The records your strata must keep, and for how long
Section 35 is the master list. Lose these records and the problems surface years later, at a sale, a dispute, or a change of council.
Every strata corporation in BC, from a duplex to a high-rise, has the same statutory filing cabinet. Section 35 of the Strata Property Act lists the records that must be prepared and retained, and section 4.1 of the Strata Property Regulation sets how long. When a council changes, a manager is replaced, or a building sells units quickly, this list is what must survive the handover intact.
The core of the section 35 list
The full list is longer, but these are the records that matter most often:
- Minutes of council meetings and general meetings, including the results of votes
- Books of account showing money received and spent
- The registered strata plan, bylaws, and rules
- Correspondence sent and received by the strata corporation and council
- Insurance policies
- Contracts, including management and service agreements
- Depreciation reports, and engineering and other reports about the buildings
- Budgets and financial statements
- Information certificates (Form B) and certificates of payment (Form F) that were issued
Minimum retention periods
| Record | Keep at least |
|---|---|
| Minutes, including vote results | 6 years |
| Books of account, budgets, financial statements | 6 years |
| General correspondence | 2 years |
| Strata plan, bylaws, rules, depreciation and engineering reports | Treat as permanent |
These are floors, not targets, and the regulation sets periods for more record types than shown here; check section 4.1 for the full schedule. Sensible stratas keep minutes and financial records for the life of the building. Six-year-old minutes are routinely what proves a levy was approved or a leak was reported.
Paper, digital, or both
The Act does not care whether records are paper or electronic, only that they exist and can be produced. A practical setup for a self-managed strata: one shared cloud folder organized by year, with subfolders for minutes, financials, correspondence, and contracts, plus one paper binder for originals that matter (the registered bylaws, insurance certificates, signed contracts). Back the digital copy up somewhere a single volunteer's laptop failure cannot destroy it, and make the folder's location part of the handover when council changes.
Producing records on request
Keeping records is half the duty; producing them is the other half. Under section 36, owners (and others, such as buyers authorized by an owner) can request records, and the strata must make them available or provide copies within two weeks. During a sale this arrives as a request for two years of minutes alongside the Form B. A strata that cannot produce them delays the sale and advertises deeper record-keeping problems to a buyer's lawyer.
Let us handle the minutes themselves
StrataMinutes turns your council's rough notes into complete, professionally formatted minutes that meet the requirements of the Strata Property Act, usually within minutes. Every document comes with a compliance checklist.
No payment details needed for your first council meeting.
This page is general information for BC strata councils, not legal advice. See the current text of the Strata Property Act and the Strata Property Regulation on BC Laws.
Related guides
Legal Requirements
Form B Certificate
Approving Minutes
Self-Managed Stratas