Maintenance and Repairs

November 6, 2025 Published by British Columbia Chapter - By Benjamin Meadow

Strata’s Duty To Repair: Delegation Cannot Be Abdication

From CCI BC Strata Connection Magazine, Volume 05, Fall/Winter 2025

A recent CRT decision, Hirschbolz v. The Owners, Strata Plan NW1357, 2024 BCCRT 1030, demonstrates that a strata corporation remains ultimately responsible for maintaining and repairing common property, even when it delegates some authority to owners to take action on behalf of the strata council. 

Facts and Issues of Dispute 

The dispute involved a strata lot owner, Mr. Hirschbolz, and the strata corporation responsible for maintaining the roof shared by two strata lots. The roof failed and allowed for water to enter the strata lots. The key issue was whether the strata breached its repair and maintenance obligations, leading to damage to both strata lots.

The owners of the strata lots had alerted the strata corporation to minor leaks entering from the roof as early as November 2020. In response, the strata council requested the owners to obtain quotes for the roof repair. The owners spoke to three roofing contractors, and the three companies provided quotes and recommended replacing the roof over the strata lots rather than repairing it.

However, the strata disregarded these quotes and took no further steps to address the roofing issues. Instead, the strata continued to instruct the respective owners of the strata lots to obtain roof repair quotes because the strata council did not believe a roof replacement was necessary. The roof eventually failed on November 14, 2021, causing rainwater to enter and damage the interiors of the strata lots. The strata denied the claim, arguing that the owners of the strata lots were responsible for the leak because they failed to obtain roof repair quotes and instead obtained roof replacement quotes. 

Analysis and Finding 

The CRT Tribunal Member found that the strata did not act reasonably in discharging its obligation to maintain and repair the common property roof covering the strata lots, and awarded the costs of repairing the damage to the strata lot. The Member first commented that the strata council had the authority to delegate certain duties to owners who are not members of the council, as per Bylaw 21. This delegation was permissible and could be reasonable, for example, where the strata delegated the duty to obtain initial roof repair quotes to the owners of the strata lots. 

However, the CRT Member ruled that even when delegating these responsibilities, the strata remained ultimately responsible for the repair and maintenance of common property, including the roof. In this specific case, the strata corporation was aware of ongoing leaks and the need for roof replacement, as advised by three professional roofing contractors. Despite this, the strata did not take further steps to address the roofing issues; this was found to be unreasonable. The strata's failure to act on the professional advice and the ongoing leaks led to the roof's failure and subsequent damage to the strata lots. 

This strata corporation was relatively small and self-managed. The strata council had decided to take a more informal approach, delegating its authority to investigate potential solutions to the ongoing roof leaks affecting the strata lots to the affected owners. However, the council refused to accept the recommendations contained within the contractors’ quotes that the owners obtained, without taking any steps to obtain its own quotes. In so doing, the council implicitly attempted to abdicate its responsibility to maintain and repair common property and paid the price for doing so.

Benjamin Meadow, Senior Associate, Refresh Law
Ben represents clients in strata, residential tenancy, property, and vacancy tax disputes. With experience representing institutional insurance clients on both sides of litigation across all levels of BC courts, he focuses on assessing each case’s strengths and weaknesses, clearly communicating key issues, and pursuing the most efficient resolution. Ben has extensive experience resolving disputes through the courts as well as mediation and negotiation.