For condominium strata councils
How Sentinel helps condos stay documented.
A depreciation report is updated every five years. A lot can happen in between, and in a condominium one missed issue cascades across every owner's property value. Sentinel helps bridge that gap with preventative inspections of shared envelope, parkade, mechanical and plumbing systems, photo-documented reporting, and the right professional recommended when one is needed, before deferred work becomes a special levy.
Five years is a long time to wait.
Between depreciation reporting periods, shared envelope, mechanical, plumbing, and parkade systems change with weather, use, and aging materials. Volunteer councils are expected to manage that complexity without independent technical guidance, often with limited construction expertise.
Sentinel provides a consistent record of building condition between formal reporting periods, so council decisions are grounded in documented evidence, and the right professionals are recommended for council to bring in when action is needed.
How Sentinel helps condos.
Initial Asset Assessment
A comprehensive baseline that works through the same eleven building systems every Sentinel inspection covers, from site and drainage to roof, envelope, and common areas including the parkade. One record from day one.
Quarterly inspections
Recurring walkthroughs that track deterioration across shared systems. Issues are caught early, documented clearly, and ranked by severity.
Insurance-ready documentation
Insurers increasingly demand evidence of proactive maintenance. Sentinel's structured records directly support underwriting and renewal conversations.
Recommended professionals, council approval
When engineers, trades, or consultants are needed, Sentinel scopes the work, recommends vetted professionals, and reviews progress against the agreed scope. Council approves and hires. We document and verify.
Every system is everyone's problem.
In a condo, deferred maintenance on shared systems means special levies spread across every owner. Early detection is the best financial protection your council has.
Roof assembly
Active leaks into top-floor properties, saturated insulation, full tear-off required.
Contained scope, no owner displacement
Multi-year project, special levy
Building envelope
Interior water ingress across multiple properties, scaffold-access rehabilitation.
Planned maintenance window
Scaffolding, resident disruption
Parkade & drainage
Visible slab staining and corrosion, water ingress, and waterproofing condition, referred to a structural engineer where found.
Manageable repair, no closures
Structural intervention, stall closures
Questions condo councils ask.
What councils want to know before adding a construction layer between depreciation reports.
Related strata services
- What shared systems does Sentinel cover in a condominium?
- Roof assemblies, building envelope, parkade slab and drainage, common mechanical and plumbing, electrical rooms, balconies and guardrails, amenity spaces, and exterior safety. Findings are photo documented, located, and ranked by severity in a single building record.
- How is this different from a depreciation report?
- Depreciation reports plan five years ahead. Sentinel documents how the building is aging right now, every quarter, so council decisions and the next depreciation update are grounded in current evidence rather than scattered notes and memory.
- Will insurers accept your documentation at renewal?
- Yes. Insurers increasingly want evidence of proactive maintenance. Sentinel reports are structured, photo documented, and time stamped, which gives your broker concrete material to bring to underwriters.
- We have an engineer. Why do we need Sentinel too?
- Engineers are specialists called in for specific scopes. Sentinel is the construction layer that watches the whole building between engineering engagements, flags what needs an engineer, and reviews completed work against the agreed scope.
- How do you help us avoid a special levy?
- Most levies are deferred maintenance that became urgent. Quarterly oversight catches envelope, roof, parkade, and mechanical issues while they are still scoped repairs, not scaffold and excavation projects.
Next step
Bring Sentinel to your next council meeting.
We present at strata council and AGM meetings across the Lower Mainland, including Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser Valley, in person, and by video elsewhere in BC. No obligation, no pressure to retain. Just a clear-eyed view of your building.