Is Your Strata a Part 9 Building? How to Check — and Why It Changes Who Can Prepare Your EPR: A Guide for Sea-to-Sky & Sunshine Coast Strata Councils

The full guide

Whether your strata's buildings are "Part 9" or not sounds like a technical detail — but under BC's Strata Property Regulation, it's the detail that decides who is qualified to prepare your Electrical Planning Report (EPR). Here's what Part 9 means, how a council can check, and why it matters.

What is a Part 9 building under the BC Building Code?

The BC Building Code sorts buildings by size and use. Part 9 — the Code's "Housing and Small Buildings" part — generally covers buildings of three storeys or less with a footprint of 600 square metres or less. In practice, that describes a large share of BC's strata stock outside the Lower Mainland's towers: townhouse complexes, low-rise wood-frame apartment buildings, and smaller mixed-use blocks.

How can our strata council tell if our buildings are Part 9?

Height and footprint are the two figures that matter — a building of three storeys or less, with a footprint of 600 square metres or less, generally falls under Part 9. Your strata's building permits or occupancy documentation, on file with the municipality, will typically show the building's classification. If your council isn't sure, this is a reasonable question to put to whoever prepares your EPR: a qualified person assessing the building can confirm the classification as part of the engagement.

One detail worth flagging early: the pathway described below applies only where every building on the strata plan is a Part 9 building. A strata with several matching townhouse blocks is a straightforward case. A strata with a mix of low-rise and larger buildings on the same plan is not — see "What if only some of our buildings are Part 9?" below.

Why does it matter who prepares our EPR?

The Strata Property Regulation sets out which qualified persons may prepare an Electrical Planning Report, and the answer depends on the building. For a strata corporation where every building on the strata plan is a Part 9 building, the regulation's list of qualified persons includes a journeyperson in the construction electrician or industrial electrician trade — a Journeyperson Electrician, as defined under the Skilled Trades BC Act — alongside professionals registered with EGBC or ASTTBC. The Province's guidance for the preparation of Electrical Planning Reports sets this out in plain language.

For an all-Part-9 strata, that Journeyperson Electrician pathway is often the most cost-effective route to a fully compliant report — the trade the regulation names for these buildings is the one that works on exactly this kind of electrical system every day.

Does a Journeyperson-Electrician-prepared EPR cover less?

No. Whichever qualified person prepares it, the report content requirement is the same. Section 5.11 of the Strata Property Regulation asks for the same physical inspection, the same 12 months of utility consumption analysis, the same future-electrification scenarios, and the same upgrade recommendations, regardless of which qualified person's name is on the cover. Ask any provider which qualification will prepare your report, and confirm the scope covers everything the regulation requires — a shorter list of qualified persons is not a shorter list of requirements. See our full breakdown of what section 5.11 requires for the complete checklist.

What if only some of our buildings are Part 9?

The Journeyperson Electrician pathway applies only where every building on the strata plan is a Part 9 building. A strata plan with even one building beyond Part 9's scope — a taller or larger structure alongside smaller ones — needs a qualified person registered with EGBC or ASTTBC for the report as a whole. If your strata's buildings are a mix, that's worth raising with any provider you're evaluating before you commit.

Check before you commit

Whichever pathway applies to your strata, the practical steps are the same: confirm your building's classification, ask your provider which qualification will prepare your report, and confirm the scope covers everything section 5.11 requires. CF Electrical Services works with strata corporations across British Columbia — request a fixed-price proposal and we'll tell you plainly what an EPR involves for your building. We'll also show your council a redacted sample report from a comparable building and connect you with references — see what strata councils and property managers say about working with us.

Authoritative sources

• Strata Property Regulation — the report content requirements (section 5.11) and who may prepare the report (BC Laws).
• Guidance for the Preparation of Electrical Planning Reports — Province of British Columbia (May 2026).
• Strata electrical planning report — Province of British Columbia overview page.