Kai Mallari's Notes'

Wood-Destroying Organisms in Strata — Building Structure Is Common Property (Home Systems)

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Wood-Destroying Organisms in Strata — Building Structure Is Common Property

decision-rule

Claim: In a BC strata, WDO infestations that originate in or affect structural framing, building envelope, or foundation are the strata corporation’s responsibility to remediate under SPA s.72 — not the individual unit owner’s. An owner who pays for structural pest treatment unilaterally may be absorbing a cost that belongs to the strata.

Mechanism

The BC Strata Property Act (SPA) creates a two-layer responsibility structure for repair and maintenance:

  • Common property (structural framing, building envelope, roof, foundation, exterior): strata corporation is responsible under SPA s.72.
  • Strata lot (in-unit finishes, in-unit fixtures, unit-owned appliances): owner is responsible under Standard Bylaw 2.

WDO infestations almost universally enter and spread through common property:

  • Carpenter ants gain access through foundation sill plates, rim joists, exterior siding, and crawl space vents — all common property or building envelope.
  • Subterranean termites travel via wood-soil contact at the foundation — common property.
  • Wood-decay fungi establish where roof or flashing failures wet framing — building envelope, common property.

The practical rule: if the pest is in the structure, it is the strata’s problem to address. If the pest is only in the unit interior (e.g., a carpenter ant trail crossing your kitchen floor toward an exterior wall), it may start as your call to report — but the remediation of structural access points belongs to the strata.12

What to do as an owner:

  1. Report to the strata manager in writing (email with photos) immediately on discovering signs.
  2. Do NOT unilaterally hire a pest control company to treat structural elements — that creates ambiguity about who authorised the work and may not address the building-level entry point.
  3. Request a written response and action timeline from the strata.
  4. Under SPA s.135, the strata must give written particulars and an opportunity to respond before charging costs back to an owner — document everything.

Scope

  • Applies to attached strata (condominium, townhouse, strata apartment).
  • Bare-land strata where owners own their buildings are different — owner responsibility for the structure may apply.
  • Registered bylaws vary — some stratas have shifted pest control responsibility to owners or have pest control service contracts. Read your specific registered bylaws.
  • Does not cover in-unit cosmetic pests (silverfish in closets, ants in kitchen) where the access point is within the unit.

Sources

Idea Compass

North: Where this comes from

East: Tensions / failure

  • Bylaws vary — some stratas have shifted pest control to owners; “read your bylaws” is not optional
  • Strata inaction after written notice — if the strata does not act, escalation options include the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal
  • Owner frustration when visible ants are “in my unit” but structural access is common property — the access point, not the visible ants, determines responsibility

South: Where this leads

West: What’s similar

  • water-heater (Home Systems) Strata reality section — same SPA framework; the strata is responsible for common-property origins of damage; SPA s.135 notice requirement applies to chargebacks in both directions

Footnotes

  1. Province of BC — strata division of repair duties; SPA s.72 strata corporation’s duty for common property — https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing/operating-a-strata/repairs-and-maintenance/division-of-repair-duties ↩

  2. Metro West Building Services, BC strata management — pest access through common property means strata bears primary responsibility for most infestations — https://www.metrowestbs.com/single-post/2020/08/05/whose-responsibility-for-pest-control-in-a-strata-lot ↩

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