The Legal Frame | Disclosure Statement
Filing a Disclosure Statement
A developer of five or more strata lots must file a disclosure statement with BCFSA before marketing begins. It is the document the whole REDMA regime hangs on: it tells the buyer what they are buying, and it starts the clock on their right to cancel.
Key takeaways
- Filing comes before marketing. The statement is filed with BCFSA, not handed out at the first showing.
- A nine-or-fewer unit development pays $900, a fee set on 1 January 2019.
- Amendments cost $600 each and are required when a material fact changes.
- The rescission clock needs a written acknowledgement. Section 21(2) runs seven days from the later of the agreement date and the date the developer obtained written acknowledgement the buyer could read the statement.
- No acknowledgement, no start. A developer who skips it leaves the cancellation right open instead of closing it.
What the document has to cover
A disclosure statement is a plain-language description of the development and the deal. It identifies the developer and the people behind it, describes the parcel and what is being built on it, sets out what the purchaser receives, and discloses the encumbrances registered against title. It covers the construction schedule and the expected date the strata plan will be deposited.
On a small multiplex the content is short compared with a tower, but the categories are the same. The developer's identity and history matter to a buyer handing over a deposit. The encumbrances matter because a right of way or a statutory building scheme registered on title travels with the unit. The schedule matters because it is the commitment the buyer plans their move around.
The document is prepared by a lawyer. This is not a form to fill in. A statement that misdescribes the project or omits a material fact creates liability that outlives the sale, which is why the legal cost of preparing it exceeds the filing fee by a wide margin.
Filing fees by development size
Fees are banded by unit count and have been at these levels since 1 January 2019. Every multiplex that crosses the five-unit line sits in the first band.
| Development size | Fee |
|---|---|
| 9 or fewer development units | $900 |
| 10 to 49 development units | $1,800 |
| 50 to 99 development units | $3,600 |
| 100 or more development units | $5,400 |
| Amendment to a filed disclosure statement | $600 |
Fee schedule in force since 1 January 2019.
How the seven-day rescission right works
Section 21(2) gives a purchaser seven days to rescind by serving written notice on the developer. The seven days run from the later of two dates: the date the purchase agreement was made, and the date the developer obtained a written statement from the purchaser acknowledging they had an opportunity to read the disclosure statement.
The second limb is the one developers get wrong. It is the developer's job to obtain the acknowledgement, and until they do, the later of the two dates has not arrived. A developer who hands over the disclosure statement without collecting a signed acknowledgement has not started the buyer's clock, so the seven days have not begun to run and the cancellation right stays open.
The practical discipline is simple. Give the buyer the statement, give them time to read it, then collect the signed acknowledgement and date it. That date, or the agreement date if it is later, is when the seven days start.
When you must amend
A filed disclosure statement describes the project as it was when filed. When a material fact changes, the statement stops being accurate and an amendment is filed to correct it. Each amendment costs $600.
On a small multiplex the changes that most often require one are a moved completion date, a change to the unit mix or areas, a new encumbrance registered on title, and a change in the developer entity. A slipping schedule is the most common by a distance, because construction timelines move and the filed date does not move with them on its own.
Budget for amendments rather than treating them as failures. A project that files two amendments over an eighteen-month build has spent $1,200 keeping its disclosure accurate, which is the cost of the regime working as intended.
What a four-unit build does instead
Below five units there is no statement to file and no statutory rescission right to trigger. Everything the disclosure statement would have carried has to live in the purchase agreement instead, and the seven-day cancellation window exists only if the contract creates it.
A well-drafted four-unit agreement can replicate most of the substance: it can describe the unit and the common property, disclose the encumbrances, commit to a completion date with a remedy if it slips, and grant a written cancellation period. What it cannot replicate is the regulator receiving a copy. Nobody reviews the document before the buyer signs, so the quality of the drafting is the entire protection.
Who prepares and who signs
The developer is responsible for the disclosure statement. On a small multiplex the developer is often the same person who owns the lot and hired the builder, which means the responsibility sits with someone doing it for the first time. That is a reason to retain counsel early, not a reason to treat the document as a formality.
The lawyer drafts from documents you supply: the strata plan showing the lots being created, a current title search listing every encumbrance, the building permit, and a construction schedule. Gaps in those inputs become gaps in the statement, and a gap about an encumbrance is the kind that surfaces years later when a buyer discovers a right of way nobody mentioned.
The buyer signs two separate things. One is the purchase agreement. The other is the acknowledgement that they had an opportunity to read the disclosure statement, which is what starts the rescission clock under section 21(2). Treating those as one document is how developers end up with an unstarted clock.
The sequence that keeps you compliant
The order of operations is where small developers get caught, because the natural instinct is to secure the buyer first and handle paperwork after. REDMA reverses that instinct.
File the statement with BCFSA first. Then market. When a buyer is interested, give them the disclosure statement and time to read it. Then take the signed, dated acknowledgement. Then sign the purchase agreement and take the deposit into the trust account required by section 18. The seven days run from the later of the agreement date and the acknowledgement date, and both are now recorded.
