Stratify Your Plex | Unit Entitlement
Unit Entitlement: How Strata Costs Are Split
Unit entitlement is the number on the strata plan that sets each lot's share of the strata's costs and of the common property. In BC it is either the lot's habitable area, the same number for every lot, or a number the Superintendent of Real Estate approves. You choose it once, before the plan is filed, and every strata fee, special levy and court judgment is split by it from then on. This page shows how each method works, a worked example for a 3-unit strata, and what it takes to change the numbers later.
The Short Answer
- 01Unit entitlement is the number given to each strata lot on the Schedule of Unit Entitlement (Form V). It sets that lot's share of the common property and of every shared cost (Strata Property Act s.66, s.99).
- 02For a residential lot there are three legal choices: the habitable area in square metres set by a BC land surveyor, the same whole number for every lot, or a number the Superintendent of Real Estate approves (s.246).
- 03A lot pays its unit entitlement divided by the total unit entitlement, times the budget. Three lots of 80, 100 and 120 square metres pay 26.7%, 33.3% and 40%.
- 04Each lot still has one vote, whatever its unit entitlement (s.53).
- 05Changing the schedule later needs a unanimous vote, a new Form V approved by the Superintendent and a Certificate of Strata Corporation (s.261). A different fee formula needs a unanimous resolution filed at the Land Title Office (s.100).
The Three Legal Bases
Section 246(3)(a) of the Strata Property Act lists the three ways to set the unit entitlement of a residential strata lot. The owner developer picks one, and all residential lots on the plan use it. A phased strata uses the same basis for every phase (s.221).
| Basis | How the number is set | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Habitable area | A BC land surveyor measures each lot's habitable area in square metres and rounds it to a whole number. The surveyor also signs a certificate for it, filed with Form V. | Bigger homes pay more. Patios, balconies, garages, parking stalls and storage are left out; closet space counts (Regulation s.14.2). | Act s.246(3)(a)(i), s.245 |
| Same number for every lot | Every residential lot gets the same whole number, for example 1. | Every lot pays the same share, whatever its size. No surveyor certificate for area is needed for the schedule. | Act s.246(3)(a)(ii) |
| Approved by the Superintendent | The owner developer proposes numbers and the Superintendent of Real Estate approves them. The fee is $200 per schedule examined. | Required when a plan mixes residential and non-residential lots (s.246(5)). Also one of the two choices for a bare land strata. | Act s.246(3)(a)(iii); Regulation s.14.8 |
A bare land strata, where lot lines are set by survey markers on the ground, has only two choices: the same whole number for every lot, or a number the Superintendent approves (s.246(6)). The bare land strata page covers the other differences.
What "Habitable Area" Counts
Habitable area is the living space of a lot in square metres. Section 14.2 of the Strata Property Regulation leaves out patios, balconies, garages, parking stalls and storage areas. Closet space is the one kind of storage that counts. The BC land surveyor measures it, rounds it to a whole number and signs a certificate that goes in with Form V (s.245).
The strata plan also shows each lot's area in square metres (s.244). That plan area and the habitable area can differ, because the plan area follows the lot's legal boundary and the habitable area follows the Regulation's list. Ask your surveyor to show you both before you sign.
In a small plex, the choice matters most for spaces at the edge of the list: a garage that is part of one lot, a large closet, or a basement that is left unfinished at the time of the survey. A basement finished later can raise the habitable area of one lot, and the schedule does not update itself (see "Changing it later" below).
Form V and the Superintendent
The numbers are filed on Form V, the Schedule of Unit Entitlement, with the strata plan at the Land Title Office (s.245). Plans filed before July 1, 2000 use Form 1 instead. After deposit, the strata's list of owners must show each lot's unit entitlement (s.35).
The Superintendent of Real Estate approves Form V in two cases: when the numbers are set by the Superintendent, and whenever a plan has both residential and non-residential lots, such as a shop at street level (s.246(5)). The fee is $200 for each schedule examined (Regulation s.14.8). A residential plex that uses habitable area or equal numbers files Form V without that approval.
A non-residential lot also opens the door to a Schedule of Voting Rights (Form W). Without one, every lot has one vote (s.53, s.247).
Worked Example: A 3-Unit Strata
The Act's formula is the lot's unit entitlement, divided by the total unit entitlement of all lots, times the total contribution (s.99). Take 3 lots with habitable areas of 80, 100 and 120 square metres, so the total is 300, and a yearly budget of $12,000. The last column shows the same budget if every lot had the same number. The arithmetic is ours.
| Lot | Unit entitlement | Share | Per year | Per month | Per year if equal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strata lot 1 | 80 | 80/300 = 26.67% | $3,200 | $266.67 | $4,000 |
| Strata lot 2 | 100 | 100/300 = 33.33% | $4,000 | $333.33 | $4,000 |
| Strata lot 3 | 120 | 120/300 = 40.00% | $4,800 | $400.00 | $4,000 |
| Total | 300 | 100% | $12,000 | $1,000.00 | $12,000 |
The same shares apply to the contingency reserve fund (CRF), which must receive at least 10% of the operating budget every year (Regulation s.6.1), and to a special levy approved by a 3/4 vote. A $30,000 levy on these 3 lots is $8,000, $10,000 and $12,000.
Try your own numbers in the strata fee split calculator. Enter each unit's size and the yearly budget, and it shows each owner's share, monthly fee and the minimum reserve fund contribution.
