Depreciation Reports and Brand-New Multiplexes: What BC Buyers Should Check

At some point in every strata purchase, a well-meaning friend or a checklist from the internet will tell you: 'Make sure you read the depreciation report.' Good advice for a fifteen-year-old condo tower. Confusing advice when you are buying a brand new multiplex home, because the building you are buying into may not have a depreciation report yet, and if it is a fourplex, it may never be legally required to get one at all.

BC rewrote its depreciation report rules in 2024, and the details matter directly to multiplex buyers because the rules change at exactly the building sizes multiplexes come in. This guide explains what a depreciation report is, what the current rules actually say, how the small-strata exemption works, and what to check instead when you are buying a home so new that the paperwork has not caught up yet.

What a depreciation report actually is

A depreciation report is a long-term repair plan with prices attached. The Province's guidance on depreciation report requirements describes it as a report that tells a strata corporation what common property and assets it has, and the projected maintenance, repair, and replacement costs over a 30-year span. Roof, exterior, windows, shared plumbing, fences, the works: what each item will cost to look after, and roughly when.

These are not casual documents. Under the current rules, only certain qualified professionals can prepare one: engineers, architects and architectural technologists, applied science technologists and certified technicians, accredited appraisers, certified reserve planners, and quantity surveyors. The point of all this is simple: a strata with a good depreciation report knows what is coming and can save for it through its contingency fund, instead of surprising every owner with a large special levy the year the roof needs replacing.

Our opinion, stated plainly: for buyers of older strata homes, the depreciation report is the single most useful document in the package. For buyers of brand new homes, its absence is normal, and knowing why it is absent is what separates an informed buyer from a nervous one.

The 2024 rule changes, in plain English

In April 2024 the Province announced updated regulations that took effect July 1, 2024, and they closed a famous loophole. Under the old rules, a strata corporation could vote every year to skip getting a depreciation report, and many did, year after year. The updated rules removed that annual opt-out. The current requirements, per the Province's guidance:

• Strata corporations with five or more lots must obtain a depreciation report on a five-year cycle. The yearly vote to waive it is gone.
• Existing strata corporations in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the Capital Regional District had to obtain a report by July 1, 2026. Stratas elsewhere in BC have until July 1, 2027.
• Strata corporations formed between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2027 must get their first report within two years of their first annual general meeting, then every five years after.
• Strata corporations formed on or after July 1, 2027 must get their first report within 18 months of the first annual general meeting, and the owner developer must contribute funding toward it: a minimum of $5,000 plus $200 per strata lot, to a maximum of $30,000.

BCFSA, the provincial financial regulator, published an advisory summarizing the same changes for real estate professionals, which is a useful cross-check if you enjoy reading regulators (someone has to).

The small-strata exemption: why your fourplex may never need one

Here is the rule that matters most for multiplex buyers: strata corporations with four or fewer lots are exempt. They are not required to obtain depreciation reports at all. That exemption survived the 2024 changes, and the Province's guidance states it directly.

Since a large share of new multiplex homes in Greater Vancouver sit in fourplexes, plenty of MultiLiving readers are buying into buildings that will never be legally required to produce this document. Is that a problem? Our honest answer: not at the start, and maybe later. A brand new fourplex has new everything, full warranty coverage, and decades before major items need replacing, so the absence of a report costs you little on day one. Ten or fifteen years in, a four-owner building with no long-term plan and a thin contingency fund can absolutely get surprised by a roof.

Which leads to an opinion we hold firmly: the exemption is permission, not advice. Nothing stops a small strata from commissioning a depreciation report voluntarily, or from building a simple long-term plan of its own and saving accordingly. In a four-unit building where every owner pays a quarter of every surprise, that is an hour of annual planning that buys years of calm. When you meet your future neighbours, be the owner who suggests it.

Five and six unit multiplexes: the rules apply

Cross the line to five lots and the exemption disappears. A five or six unit multiplex strata must obtain depreciation reports on the five-year cycle like any tower. For a brand new project, the timing works like this:

• If the strata corporation formed between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2027 (most projects selling right now), the first report is due within two years of the first annual general meeting.
• If it forms on or after July 1, 2027, the deadline tightens to 18 months after the first AGM, and the owner developer must put money toward the report: at least $5,000 plus $200 per lot, capped at $30,000. For a six unit building that works out to $6,200.

Notice what this means for a pre-sale buyer: even in a building where a report is required, it will not exist when you sign, and probably not when you move in. The clock starts at the first AGM, and the strata has up to two years from there. Nobody has hidden anything from you. The document simply is not due yet.

Buying brand new with no report to read: what to check instead

So the checklist item 'read the depreciation report' becomes a different checklist for a brand new multiplex. Here is ours:

• The disclosure statement. This is the document that does exist, and it contains the budget, the estimated strata fees, and what the seller must tell you about the project. We wrote a full guide to reading a multiplex disclosure statement, and it is the pre-purchase homework that replaces the missing report.
• The interim budget. Look at the line for contingency reserve fund contributions. A budget that saves meaningfully from year one is the mark of a project set up to age well.
• Warranty coverage. Brand new BC homes come with home warranty insurance. Confirm the coverage periods for the shared parts of the building and where the documents will live after handover.
• Unit count, precisely. Four lots or five is the difference between exempt and required. Confirm the number of strata lots in the registered plan rather than counting homes in the marketing material; a lock-off suite can change the count.
• The first report's due date. For a five-plus unit building, ask the seller: when is the first AGM expected, and has anything been set aside for the first depreciation report? A clear answer here tells you the team has thought past completion day.

