A resident clips the parkade door on the way out. A spring breaks at 6 a.m. A visitor's car gets caught under a closing door. Each one ends with the same question at the next council meeting: who pays? The answer comes from the Strata Property Act, your bylaws and, sometimes, the insurance policy. Here's how the pieces fit, with the actual wording.
We repair parkade doors for strata corporations, so we see the invoices land on council desks. We don’t decide who pays them, and neither should your door company. But knowing how BC’s rules split the bill helps a council act fast after an incident instead of arguing for weeks while the door sits half-open.
Start with the default: the strata corporation repairs common property
In most strata buildings the parkade entry door, its operator and its controls are common property. The Strata Property Act gives the baseline:
- Section 3: “the strata corporation is responsible for managing and maintaining the common property and common assets of the strata corporation for the benefit of the owners.”
- Section 72(1): “the strata corporation must repair and maintain common property and common assets.”
Section 72(2) lets a bylaw shift repair duties to an owner only for limited common property the owner uses, or for other common property “only if identified in the regulations”. The Province’s strata repair page puts it plainly: common property and common assets “cannot be made the responsibility of strata lot owners to repair and maintain even for short term exclusive use.”
So who pays for parkade door repairs from normal use? For a shared door, the wear-and-tear repair (a broken spring, a worn operator, a failed photo eye) is a strata expense. It’s paid like any other common expense, through the budget or, for less frequent work, the contingency reserve fund.
What the Standard Bylaws add
Many stratas use the provincial Standard Bylaws, at least in part. Standard Bylaw 8 says the strata corporation repairs and maintains common property and, for limited common property, items such as “doors, windows and skylights on the exterior of a building or that front on the common property”, however often the work is needed. If your strata has filed its own bylaws, read those instead. They can be different.
When an owner damages the door
This is where most disputes start. The key bylaw is Standard Bylaw 3(2): an owner, tenant, occupant or visitor “must not cause damage, other than reasonable wear and tear, to the common property, common assets” or the parts of a strata lot the strata must repair or insure.
Breaking that bylaw doesn’t automatically mean the owner gets the repair bill. Three points matter:
- The strata needs authority to charge. A 2023 Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) decision, EPS5579 v. Kwong, 2023 BCCRT 742, cites the BC Court of Appeal in Ward v. Strata Plan VIS #6115, 2011 BCCA 512: “in the absence of a bylaw or rule giving it authority to do so, a strata corporation cannot charge an owner for costs it has incurred.” The Standard Bylaws contain no chargeback bylaw. Many stratas have added one.
- The wording of that bylaw sets the test. In VR1183 v. Smith, 2022 BCCRT 649, the CRT found that a bylaw making owners pay for damage caused by their “act, omission, negligence or carelessness” imposes a negligence standard, following earlier court decisions. Under that kind of bylaw the strata has to show the owner, or their tenant, was negligent.
- Process comes first. Section 133 lets a strata remedy a bylaw breach and recover “the reasonable costs of remedying the contravention” from the person who could be fined. But section 135 says the strata must not require payment unless it has received a complaint, given the owner or tenant the particulars in writing and “a reasonable opportunity to answer the complaint, including a hearing if requested”.
CRT decisions aren’t binding on later cases, as the tribunal itself notes, but they show how these disputes are usually decided.
Typical parkade scenarios
| What happened | Starting point | What can change it |
|---|---|---|
| Spring breaks, operator wears out | Strata expense (s.72) | Rarely anything. This is normal maintenance |
| Resident’s car hits the door | Strata repairs the door first (s.72) | A chargeback bylaw, the s.135 process, or an insurance claim and deductible (s.158) |
| Visitor or delivery driver hits it | Strata repairs first | Section 130 lets a strata fine an owner for a bylaw breach by their visitor. Recovery from a third party may go through their insurer |
| Door closes on a car | Depends on cause: a door fault, or a car stopped under a closing door | Service records and safety-device condition carry weight |
Who pays for parkade door repairs when insurance is involved
Section 149 requires the strata to insure common property against “major perils”. Regulation 9.1(2) defines those, and the list includes “impact by aircraft and vehicles, vandalism and malicious acts”. A car through the parkade door is the textbook case.