Anyone taking deposits on your behalf needs to know this sequence. A deposit collected at an open house before the acknowledgement is signed creates a problem that is awkward to unwind, because the money is already in hand and the clock has not started.
Best for, fails when, verify before
Filing works well when
You are selling five or more units to arm's length buyers and want a document their lawyers can review before signing.
It fails when
The schedule moves and no amendment is filed, leaving a filed document that no longer describes the project being built.
Verify before marketing
That the statement is filed, that your acknowledgement form exists, and that whoever runs your sales knows not to take a deposit before both.
What it costs in total
The filing fee is the smallest line. A five or six unit multiplex pays $900 to file and $600 for each amendment. The legal cost of preparing the statement is larger and varies with how complicated title is and how settled the project is when drafting starts.
Against that, weigh what filing buys on a presale. A buyer's lawyer reviewing a filed disclosure statement is doing a different exercise from a buyer's lawyer reading a private contract with no regulator copy. On a project selling five units to five strangers, that difference shows up in how quickly deals firm up.
Keeping the statement accurate
A filed disclosure statement is a live document for the length of the project. Treat it as something to review whenever the project changes rather than as a filing that is finished once accepted. The review question is simple: does the statement still describe the development we are building and selling?
Set a point in the schedule to check it, such as each time the construction programme is revised. Catching a moved completion date and filing the amendment costs $600 and keeps the record straight. Letting it drift means buyers hold a document describing a project that no longer exists in that form.
Where to go next
- The five-unit threshold decides whether you file at all.
- Deposits and trust accounts covers the money side of the same regime.
- Early marketing covers how long you can sell before approvals land.
Frequently asked questions
When must a disclosure statement be filed in BC? +
Before marketing begins. REDMA requires a developer of a development property to file the disclosure statement with BCFSA and provide it to purchasers, so the filing precedes the sales launch rather than following it. A developer of five or more strata lots who takes a deposit before filing has marketed in contravention of the Act.
How much does it cost to file a disclosure statement? +
Fees are banded by unit count and have been set since 1 January 2019. A development of nine or fewer units pays $900, ten to 49 units pays $1,800, 50 to 99 units pays $3,600, and 100 or more pays $5,400. Amending a filed statement costs $600. Every multiplex sits in the $900 band.
What triggers the seven-day rescission period? +
Section 21(2) runs the seven days from the later of two dates: the date the purchase agreement was made, and the date the developer obtained a written statement from the purchaser acknowledging they had an opportunity to read the disclosure statement. Both limbs matter, and the later one controls when the clock starts.
What happens if I never collect the buyer's acknowledgement? +
The rescission clock does not start. Section 21(2) measures seven days from the later of the agreement date and the acknowledgement date, so a missing acknowledgement means the later date has not occurred. The cancellation right stays open rather than expiring, which leaves the developer exposed long after they assumed the deal was firm.
How does a buyer rescind under REDMA? +
By serving written notice of the rescission on the developer within the seven-day period. The requirement is written notice, so a phone call or a conversation on site does not accomplish it. A buyer who wants out should send written notice and keep proof of when it was served on the developer.
What goes into a disclosure statement for a small multiplex? +
The same categories as a large one, at shorter length. It identifies the developer, describes the parcel and the building, sets out what the purchaser receives, discloses encumbrances registered against title, and gives the construction schedule and expected strata plan deposit date. A lawyer prepares it, because a material omission creates liability that survives the sale.
When does a disclosure statement need to be amended? +
When a material fact changes. On a small multiplex the usual triggers are a moved completion date, a change to unit areas or mix, a newly registered encumbrance on title, and a change in the developer entity. Each amendment costs $600. A slipping construction schedule is the most common cause by a wide margin.
Does filing a disclosure statement mean BCFSA approves my project? +
No. Filing puts the document on the record with the regulator and makes it available to purchasers. It is not an endorsement of the project, the developer, or the price. A buyer reading a filed statement is reading the developer's own description of the development, with the accountability that filing it creates.
Can I market units while the disclosure statement is being prepared? +
No. The filing precedes marketing for a development property of five or more strata lots. Preparing the statement takes legal time, so build it into the schedule ahead of the sales launch rather than running the two in parallel and hoping the document lands first.
Do fourplex sellers need a disclosure statement? +
No. A four-lot strata falls below the five-unit floor in REDMA section 1, so no statement is filed and no statutory rescission right arises. The information a disclosure statement would carry has to live in the purchase agreement instead, and no regulator reviews it before the buyer signs.
Can a four-unit contract create its own cancellation right? +
Yes. Nothing stops a purchase agreement from granting the buyer a written cancellation period, and a well-drafted four-unit agreement often does. The right binds because both parties agreed to it rather than because statute imposed it, so its length and its conditions are whatever the contract says they are.
How long does preparing a disclosure statement take? +
That depends on the lawyer and how settled the project is, so treat it as legal work to schedule rather than a form to file the week before launch. The inputs it needs are the strata plan, the title search showing encumbrances, and a construction schedule you are willing to commit to in a filed document. [VERIFY] typical turnaround with your own counsel.
Sources and references
Rescission mechanics quoted from REDMA section 21(2), read 6 September 2026. Filing fees in force since 1 January 2019.
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