EPR Provider Compliance: BC's 2026 Guidance: A Guide for Kootenays Strata Councils

The full guide

When a strata council goes to hire an Electrical Planning Report (EPR) provider, it faces a practical problem: the quality and completeness of BC strata EPRs vary considerably, and a proposal alone doesn't show which kind a strata will receive. In 2025 and 2026, the Province of BC — together with CHOA (the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC), BC Hydro, and VISOA — published and updated an official guidance document specifically for the preparation of Electrical Planning Reports: Guidance for the Preparation of Electrical Planning Reports for Strata Corporations in British Columbia (updated May 2026). This guidance is the clearest statement of what a compliant EPR must contain and how a qualified firm should produce one.

Councils are increasingly advised — by strata managers and industry associations alike — to confirm their provider works to this guidance. Here is how to use it as a practical hiring checklist, and how CF Electrical Services answers each question.

What the guidance is and why it matters

The Guidance for the Preparation of Electrical Planning Reports (Province of BC, updated May 2026) was developed collaboratively by the provincial government, CHOA, BC Hydro, and VISOA to translate the legal content requirements of the Strata Property Regulation into a practical preparation standard. It documents the on-site work, data, analysis, and documentation a compliant EPR must cover.

It matters for hiring because it is the shared reference point every qualified firm in BC is expected to follow. A report prepared to the guidance will meet the Strata Property Regulation's content requirements. A report prepared without it can be missing mandatory elements — a gap that surfaces later, when lenders, buyers, or future councils review the strata's records.

The 7-question checklist

Use these questions when evaluating any EPR provider — including us.

1. Does the engagement include a physical on-site inspection?

The guidance and the Strata Property Regulation both require a physical inspection of all electrical and mechanical infrastructure — electrical rooms, switchgear, transformers, main and sub-panels, visited in person. A desktop-only review is non-compliant. Ask directly: "Will someone from your firm visit the building?" and "Does the inspection cover every electrical room and service entrance?" The answer to both should be a clear yes.

2. Does the engagement include 12 months of BC Hydro or FortisBC consumption data?

A compliant EPR must include a BC Hydro (or FortisBC) 12-month interval consumption-data analysis — real utility demand figures, not code-based estimates that assume maximum capacity without measuring what the building actually draws. Ask: "Do you request the 12-month consumption data directly from BC Hydro on the strata's behalf, or do you estimate from the panel ratings?" Estimation alone is non-compliant.

3. Does the scope cover all required electrification scenarios?

The regulation specifies that the future-electrification scenarios must cover EV charging, heat-pump conversions, and electric domestic hot water — each modelled separately, not as a combined "everything" load. Ask: "Does your scope include separate models for EV, heat pumps, and electric hot water?" An EPR that models EV charging alone does not meet the requirement.

4. Does the report include demand-management recommendations?

A compliant EPR must include strategies to free electrical capacity without a utility service upgrade — load-management controls, scheduling, smart-panel options — not just upgrade recommendations. Ask: "Does the report include demand-management strategies that reduce load, not just recommendations to upgrade the service?" A thin report that only lists capital upgrades is missing mandatory content.

5. Does the firm have a financial stake in the upgrades it recommends?

This is not directly a guidance compliance question — but it is a fair one to add. An EPR recommends upgrades the strata will later pay for, so it is reasonable to know whether the firm preparing the report has any financial stake in those upgrades going ahead, and how it keeps its recommendations tied to the building's needs. Ask: "Does your firm have any financial interest in the upgrades this report will recommend?" A firm whose only product is the report itself has no such stake.

6. Will the provider show you a sample report before you commit?

The guidance sets a standard for how findings must be documented and communicated — but a sample report shows you whether the firm actually delivers that standard in practice. Ask for a redacted sample from a comparable building. Confirm the report includes plain-language upgrade recommendations with quantified capacity estimates, not just load tables. Ask whether it includes a council presentation after delivery. See why you should always ask for a sample report and references before committing.

How CF Electrical Services answers the checklist

CF Electrical Services prepares every Electrical Planning Report in accordance with the Province's preparation guidance (updated May 2026, developed with CHOA, BC Hydro, and VISOA). Here is how we answer each question:

1. On-site inspection: Yes — every engagement includes a physical inspection of all electrical rooms, switchgear, transformers, and panels. No desktop-only reviews.
2. BC Hydro consumption data: Yes — we request 12 months of interval data from BC Hydro or FortisBC at intake; the data request is included in the engagement, not an optional add-on.
3. All electrification scenarios: Yes — we model EV charging, heat-pump conversions, and electric domestic hot water separately, as the regulation requires.
4. Demand-management recommendations: Yes — every report includes load-management strategies that free capacity without requiring a utility service upgrade.
5. Financial stake: No — our only product is the report itself, so we have no financial stake in the upgrades a report recommends.
6. Sample report available: Yes — we will show you a redacted sample from a comparable building and connect you with references before you commit to anything.

We quote every EPR as a fixed price, scoped to your building, with a proposal within one business day of receiving your building details. See how our EPRs work or contact us directly.