Offences

290   An individual who knowingly makes a false statement in a Certificate of Strata Corporation in the prescribed form commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $2 000 or to imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or to both.

Application of other laws

291   (1) The Business Corporations Act does not apply to a strata corporation except as specifically provided in this Act.

(2) Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or to the regulations.

(3) The rule against perpetuities and the Perpetuity Act do not apply to an agreement or instrument entered into by a strata corporation.

(4) For the purposes of the Land (Spouse Protection) Act, a strata lot is deemed to be land on which a building is located.

Personal liability protection

291.1   (1) In this section:

"Authority" means the BC Financial Services Authority established under section 2 of the Financial Services Authority Act;

"protected individual" means an individual who is any of the following:

(a) the superintendent;

(b) an individual acting on behalf of or under the direction of the superintendent.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), no legal proceeding for damages lies or may be commenced or maintained against a protected individual because of anything done or omitted

(a) in the exercise or intended exercise of any power under this Act, or

(b) in the performance or intended performance of any duty under this Act.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a protected individual in relation to anything done or omitted in bad faith.

(4) Subsection (2) does not absolve the Authority from vicarious liability arising out of anything done or omitted by a protected individual for which the Authority would be vicariously liable if this section were not in force.

Power to make regulations

292   (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as authorized by section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) respecting a fee, including a maximum fee, for a document supplied by a strata corporation or for a procedure or function required or permitted under this Act;

(b) respecting forms permitted or required under this Act;

(c) respecting the amount to be calculated for the purposes of section 14 (5), 17 (b) or 37 (2);

(d) specifying the persons whose names and addresses must be provided for the purposes of section 20 (2) (a) (vi);

(e) regarding a record or information

(i) to be given by an owner developer to a strata corporation under section 20,

(ii) to be prepared or retained by the strata corporation under section 35, and

(iii) to be included in an Information Certificate under section 59;

(f) specifying the time periods for which records must be retained by a strata corporation;

(g) respecting the persons who may be proxies, the number of proxies they may hold, the circumstances in which they may be proxies and restrictions on their powers as proxies;

(h) exempting persons from the requirements of or varying the requirements under section 70 (4);

(i) respecting a change in the use or appearance of common property or land that is a common asset under section 71;

(j) identifying common property the repair and maintenance of which may be made the responsibility of an owner under section 72 (2);

(j.1) specifying a period of more than one year and prescribing classes of parking stalls, for the purposes of section 76 (2) (b) (ii);

(k) respecting the amount of a lien holdback under section 88 (2);

(k.1) for the purposes of section 90.1 (2),

(i) respecting information to be included in a request,

(ii) respecting the determination of dates on or after which a request must be made, and

(iii) establishing requirements respecting a request;

(k.2) prescribing classes of EV charging infrastructure for the purposes of section 90.2 (2) (a);

(k.3) prescribing criteria for the purposes of section 90.2 (2) (c);

(k.4) prescribing matters for the purposes of section 90.2 (3) (c);

(k.5) prescribing a period for the purposes of section 90.2 (6);

(l) providing for the form of and information to be included in budgets and financial statements;

(l.1) specifying permitted investments for the purposes of section 95 (2) (a) or 108 (4) (b);

(m) varying the method for calculating a strata lot's share of contributions for the purposes of sections 99, 195 or any other section or varying the method for calculating an owner developer's contribution for the expenses of common facilities under section 227;

(n) respecting the maximum rate of interest that may be established under a bylaw or resolution referred to in section 107 (1) or 108 (4.1);

(o) respecting the imposition of user fees by a strata corporation under section 110;

(p) respecting the maximum amount of a fine or the maximum frequency of imposition of fines under section 132;

(q) respecting the minimum amount of liability insurance under section 150 and the payment of an insurance deductible referred to in section 158;

(r) specifying the criteria for differentiating between different types of strata lots for the purposes of section 191 (2);

(s) respecting the evaluation of the fair market value of a leasehold tenant's interest for the purposes of section 214;

(t) applying or disapplying provisions of the Act to phased strata plans and the phases of phased strata plans, and modifying the operation of provisions of the Act to provide for the orderly administration of phases in a phased strata plan;

(u) respecting strata plans, including their form, content and approval;

(v) respecting the form and content of an endorsement required or permitted under this Act;

(w) respecting the procedure for applications under, exempting persons from the requirements of, setting out matters for the court to consider or varying the requirements under section 246 (7) and (8);

(x) respecting the form and content of a conversion schedule under section 273 (1) and an interest schedule under section 278 (1);

(y) respecting the cancellation of bare land strata plans and, without limitation,

(i) establishing the circumstances under which a bare land strata plan may be cancelled,

(ii) establishing the procedures to be followed in the cancellation of a bare land strata plan, and

(iii) limiting the application of the regulations to bare land strata plans that are created before a prescribed date;

(z) varying a provision of this Act to provide for a different time period or monetary amount than that stated in the Act.