Whether to claim is a council decision. A door repair may cost less than the deductible. If the strata does claim, section 158(1) makes the deductible a common expense. Section 158(2) keeps the strata’s ability “to sue an owner in order to recover the deductible portion of an insurance claim if the owner is responsible for the loss or damage”. The Province’s owner-insurance page warns that an owner “can be deemed responsible, and required to pay the strata corporation’s insurance deductible, even if not ‘at fault’ or negligent”, depending on the bylaws.
Two limits from CRT decisions are worth knowing:
- In Kwong, the tribunal held that section 158(2) applies to a deductible actually paid. It “does not apply to hypothetical deductibles, where the strata elects not to make a claim”.
- The same decision says a strata that didn’t tell owners about a deductible increase, as section 154(c) requires, “may not charge an owner for damage above the original deductible amount.”
When a vehicle is involved, ICBC adds another layer. Our strata deductible vs ICBC article and the vehicle-hit strata repair page cover that side.
Paying for the repair today, sorting out who owes it later
A parkade door stuck open is a security problem tonight, whoever ends up paying. The cost argument can wait. Section 98(3) lets a strata spend without a prior vote where “an immediate expenditure is necessary to ensure safety or prevent significant loss or damage”. Section 98(5) limits it to the minimum needed, and 98(6) requires telling owners as soon as feasible.
In practice, councils that handle these well do the same few things:
- Secure the door first. Get it closed and safe. Our strata emergency protocols page covers what to do in the first hour.
- Collect evidence while it’s fresh. Photos, the time, the fob or remote log if your access system keeps one, and any camera footage.
- Get a written repair report that separates impact damage from pre-existing wear. That split is what any chargeback or claim depends on.
- Then follow your bylaws and section 135 before sending anyone a bill.
Why the repair report wording matters
If a door had a frayed cable before a car touched it, a chargeback for “replacing the cables” will be hard to defend. Ask your technician to note what was damaged by the incident and what was already worn.
Check your own documents
The Province’s guidance lists the sources a council should review to work out repair responsibility: the strata plan, the bylaws, any filed limited common property designations and any alteration agreements. If your parkade door is designated limited common property for one group of owners (some townhouse parkades are set up this way), the answer may differ from everything above.
For the door side of the job, we handle strata parkade door repairs and insurance-related work on our strata insurance claims page.
If you’re still asking who pays for parkade door repairs after an incident, start with your registered bylaws. This article is general information drawn from the Strata Property Act, the Standard Bylaws and published CRT decisions as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. For a disputed chargeback, talk to your strata manager or a strata lawyer.
Parkade repair cost questions
Is the strata responsible for repairing the parkade door?
Usually yes. Section 72(1) of the Strata Property Act says the strata corporation must repair and maintain common property and common assets, and a shared parkade door is normally common property.
Can the strata charge an owner whose car hit the door?
Only with authority to do so. The CRT, citing the BC Court of Appeal, has said that in the absence of a bylaw or rule giving it authority, a strata corporation cannot charge an owner for costs it has incurred. The strata must also follow the complaint and hearing process in section 135.
Does a chargeback bylaw mean the owner always pays?
No. In VR1183 v. Smith, 2022 BCCRT 649, the CRT found that a bylaw making owners pay for damage caused by their act, omission, negligence or carelessness imposes a negligence standard, so the strata has to show negligence.
Is a car hitting the parkade door covered by strata insurance?
Strata property insurance must cover major perils, and Strata Property Regulation 9.1(2) lists impact by aircraft and vehicles, vandalism and malicious acts among them. Whether to claim depends on the deductible.
Can council approve an emergency parkade door repair without a vote?
Yes, where an immediate expenditure is necessary to ensure safety or prevent significant loss or damage. Section 98 limits the spending to the minimum needed, and owners must be told as soon as feasible.
Book a parkade door repair
Call (604) 206-5727 or use the contact page. We answer around the clock for commercial door failures across Metro Vancouver.
New commercial clients: 10% off labour on your first service call or repair — mention NEW10 when booking (one per business, not combinable with maintenance-contract pricing, work booked by Dec 31, 2026).
