Should agents make sure paperwork is in order when they list a Multi-Family Dwelling

SENWI inspects a lot of multi-family residences and we are becoming impatient with the general lack of transparency we are encountering by STRATA’s and their representatives (or in brand new buildings, by the developer) during the purchase process. SENWI feels that a purchaser is entitled to receive any and all information available on a given Strata complex, which would typically be available to the STRATA owners as a course of routine or on special request. This would include all minutes (Council and owner meetings), all engineering and mechanical reports, financial records, and any legal action by or against the STRATA. After all, the purchaser is technically now an owner with an accepted offer. That offer just happens to be based on the purchaser being satisfied with a due-diligence process.


Many good purchasers’ agents will include clauses in the purchase contract asking for these types of documents (unfortunately not all agents engage in this practice), but in our experience some of the documents (specifically the engineering and mechanical reports) are often not provided on a timely basis and sometimes not at all. For instance, our inspectors are regularly told that a building envelope report is not available for the STRATA’s we inspect. There are a very few occasions, once we have pressed the issue, that we find this to be the case and instead the problem often seems to be one of laziness or concealment.

It is SENWI’s opinion that the buying public needs to demand laws to better protect a purchaser in this Province. When a multi-family STRATA dwelling is offered for sale, there should be requirements in place to ensure the purchaser is provided access to all required and available documentation. This access should be expedient and not involve days of delay. In an age where hard drive space is cheap, there is no reason why all documents cannot be kept and forwarded in an electronic format at no cost within an hour or two of the request. There are also multiple economic options for electronic transport of large files including FTP sites if necessary. An even better option is to upload all of the STRATA’s documents to a secure website for owner access. Then a purchaser with an accepted offer could be provided login credentials to the website with full access to all of the documentation they need to make an informed and timely decision. Fortunately, the website concept is catching on with some of the larger STRATA’s in the city.

SO, if you are purchasing a multi-family, make sure your agent asks for these documents in  your offer and include an expedited time frame (at most 48 hours)  that you are to receive these documents.