Questions worth asking before you sign

• How many strata lots are in the registered strata plan?
• If five or more: when do you expect the first annual general meeting, which starts the depreciation report clock?
• What does the interim budget contribute to the contingency reserve fund each year?
• If four or fewer: is there any plan or budget line for long-term repair planning, since no report will be required?
• Who holds the warranty documents and maintenance manuals after the handover to owners?

What this comes down to

• A depreciation report is a professional 30-year repair plan with costs, required for stratas of five or more lots on a five-year cycle since BC's rules changed on July 1, 2024.
• The old yearly vote to skip the report is gone. Existing stratas in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the Capital Region had until July 1, 2026; the rest of BC has until July 1, 2027.
• Stratas with four or fewer lots, which includes most fourplexes, are exempt entirely.
• New five-plus unit stratas get their first report within two years of the first AGM (18 months, with owner developer funding, for stratas formed from July 1, 2027).
• A brand new building without a report is normal, and no cause for worry. The disclosure statement, the interim budget's savings rate, and the warranty package are what you check instead.
• In an exempt fourplex, voluntary long-term planning is cheap and, in our view, one of the best habits a small strata can adopt.

Frequently asked questions

What is a depreciation report?

A report that inventories a strata corporation's common property and projects the maintenance, repair, and replacement costs over 30 years, as BC's guidance describes it. It is prepared by qualified professionals and updated on a five-year cycle, and it drives how the strata saves for future work.

Do all BC stratas need a depreciation report?

No. Strata corporations with five or more lots must obtain one on a five-year cycle. Stratas with four or fewer lots are exempt and are not required to obtain depreciation reports, an exemption that remained in place through the 2024 rule changes.

What changed in BC's 2024 depreciation report rules?

Effective July 1, 2024, the Province removed the annual vote that let stratas skip the report, set a five-year cycle, and staged deadlines: July 1, 2026 for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the Capital Region, and July 1, 2027 for the rest of BC.

I am buying a unit in a brand new fourplex. Will there be a depreciation report?

Probably not, and legally there does not need to be. A four-lot strata is exempt. Focus your review on the disclosure statement, the interim budget's contingency contributions, and the warranty package, and consider proposing voluntary long-term planning once the owners take over.

I am buying in a brand new sixplex. When does its first report arrive?

For stratas formed between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2027, the first report is due within two years of the first annual general meeting. For stratas formed after that, 18 months, with the owner developer contributing at least $5,000 plus $200 per lot toward it.

Is a missing depreciation report a warning sign on a new building?

No. The requirement is tied to the first AGM, which happens after people move in, so a brand new building without a report is the normal state. It becomes a concern only in an older five-plus unit building that is past its deadline.

Who is allowed to prepare a depreciation report?

Under the current rules, six professional groups: engineers, architects and architectural technologists, applied science technologists and certified technicians, accredited appraisers, certified reserve planners, and quantity surveyors. A report from anyone else does not meet the requirement.

What does a depreciation report cost a small strata?

Costs vary by building and provider, and we will not invent a number here. For stratas formed from July 1, 2027, the rules offset the first report with owner developer funding of $5,000 minimum plus $200 per lot, which signals the general scale for small buildings.

Can a fourplex strata get a depreciation report voluntarily?

Yes, nothing prevents it, and in our view small stratas benefit from some version of long-term planning even if it is lighter than a formal report. Four owners splitting every future roof bill have every reason to know when the roof bill is coming.

How is a depreciation report different from a disclosure statement?

The disclosure statement is a pre-purchase document from the seller about the project: budget, fees, and what you are buying. The depreciation report is an operating document the strata corporation itself obtains later, projecting 30 years of repair costs. New-home buyers read the first; owners eventually rely on the second.

What is the contingency reserve fund and how does it relate?

It is the strata's long-term savings account for major repairs. The depreciation report tells a strata how much it should be saving there. In a brand new building, check what the interim budget contributes to the fund; that number is your early signal of financial health.

Does the five-year cycle mean a new report from scratch every time?

The strata must obtain an updated report every five years once the requirement applies. Updates build on the previous inventory, and buildings that keep good maintenance records make each cycle cheaper and faster. It is a rhythm, not a one-time hurdle.

You are buying a share of a building

A multiplex purchase is a share in a very small building, and the buildings that age well are the ones whose owners understood the paperwork from day one. If you are comparing brand new multiplex homes and want a second set of eyes on a disclosure statement, a budget, or a question about unit counts and exemptions, contact us. And to see what is selling now across Greater Vancouver, browse our properties page. We read these documents for a living, and we are happy to translate.