Condo & townhouse inspection

What’s inspected

Inside the unit: electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation, the water heater, windows, doors, floors, walls and ceilings, balconies and patios, and anything else the strata bylaws make the owner’s responsibility. Thermal imaging and moisture testing are included, which matters most around windows, balcony doors and bathrooms.

Common property such as the roof, the building envelope and the parkade is generally the strata corporation’s responsibility and is often not accessible. We look at what we can reach and report what we couldn’t.

The strata documents

For many condos and townhouses the larger costs sit in the strata documents, not the unit. Read the depreciation report, recent minutes and any engineering reports before subject removal, ideally with your realtor or lawyer. Where the inspection turns up something those documents should explain, such as staining below a balcony or an aging roof, the report says so.

Townhouses

Townhouses sit between a condo and a house. Depending on the bylaws, the owner may be responsible for the roof, decks or windows. We inspect as much of the unit and its exterior as is accessible and note which items are likely strata responsibilities.

Where we do most condo work

Towers and mid-rises in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, and Lonsdale in North Vancouver. New building? See presale and PDI inspections.