The Rules of a Strata

WHY CAN A STRATA CREATE RULES WHEN IT HAS THE POWER TO ENACT BYLAWS?

Most Owners are familiar with the concept that a Strata has bylaws but, in our experience, there is less understanding about Rules. The Strata Property Act permits a Council, subject to several restrictions and limitations, to adopt Rules that are binding on Owners without a resolution at a general meeting. Rules serve a different purpose than bylaws – they are easier to adopt and amend and should be used as an interim measure between general meetings to manage risk and deal with temporary or changing situations.

We discuss bylaws in other articles and how they must be adopted at a general meeting, are broad in scope and must be registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia (LTSA).

DO RULES APPLY TO STRATA LOTS?

A key distinction between Rules and Bylaws is that Rules cannot apply to Strata Lots. Our opinion is that restriction is imposed by the Strata Property Act because a Rule does not require the support of Owners and Councils would have too much power if they could govern the use and enjoyment of a Strata Lot without Owner's consent.

A Rule can only apply to the use, safety, and condition of the common property, limited common property or common assets.

An example of a situation where a Rule would be used is during a repair project on the common property. The Council could adopt a Rule that prohibited Owners from going into the construction area without prior written consent from the Council.

Another example would be where a Strata was changing its process for disposing of waste. If a Strata adopted an organic recycling system, the Council could adopt a Rule prohibiting Owners from depositing organic waste in the garbage bins.

Rules are a critical tool for Councils to deal with temporary or changing situations regarding how the common property and common assets are used.

CAN RULES CONFLICT WITH THE STRATA PROPERTY ACT OR ANOTHER LAW?

As with Bylaws, a Rule cannot contravene any federal, provincial or municipal legislation. The most common examples of legislation that would constrain a Rule are:

• Federal Legislation.

  • Canada Elections Act.

• Provincial Legislation.

  • Strata Property Act and Regulation.

  • Human Rights Code.

  • BC Election Act.

• Municipal (Local Government) Legislation.

  • Zoning Bylaws.

  • Bylaws regulating noise.

  • Bylaws regulating animals.

It is important to remember that a Rule can take a restriction that is in legislation and make it more restrictive, but it cannot reduce the restriction.

CAN RULES TEMPORARILY ALTER BYLAWS?

We are aware of situations where a Strata has a bylaw that permits a use of common property and for some reason it wants to temporarily restrict that use of the common property. The Council will frequently attempt to adopt a Rule because there is no time to call a general meeting or they want to avoid the costs associated with a general meeting and filing an amended bylaw with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia (LTSA). However, a Rule is not enforceable to the extent that it conflicts with a Bylaw.

An example of where this might be an issue is if a Strata had a bylaw that permitted owners to use the designated parts of the common property for visitor parking and the Council wanted to prevent that use so that it could be used by contractors. The Council could not adopt a Rule preventing the use that was permitted by the Bylaw.

It is important, when considering if a Rule contravenes a Bylaw to ensure that the relevant Bylaw is properly interpreted. We have dealt with many situations where either an Owner or the Council have interpreted a Bylaw too broadly and concluded that a Rule would not be appropriate when, in fact, the adoption of a Rule was the appropriate decision.

CAN RULES BE ON A SIGN OR MUST THEY BE WRITTEN DOWN?

Rules need to be written down and in a document that is capable of being photocopied. This is a requirement that is easily overlooked by a Council.

A fairly common example is the Council adopts a Rule at a Council meeting and then makes a sign communicating the new Rule – for example “Speed Limit 15 km/hr In Parking Lot”. However, the Strata Property Act requires that Rules must be set out in a written document that is capable of being photocopied. A sign in the parking lot is not capable of being photocopied and therefore it needs to be also recorded in another document.

This is easily accomplished, as long as the Council is aware of the requirement.

DO OWNERS GET TO DECIDE ON WHETHER THEY WANT A RULE?

The Strata Property Act requires that a Rule be presented to owners at the next general meeting and that Owners agree to the Rule by a resolution passed with a majority vote. The requirement for a majority vote is less restrictive than the requirement for a resolution passed with a ¾ vote when amending or adopting a bylaw.

In general, our recommendation to Stratas are that if the Rule is intended to be permanent then it should be presented to Owners as a bylaw amendment at the general meeting and not as a Rule to be voted on. This is because once it is a Bylaw the amount of a fine for a contravention is increased and in the future the Council has no ability to repeal it without a resolution from the Owners.

HOW CAN A RULE BE REPEALED OR AMENDED?

As described above, a Rule that is adopted by the Council as an interim measure to manage risk and deal with temporary or changing situations may have a natural time when it is no longer required. To return to the example of prohibiting access to common property during construction, once that construction has concluded, there is no reason for the Rule. A Council can repeal or amend a Rule at any Council Meeting by a resolution passed with a majority vote.

A Rule is repealed automatically if it is not ratified at a general meeting.

However, once it has been ratified it can be repealed, replaced or altered without the need for further ratification. The Strata Property Act has specific provisions regarding the procedures for changing and repealing Bylaws but it does not address changing and repealing Rules. The logical presumption is that because Rules can be made by the Council, the Council can change or repeal a Rule.

However, this does create an opportunity for confusion or conflict within the Strata.

Imagine a situation where a Council adopts a Rule – for example, a speed limit in the parking lot. That Rule is ratified at a general meeting. Then a new Council is elected and they amend the speed limit by either increasing it or decreasing it. There is no requirement for the Owners to ratify this change at a general meeting. In this way, one of the key controls on the discretion and authority of the Council is eliminated.

We have discussed in other articles that there are a lot of drafting deficiencies in the Strata Property Act. We remain optimistic that at some point the government will look at doing a revision and update in consultation with practitioners, Owners and professional service providers. As part of that review, it would be our recommendation that the repeal or amendment process for a Rule that had been ratified would be subject to a provision in the Strata Property Act.

RULES ARE AN IMPORTANT TOOL THAT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED

Rules provide Councils with the authority and flexibility to manage risk and deal with temporary or changing situations with common property, limited common property and common assets. It is important that members of Council and Owners understand this tool and use it to support robust and resilient Strata Communities.