FAQs

Answers to most frequently asked questions appear here, or you can ask us a question via our contact page.

Who is CondoComponents for?

Owners and Strata Councillors of low rise (10-50 Units) strata condo complexes in BC Canada.

Who manages the CondoComponents Association?

It is a member-funded not for profit Association convened by retired business systems developer and BC strata condo owner and councillor Mick O’Keefe, in consultation with and advised by 5 other long-term strata resident owners at different properties, and who has over 19 years experience with residential strata property ownership, occupancy and volunteer strata council membership.

Technical expertise and services for web facilities and systems are engaged as required from reputable, reliable professionals who offer reasonable fee rates as required by the BC Registered Not For Profit Societies regulations.

Why is a ‘KnowledgeBase’ such as CondoComponents is designed to develop, a necessity for strata condo corporations?

Primarily, details and records of strata common property components and history must be collected, documented and retained indefinitely.

It is legislated under Section 35 of the BC Strata Property Act that a strata corporation must retain (inter alia):

"Any reports obtained by the strata corporation respecting repair or maintenance of major items in the strata corporation, including, without limitation, engineers’ reports, risk management reports, sanitation reports and reports respecting any items for which information is, under section 94 of the Strata Property Act, required to be contained in a depreciation report."

There are numerous other substantial benefits for Members / Users of CondoComponents –

      • more specific information about all aspects of the strata property
      • less guesswork
      • less reliance on outside opinions
      • more control
      • more confidence
      • more informed discussions
      • more informed decision-making
      • faster decisions
      • more judicious spending
      • curb unwarranted extra strata fees
      • strategic funding of CRF for big-ticket items spending = avoidance of levies or loans
      • collaborate and share experiences, knowledge with other people with the same situations.

Remember, condo owners are not in competition with each other for knowledge about property components and elements.

What does CondoComponents offer to Members?

Its main purpose & objective is to help stratas to develop their own property KnowledgeBases, in order to avoid sleepwalking into horrific financial consequences from unanticipated / unfunded major repairs & replacements. And to ensure no surprises for owners.

The sole focus of CondoComponents is strata condo common property components condition, maintenance, repairs, replacements, costs, records.

We don’t get involved with by-laws issues, complaints handling, tenancy issues, meetings, etc.

How does CondoComponents work?

Each member strata is set up with their own separate, private sub-website of CondoComponents.ca

The steps in participating in the CondoComponents collaborative association are –

      1. Request Membership > Arrange Charter from Strata Council > Receive Username & Password
      2. Use suggested procedures & toolsets to identify, collect & document common property components
      3. At your designated sub-website, use the structured forms screens to enter components info, docs & pics to populate your KnowledgeBase.
      4. If needed, pose questions / feedback to Support resources. Website Forum, etc.
      5. Curate & update your entries as required.
      6. Extract & share knowledge with relevant parties, owners, suppliers as required – eg Strata Managers, Property assessors, Insurance Brokers, Depreciation Reports compilers.

When

Curating / maintaining your KnowledgeBase is an ongoing function, which members attend to whenever they consider appropriate and have the inclination and time to invest.

Where

Walkaround tours of the strata common property areas is where most activity takes place.

Then, online updating of the KnowledeBase is carried out wherever the curator has the facilities, and connection, usually their own condo suite.

Cost

Standard Membership costs $20 per month payable annually in advance.