Short answer: no. They are two different reports, and a BC strata corporation with five or more lots needs both. The confusion is understandable — both are provincial requirements, both landed on strata councils at roughly the same time, and both have deadlines in the same few years. But they answer different questions and are prepared by different people.
What each report is for
A depreciation report is a long-term capital plan. It is a complete physical inventory of every common-property component and its current condition, cost estimates to repair, replace or renew each one over a 30-year horizon, and a funding plan showing the current contingency reserve fund balance and the contributions needed to meet those costs.
An Electrical Planning Report (EPR) is a capacity assessment. It analyses the building’s electrical infrastructure, evaluates the current load, and assesses whether the system can support future upgrades — how many EV chargers the strata could add, whether the system could carry solar, and whether switching from natural gas or propane to fully electric is feasible.
The differences that matter
- Purpose — the depreciation report plans for replacing what is already there. The EPR plans for adding load that is not there yet.
- Scope — the depreciation report covers all common property: envelope, roofing, mechanical, life safety, interiors and electrical. The EPR covers the electrical system only, in far more depth.
- Statute — both sit under the Strata Property Act as amended; the EPR requirement is section 94.1, introduced by a 2023 regulation.
- Who prepares it — a depreciation report needs a P.Eng., architect, architectural technologist or other qualified professional. An EPR needs a P.Eng. or applied science technologist, with a journeyperson electrician eligible for smaller Part 9 buildings.
- Renewal — a depreciation report must be renewed at least every five years. A report older than five years does not comply.
The two deadlines
They are close together, which is the main practical reason to think about them at the same time:
- Depreciation report — July 1, 2026 for strata corporations located wholly or partly in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the Fraser Valley Regional District or the Capital Regional District. July 1, 2027 everywhere else in BC.
- Electrical Planning Report — December 31, 2026 for the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Capital Regional Districts, excluding islands within them reachable only by air or boat (Bowen Island, the Southern Gulf Islands). December 31, 2028 everywhere else, including those islands. Unlike the depreciation report, an EPR has no renewal cycle.
Under Bill 44 the three-quarters-vote waiver that let strata corporations defer a depreciation report is gone. The only remaining exemption is for strata corporations with fewer than five lots.
Does the depreciation report cover the electrical system?
Partly, and this is where the two get conflated. A depreciation report does inventory electrical components and does cost their replacement across the 30-year projection. What it does not do is tell you how much spare capacity the service has for new load. A building can have a perfectly funded plan to replace its existing electrical equipment and still be unable to support twenty EV chargers. The first question is the depreciation report’s; the second is the EPR’s.
How Reserve Plus can help
Reserve Plus prepares BC-compliant depreciation reports by qualified professionals, and pairs them with myRPlanner (powered by StelorPM) so the report stays a working plan rather than a PDF. We do not write Electrical Planning Reports ourselves, but we work with engineers and qualified professionals who do, and can provide a bundle discount when you combine your depreciation report with an EPR. Because the deadlines fall close together, addressing them in a single engagement usually saves both time and money.
Common questions
Is an Electrical Planning Report the same as a depreciation report?
No. They are two separate reports with different purposes, different qualified preparers and different deadlines. A depreciation report is a 30-year physical inventory and funding plan for all common property, required under the Strata Property Act. An Electrical Planning Report assesses the building’s electrical infrastructure and its capacity for EV charging, solar and fuel switching. A BC strata corporation with five or more lots needs both.
Does a depreciation report cover the electrical system?
A depreciation report includes electrical components in its physical inventory and costs their repair or replacement over 30 years. It does not assess spare electrical capacity for new load such as EV chargers or solar, which is what an Electrical Planning Report is for. One tells you what replacing the existing system will cost and when; the other tells you what more the system can carry.
Can the same provider do both reports?
Not usually the same person, because the qualifications differ. Reserve Plus prepares depreciation reports and does not write Electrical Planning Reports, but works with engineers and qualified professionals who do, and offers a bundle discount when the two are combined in one engagement.