Depreciation Report

What is a depreciation report?

A depreciation report is a study of all the depreciating components a strata corporation will need to repair and replace over the next 30 years. It records the present condition of each component, estimates when it will need repair or replacement, and what that will cost — then compiles those timelines and costs into a financial projection that helps the corporation set appropriate contributions. A report generally includes an inventory of common property, a component analysis (condition, actual and effective age, remaining life, and replacement costs), a financial analysis of the reserves required, and funding recommendations.

Who can prepare a depreciation report?

The Strata Property Act and its regulations do not designate specific professions. Stratas can obtain reports from a variety of qualified professionals. The person preparing the report must have the knowledge and expertise to:

• Understand the scope and complexity of the strata's common property and common assets
• Understand the individual components
• Understand the strata's bylaws and any agreements respecting common property and strata lots
• Prepare a report that complies with the regulations — a physical component inventory and evaluation, plus financial forecasting

The report must also include the name of the person it was obtained from, along with a description of their qualifications, any errors-and-omissions insurance they carry, and their relationship to the strata corporation.

Why a depreciation report matters

A depreciation report helps your strata plan and prepare for the future, ensuring enough funding is set aside to maintain, repair, or replace common components. Without an accurate, up-to-date report you can't effectively plan, leaving owners exposed to costly out-of-pocket repairs through a cash call or special assessment. The benefits:

An up-to-date report is also required in many jurisdictions to complete a sale — without one, conditions of sale can be delayed and buyers may walk away.

Getting the most out of your report

The key is making sure the report aligns with the property's future goals. Choose a provider that encourages open dialogue. The council should be open to the provider's recommendations — an unbiased account of the property's condition — while sharing the historical knowledge owners and managers hold about the building. Owners may also want changes included that aren't strictly required by condition; a good provider incorporates those where they don't compromise the property's financial future. Without strong collaboration, it's difficult to keep a report relevant and accurate until the next one is due.

How Reserve Plus saves you money

Stratas use Reserve Plus for comprehensive, accurate depreciation reports — delivered as a first draft in 30 days or less. Every client also gets myRPlanner (powered by StelorPM), included for the full term, so the report stays a living plan. With myRPlanner you can create and approve your own reserve fund plan, generate annual reports comparing actual vs. expected contributions and expenditures, understand your special-assessment risk, request quotations for upcoming work, and see how current financials relate to the reserve fund. See what myRPlanner does.

BC stratas face a second deadline: an Electrical Planning Report is required by December 31, 2026 in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the CRD. We can arrange one alongside your depreciation report.

Is a strata reserve fund study the same as a depreciation report?

In British Columbia, yes — they are the same document under two names. The Strata Property Act calls it a depreciation report, and that is the term the legislation and your strata's compliance obligation use. Owners and councils very often search for a strata reserve fund study, because "reserve fund study" is the name used in Alberta, Ontario and most other provinces, and because the report's central purpose is planning the strata's reserve fund. If you have been asked for a strata reserve fund study in BC, a compliant depreciation report is what you need.

The same goes for the other names this report gets called: a condominium reserve fund study, a reserve fund assessment, a reserve study, or a capital plan. What matters is not the label but whether the document meets the requirements of the jurisdiction the property sits in — a 30-year physical component inventory and evaluation, plus the financial forecasting that goes with it, prepared by someone qualified to do it.

Outside BC the distinction does matter, because the statutory name changes: see our reserve fund study page for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.

Communities we serve

Reserve Plus has been engaged for 150 depreciation reports across 42 British Columbia communities since 2020, covering more than 6,000 units. Across British Columbia we study everything from small bare-land and townhouse corporations to properties of more than 300 units. Of those, 8 have 100 units or more.

We have also been engaged in Cranbrook, Nelson, North Vancouver, Radium Hot Springs, Sidney, Sooke, Sparwood, Whistler, Abbotsford, Aldergrove, Big White, Blind Bay, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Creston, Delta, East Kootenay, Fairmont, Kimberley, Nanaimo, Okanagan Falls, Penticton, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Sun Peaks, West Kelowna, West Vancouver.