(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) defining strata plans to be bare land strata plans;

(a.01) prescribing classes of motor vehicles for the purposes of the definition of "motor vehicle" in section 1;

(a.1) defining "qualified person" for the purposes of section 94 (1), 94.1 (1) or 103 (6);

(a.11) respecting depreciation reports referred to in section 94 (2), including

(i) any circumstances in which a strata corporation need not obtain or may defer obtaining a depreciation report,

(ii) the determination of dates on or before which a strata corporation must obtain a depreciation report,

(iii) the form and content of depreciation reports and the standards and methodologies to be used in them, and

(iv) any requirements for an owner developer to obtain an initial depreciation report or pay into the contingency reserve fund an amount sufficient for the strata corporation to obtain such a report;

(a.2) prescribing a period for the purposes of section 103 (5) (a);

(a.3) prescribing classes of strata corporations for the purposes of section 103 (5) (b);

(a.4) prescribing information for the purposes of section 94 (4);

(a.41) respecting electrical planning reports referred to in section 94.1 (2), including

(i) any circumstances in which a strata corporation need not obtain or may defer obtaining an electrical planning report,

(ii) the determination of dates on or before which a strata corporation must obtain an electrical planning report, and

(iii) the form and content of electrical planning reports and the standards and methodologies to be used in them;

(a.42) prescribing information for the purposes of section 94.1 (3), including, without limitation, information respecting

(i) the qualified person from whom an electrical planning report under section 94.1 is obtained,

(ii) the capacity of, and current and anticipated demands on, the strata corporation's electrical system, and

(iii) the location, installation, operation and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure in the strata corporation, including, without limitation, information respecting

(A) the management of electricity used by EV charging infrastructure,

(B) the estimated cost of installing, operating or maintaining EV charging infrastructure, and

(C) upgrades to the strata corporation's electrical system required to install and operate EV charging infrastructure;

(a.5) prescribing standards for the purposes of section 103 (5);

(a.6) prescribing classes of persons for the purposes of section 123.2 (c);

(b) [Repealed 2022-41-25.]

(c) defining "fixtures" for the purposes of sections 149 (1) (d) and 152 (b);

(c.1) prescribing circumstances for the purposes of section 149 (4) (a);

(c.2) defining "major perils" for the purposes of section 149 (4) (b);

(d) defining "public authority" for the purposes of the definition of "leasehold landlord" in section 199;

(e) defining "habitable area" for the purposes of section 246 (4);

(f) defining any word or expression used but not defined in this Act;

(g) respecting the conduct of hearings by arbitrators;

(h) respecting the determination of the amount of the annual contribution to the contingency reserve fund under section 93;

(i) respecting the circumstances in which a strata corporation may lend money in the contingency reserve fund to the operating fund;

(j) respecting all matters that by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed.

(3.01) A regulation made under subsection (3) (c.1) may be made retroactive to the date on which this subsection comes into force or a later date, and if made retroactive is deemed to have come into force on the specified date.

(3.1) Without limiting subsection (1), in making regulations under this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may do one or both of the following:

(a) make different regulations for different classes of lots or strata corporations;

(b) in the case of regulations that may be made respecting definitions, periods, information, standards or other matters referenced in 2 or more provisions of this Act, make different regulations for the definitions, periods, information, standards or other matters as they pertain to different provisions.

(4) For surrendered land, the regulations may provide for one or more of the following:

(a) the registration under the land title legislation of leases of prescribed land if the land has been surrendered under the Indian Act (Canada) and is vested in Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada;

(b) the subdivision of all or part of the surrendered land into strata lots by the deposit in a land title office of leasehold strata plans;

(c) strata corporations with respect to the surrendered land, including the composition of the strata corporations;

(d) related matters, including the rights and obligations of any person or strata corporation.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the regulations may

(a) exempt all or part of the surrendered land, any leases and any person or strata corporation from the application of all or part of this Act, and

(b) enact additional provisions respecting the surrendered land, any leases and any person or strata corporation even though the additional provisions may be wholly or partially inconsistent with this Act.

Transitional

293   (1) Except as otherwise provided by this Act and the regulations, this Act and the regulations apply to a strata plan deposited and a strata corporation created under the Condominium Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 64 or any former Act.

(2) On the coming into force of this subsection, a regulation of a strata corporation is deemed to be a rule and the provisions of this Act that apply to rules apply to regulations made by a strata corporation.

(3) The coming into force of this Act does not affect the deposit of a strata plan if the application for deposit was made before the coming into force of this Act.

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for meeting or removing any difficulty arising out of the transition to this Act from the Condominium Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 64, and for that purpose disapplying or varying any provision of this Act.

Spent

294-321   [Repeal and consequential amendments. Spent. 1998-43-294 to 321.]

Commencement

322   This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.