; it is to put it to owners.

The eight terms to check before anything else

1. Term and renewal. Ten, fifteen and twenty-year terms are common, frequently with automatic renewal unless the strata gives notice within a narrow window years in advance. Negotiate the term down and strip the automatic renewal. A five-year term with a mutual option is a reasonable ask.

2. Exclusivity. Do not sign an exclusive agreement. Exclusivity locks residents into one provider for the life of the term and is inconsistent with the federal regulatory position favouring resident choice in multi-dwelling buildings. Strike it. Watch also for softer versions — "preferred provider," marketing exclusivity, or a right of first refusal on future installations — which achieve much the same thing.

3. Ownership of the in-building wiring. Who owns the cable once it is installed? If the carrier does, a future strata may find that switching providers means rewiring the building. Push for the wiring to become the strata's property, or at minimum for it to transfer at the end of the term at no cost.

4. Restoration and making good. What happens to your walls, ceilings and finishes during installation, and to what standard are they restored? Get a defined standard rather than "reasonable condition," and get it in writing that penetrations will be firestopped to code.

5. Insurance, indemnity and safety. The carrier and its subcontractors should carry liability insurance naming the strata, provide WorkSafeBC clearance, and indemnify the corporation. Where their crew will be on site alongside anyone else, a prime contractor must be designated in writing — otherwise the strata is one by default. WorkSafeBC and your strata explains why that sentence matters more than it looks.

6. Access conditions. Notice before attending, coordination with the manager, restrictions on working hours in a residential building, and no unaccompanied access to secured areas without an agreed protocol. An access agreement that hands out permanent credentials undermines everything in improving building security in a BC strata.

7. Termination and removal. Can the strata terminate for breach? What happens to the equipment at the end — removed and made good, or abandoned in your riser? Buildings accumulate decades of dead cable this way.

8. Payment, and whether it is worth anything. Some agreements offer a signing payment, rent for equipment space, or revenue share. Where there is money, note that it is a taxable supply for GST purposes and may affect your registration position — see GST and strata fees in BC.

What a strata can and cannot refuse

There is a balance here worth stating honestly.

Canadian carriers are federally regulated, and the regulatory framework supports residents' ability to obtain service from the provider of their choice in multi-dwelling buildings. A strata that simply blocks all access in order to protect an incumbent arrangement is on weak ground, and it is also acting against its own residents' interests.

What a strata is entitled to do is set reasonable, non-discriminatory conditions on how access happens: notice, coordination, safety and insurance requirements, restoration standards, aesthetic requirements for visible equipment, and a proper process for approving the route. Offering the same reasonable terms to every carrier is both the right position and the defensible one.

The practical middle ground most well-run buildings land on: a standard access agreement of the strata's own, approved by owners once, offered to any carrier that asks. It removes the pressure to make a decision under a deadline, and it means the fifth carrier gets the same answer as the first.

Be alert to the pressure tactics, because they are consistent. A deadline that expires conveniently before your next general meeting. An offer framed as a limited-time upgrade for the building. A representative who says other councils sign this routinely, which is true and is not an argument. And direct appeals to residents, so that council arrives at the AGM facing owners who have been told the strata is blocking their internet. None of these is a reason to skip the review; if anything, urgency applied to a twenty-year document is a reason to slow down.

Handling the letter when it arrives

Do not sign it. Acknowledge receipt and say the strata will review it.

Ask what is actually proposed. Which rooms, which risers, what equipment, what dimensions, what power requirements, what route, how many days on site, and how many residents have asked for the service.

Ask whether registration against title is contemplated. This single question changes the analysis, and the answer belongs in your notes.

Have a lawyer review it. A few hundred dollars against a twenty-year encumbrance is not a close call. Ask specifically about the term, exclusivity, wiring ownership, restoration and termination.

Take it to owners with the lawyer's summary and a clear recommendation. Frame it accurately: this is a decision about the building's infrastructure for the next two decades, not about whether people want faster internet.

Minute all of it — the request, the advice, the terms negotiated, the vote. A future council will thank you, particularly when the renewal notice window opens. What must be included in strata council meeting minutes covers the standard.

File the executed agreement permanently, and diarise the renewal and termination dates. An automatic renewal that passes because nobody had the date is the single most common failure with these documents.

The same logic applies elsewhere

Anything that puts third-party equipment on your common property under a long agreement deserves the same treatment: rooftop cellular antennas, EV charging networks operated by a third party, digital signage, vending and laundry contracts with equipment rights, and solar installations under a lease. EV charging in BC stratas covers that planning in its own right.

The questions are always the same. What are we granting, for how long, can we get out, who owns the equipment at the end, and who is authorised to agree to it?

Frequently asked questions

Can a strata council sign a telecom right-of-entry agreement in BC? Usually not on its own. Granting an interest in common property — a licence, lease, easement or statutory right of way — generally requires approval by owners at a general meeting, often by a 3/4 vote, and any agreement registered as a charge against title certainly does.

Can a BC strata refuse to let a telecom carrier into the building? Not as a blanket position. Canadian carriers are federally regulated and the framework supports residents obtaining service from the provider of their choice. A strata can set reasonable, non-discriminatory conditions on access covering notice, safety, insurance, restoration and routing.

Should a strata sign an exclusive telecom agreement? No. Exclusivity locks residents into one provider for the life of the agreement and is inconsistent with the regulatory position on resident choice. Watch for softer versions such as preferred-provider clauses or rights of first refusal.

Who owns the fibre wiring installed inside a strata building? It depends entirely on the agreement, which is why it is worth negotiating. If the carrier retains ownership, a future council may find that changing providers means rewiring. Push for ownership to rest with, or transfer to, the strata at the end of the term.

What happens to telecom equipment when the agreement ends? Only what the agreement says. Without a removal-and-make-good obligation, equipment and cable are frequently abandoned in risers and service rooms, and the strata inherits the clutter and the disposal cost.

Related reading

• Easements and Statutory Rights of Way on BC Strata Land
• Selling Common Property or a Strata-Owned Lot in BC
• WorkSafeBC and Your Strata: When the Corporation Becomes an Employer
• EV Charging in BC Stratas: Planning Infrastructure the Right Way
• What Does a Strata Manager Actually Do (and Not Do) in BC?

The common property disposition rules sit in the Strata Property Act, charges are registered through BC Land Title and Survey, and carrier access to multi-dwelling buildings is regulated federally by the CRTC.

Free fibre is worth having. A twenty-year registered charge nobody read is not. Onehive provides strata management across Metro Vancouver — request a proposal.