On December 6, 2023, the provincial government brought into effect the requirement for strata corporations to obtain electrical planning reports (EPRs). This is a report to help strata councils and owners understand your electrical system and assess whether your buildings have electrical capacity for future needs.

Whether your strata corporation’s future goals include cooling, heat pumps, electric vehicle charging, or electrification of other fueled building systems, your electrical planning report is an important tool to help you plan for the future and avoid costly electrical service upgrades.

Strata corporations of fewer than 5 strata lots are not required to obtain an electrical planning report.

All other strata corporations are required to obtain an electrical planning report. This includes condo, townhouse, bare land, residential, commercial, hotel, industrial, and other types of strata corporations. There is no ability to waive or defer the requirement.

For existing strata corporations in the Capital Region, Fraser Valley, and Metro Vancouver Region (strata plan filed on or before December 31, 2023), the deadline to obtain an electrical planning report is December 31, 2026.

Who can write your report depends on the kind of buildings on your strata property. Under the BC Building Code there are two main categories of buildings: simple buildings (Part 9) and complex buildings (Part 3). All buildings over 3 storeys or over 600 square metres in footprint are considered complex buildings.

Part 9 stratas must obtain their report from an electrical engineer, applied science technologist, or a licensed electrician.

All other stratas must obtain the electrical planning report from an electrical engineer or an applied science technologist.

We work with experienced electrical engineers to perform the required analysis and create the report.

After you have inquired about having an EPR completed by us, we will gather some basic information about your strata property and provide a quotation for the EPR service. The cost of the EPR will depend on the type of strata, number of units, and other factors.

When our quote is chosen, we will provide a date for when the EPR will be completed, and will arrange for a thorough on-site assessment. This will take between 1-2 days to complete. It will require access to BC Hydro service details, electrical drawings, information about heating, cooling, EV charging infrastructure, and more.

Finally, we will perform the calculations and assessment to satisfy the legislative requirements, and then prepare the electrical planning report. The finished EPR will be provided to the property management company or strata council.

Paone Electric & Solar is a well-established electrical contractor that has served the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley strata, commercial, industrial, and retail markets for over 35 years. Our experienced technicians and Red-Seal electricians are professional, with extensive knowledge of the variety of electrical system required to perform an effective EPR.

Our long-standing relationships with professional electrical engineers will ensure that your EPR will be completed in a timely manner and at a fair cost.