Maintenance and Repairs

September 1, 2025 CCI Original Content Published by CCI National - By CCI Ontario Building Committee

Building Better Condominiums: Identifying Challenges in Ontario’s New Condominium Developments to Reduce Long-Term Maintenance and Capital Costs - A White Paper

Condominium construction in Ontario has happened at a pace not seen before. We recognize the importance of the development industry to Ontario’s economy. Many buildings are unique and aesthetically pleasing and enhance the skyline. Ontario’s building industry has excelled at delivering vibrant, engaging, and socially connected communities. These developments provide tremendous value to residents, yet many now include features that carry long-term costs greater than might otherwise be necessary.

Introduction

Condominium construction in Ontario has happened at a pace not seen before. We recognize the importance of the development industry to Ontario’s economy. Many buildings are unique and aesthetically pleasing and enhance the skyline. Ontario’s building industry has excelled at delivering vibrant, engaging, and socially connected communities. These developments provide tremendous value to residents, yet many now include features that carry long-term costs greater than might otherwise be necessary. This challenge is especially significant in condominiums, where oversight and financial planning fall to volunteer directors.

Condominium communities throughout Ontario are experiencing mounting financial challenges, which are exacerbated by the long-term effects of design and construction decisions made during the development phase. While builders may focus on marketability and cost-effective construction, and cities focus on creating pleasant streetscapes, the burden of high maintenance and repair costs ultimately falls on condominium corporations and their unit owners. These escalating expenses contribute to rising condominium fees, special assessments, and financial strain, all of which directly affect housing affordability and sustainability of condominium living in the province. Furthermore, excessive complexity in buildings often creates situations which are beyond the ability of many volunteer condominium boards to understand and oversee and are better suited to for-profit building owners.

Recognizing these challenges, the Canadian Condominium Institute’s (CCI) Ontario Building Committee (the “Committee”) has prepared this white paper to highlight key concerns in new condominium construction that unnecessarily increase long-term maintenance costs. This white paper provides insights into design issues, explores their financial and operational impacts, and offers practical recommendations to mitigate future liabilities. Some of the recommendations provided in this white paper relate to construction detailing and others relate to policy. However, by addressing these concerns at the design and approval stages, municipalities, developers, architects, and policymakers can work together to create more durable and financially sustainable condominium communities.

The Committee brought together experts from across the province to discuss challenges and concerns in condominium buildings today. This white paper lists the complied design and construction practices of concern, which significantly impact the long-term maintenance and financial stability of condominium buildings, and has been prepared with the intention of facilitating discussion among design, construction, and municipal stakeholders involved during the design and construction phase.

In this white paper, the Committee’s concerns have been organized into the following categories:

A.Overall Building Design
B. System/Component Design
C. Site Constraints, and
D. Policy Issues

At the time of construction, the eventual owners of a condominium do not have a voice. They are not a stakeholder in any of the design discussions. By identifying and addressing these challenges early, we can help ensure that their interests are considered, and we can help condominium communities remain viable, sustainable, and affordable for years to come.
CCI asks the development and design industries to collaborate with us to work together to improve the durability and maintainability of condominium.

Contributors:

Jeremy Nixon, Professional Engineer, Brown & Beattie Ltd.
Jon Juffs, Building Science Technologist
Justin Tudor, Professional Engineer, Keller Engineering
Sally Thompson, Professional Engineer, Synergy Partners Consulting Limited
Stefan Nespoli, Professional Engineer, Edison Engineers Inc.
Warren Kleiner, Lawyer, Shibley Righton LLP
Michele Farley, FCS Fire Consulting Services Limited

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Section A: Overall Building Design 3

1. Inaccessible Facades Caused by Staggered Balconies, Misaligned Floor Plates, Recessed Areas 3
2. Excessively complex buildings should not be built as condominiums 6

Section B: System/Component Design 8

1. Suspended access systems only allow for window washing, not building repair 8
2. Wood-Framed Balconies 10
3. Traffic topping does not perform well as a main roof membrane 13
4. Cladding on Balcony Soffits 14
5. Combustible cladding on balcony soffits and projecting shear walls (additional fire load not considered when looking at the percent of the facade that has combustible cladding) 15
6. Sub-Sill Flashings at all rough openings 15
7. Cornices, Sills and other Horizontal Surfaces without Drip Edges 16
8. Caution regarding building integrated photovoltaics (in glass, cladding and balcony guards) 17
9. Emergency Scupper Elevation is Critical 17
10. Replacement of Garage Roof Deck Waterproofing at Stacked Townhouse Sites is not adequately considered 18
11. Protection of Slab-on-Grade in Bath-tub Buildings 19
12. Durability of Thermally Broken Balconies 20
13. Fire Safety and Load Capacity – EV’s in Automated Parking Systems 21
14. Management of Storm Water 22
15. Insufficient Number of Drain Clean-Outs 4
16. Cross contamination between exhaust and intake air  25
17. Poorly controlled noise and odour transfer 27

Section C: Site Constraints 29

1. Facades that terminate over a laneway on an adjacent property or over the roof of an adjacent property 29
2. Buildings constructed tight to high voltage wires 30
3. Insufficient size and number of elevators 31
4. Unreasonably difficult to replace large mechanical equipment (heat exchangers, generators, chillers, cooling towers) installed inside tall buildings 32

Section D: Policy Issues 34

1. Builders should be required to provide maintenance/renewal plans and access plans 34
2. Supertall Buildings Containing Multiple Condos Are Problematic 34
3. Affordable housing (inclusionary zoning and/or rental replacement) shouldn’t be subsidized by the condo owners in the building 35

Conclusion 37