/strata/building-records-bc
Strata maintenance records, and the cost of losing them.
Buildings do not usually fail because nobody knew. They fail because whoever knew is no longer involved and never wrote it down. A continuous building record is the cheapest risk control a strata property can own.
Institutional memory leaves the building.
Decision-makers rotate. Managers change firms. Trades retire. Each of those transitions quietly deletes context: which section of roof was repaired in which year, why that downspout was rerouted, what the sealant program covered, which balcony was already flagged.
The consequence shows up later as cost. A trade is paid to investigate a problem that was documented four years earlier. A dispute over a past alteration cannot be settled because the approval conditions were never recorded. A renewal project is scoped from a single site visit because there is no history to scope from.
None of that is a knowledge problem. It is a record-keeping problem, and it is fixable.
Six categories worth keeping properly.
Condition observations
What was seen, where, and on what date, with photographs. The raw material of every later decision.
Urgency ratings
A consistent scale applied over time. SENTiNEL uses Priority 1 through 4 so a finding can be tracked as it worsens or holds.
Completed work
What was repaired, by whom, under what scope, and whether completion was verified against that scope.
Alteration history
Approved changes affecting shared components, and the conditions attached to them. The most commonly lost and most commonly disputed category.
Warranty and product data
Assembly types, product lines, and warranty windows, so nobody guesses what is on the roof.
Referrals out of scope
Items handed to an engineer or a licensed specialist, with the date and the reason, so the trail does not simply stop.
One record, updated quarterly.
SENTiNEL's Asset Protection Program exists to keep the record alive. Each quarterly review adds to the same file rather than producing a new standalone document, so a finding can be traced from the first observation through monitoring, action, and verification. Over a few cycles that produces something no one-time inspection can: trend. The difference between a component that is aging and a component that is failing is only visible across time.
Questions about building records.
- What are strata maintenance records?
- They are the documented history of what was inspected, what condition it was in, what was repaired, when, and by whom. In practice most buildings have fragments of this spread across invoices, email threads, and the memories of whoever happened to be involved.
- Why do missing records cost money?
- Three ways. Scoping a repair without history means paying a trade to rediscover the problem. Disputes over past alterations or repairs become unresolvable without documentation. And every new professional engaged on the building starts from zero, which is billable time spent relearning what was already known.
- What is a continuous building record?
- One place where condition observations, photographs, priorities, and completed work accumulate over time rather than resetting with each visit or each turnover of decision-makers. SENTiNEL maintains that record as the core deliverable of the Asset Protection Program.
- Does this replace the official records a building must keep?
- No. Statutory record-keeping obligations under the Strata Property Act sit with the building's own administration and its licensed manager, if one is engaged. SENTiNEL maintains the technical condition record of the physical asset, which complements those obligations rather than substituting for them.
- What happens to the record if we stop working with you?
- The documentation belongs to the building. Findings, photographs, and history are provided to the building owner and remain usable independently of SENTiNEL.
Find oversight in your area.
In-person inspections and project attendance run across the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley. Confirm your building's location with us before scheduling.
Greater Vancouver
Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster
Tri-Cities and Ridge Meadows
Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge
Fraser Valley
Surrey, Delta, Langley, Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack
Rest of British Columbia
Remote document and report review province-wide, travel arranged case by case
Local contact
Include the building address, age, and unit count. We reply within two business days.
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Deterioration is inevitable.
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