What Unit Entitlement Sets, and What It Leaves Alone
| Item | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Strata fees (operating fund and contingency reserve fund) | Each lot pays its unit entitlement divided by the total, times the budget. | Act s.99 |
| Ownership of common property and common assets | Each owner owns them as a tenant in common, in the same share. | Act s.66 |
| A court judgment against the strata | Shared among owners by unit entitlement. | Act s.166(2) |
| A special levy | Split by unit entitlement with a 3/4 vote. Any other fair split needs a unanimous vote. | Act s.108 |
| Operating costs for limited common property | Shared only by the lots entitled to use it, by their unit entitlement. | Regulation s.6.4 |
| Votes | One vote per strata lot, unless a Schedule of Voting Rights (Form W) applies. Unit entitlement plays no part. | Act s.53, s.247 |
| Wind-up | Uses a conversion schedule based on assessed values. | Act s.273 |
Votes follow a different rule. A 120 square metre lot pays 50% more than an 80 square metre lot in the example above, and both have one vote. The vote calculator counts votes by lot for that reason.
The Coach-House Roof Question
In August 2025, owners in a small strata made up of an original house and new coach houses wrote to the Condo Smarts newspaper column about a $45,000 roof bill for the original house. They asked whether the bill should be split one third each, or 54%, 23% and 23%, and who should have warned the buyers. Owners of a house-plus-laneway or a mixed old-and-new plex face the same question, so here is what the law says.
In a building strata, a lot's boundary runs through the middle of its walls, floors and ceilings unless the plan shows another line (s.68), and everything outside every lot is common property (s.1). So a roof above the top ceiling is common property unless the plan shows another boundary. The Province lists replacing the roof as a cost for the contingency reserve fund, which pays for costs that come less often than once a year (s.92). Owners pay into that fund, and pay any special levy split by unit entitlement, in their unit entitlement shares (s.99, s.108). So unless the owners agree otherwise, the large house's owner pays the large share.
There are two ways to split it one third each. All owners can approve a special levy with another fair split by unanimous vote (s.108), or all owners can agree by unanimous resolution, filed at the Land Title Office, to use a different formula for fees (s.100). Both need every owner, including the one who would pay more.
The shares were set before any buyer signed. Form V is part of the strata plan, and the strata's owner list shows each lot's number, so a buyer can work out their share of a future roof before they buy. In a plex where one lot is older than the rest, run the numbers for the largest repair you can foresee before you choose the basis.
A second question owners ask is the reverse: everyone pays an equal share even though some units are twice the size. That is the result of the equal-number basis in s.246(3)(a)(ii), and the same two unanimous routes are the way to change it.
Best For
- ✓ Habitable area: units of clearly different sizes, where owners expect a bigger home to pay more
- ✓ Equal numbers: units of near-equal size, such as a side-by-side duplex
- ✓ Superintendent approval: a plan with a shop or office lot beside the homes
Usually Fails When
- ✕ One lot is the original house and the others are small new units, and nobody checked who pays for the old roof
- ✕ A basement or attic is finished later and the schedule is never updated
- ✕ Owners assume they can fix an unfair split later by majority vote
What To Verify Before Spending Money
- → The surveyor's habitable area figures against your floor plans
- → Each owner's share of a large future repair, worked out in dollars
- → Whether any lot is non-residential, which brings in the Superintendent
Changing It Later
Every route needs every owner, or a court. In a 2 to 6 unit strata that means one owner can stop a change, and no court can override one holdout on a unanimous vote in a strata under 10 lots (s.52).
| Situation | What it takes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Habitable area changes (for example, a basement becomes living space) | A unanimous vote, a new Form V approved by the Superintendent, and a Certificate of Strata Corporation filed at the Land Title Office. | Act s.261 |
| Owners want a different way to split fees | A unanimous resolution, filed at the Land Title Office. The schedule stays; the fee formula changes. | Act s.100 |
| The schedule has a mistake | A court can correct it under s.246(7), with limits: no correction if the error was in the original schedule, and otherwise only where the gap is at least 10% or at least 20 square metres. | Act s.246(7); Regulation s.14.13 |
| One special levy split another way | A unanimous vote for a split other than unit entitlement. The schedule does not change. | Act s.108 |
The Province's unit entitlement page gives one common case: an owner makes part of a lot habitable, where unit entitlement is by habitable area. That can need the unanimous vote and the new schedule under s.261. The Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) cannot hear a claim under s.246, so a dispute about the schedule itself goes to the BC Supreme Court (Civil Resolution Tribunal Act s.122).
Choosing the Basis for a Duplex to Sixplex
The law gives you the three choices and no rule on which is right. Two facts from the sections above shape the choice. First, the split you file with the plan is the split owners live with, because every change needs every owner. Second, unit entitlement controls money and leaves votes alone, so a large lot pays more without getting more say.
A side-by-side duplex with two homes of the same size gives close to the same shares under either method. A plex with a large original house and two small new units gives different shares under each method, and the table in the worked example shows the gap in dollars. Work out each owner's share of the budget and of the largest repair you expect, under each method, before the surveyor draws the plan. The how to stratify guide shows where this choice falls in the order of steps.
Common Questions
What is unit entitlement in a strata? +
Unit entitlement is the number each strata lot is given on the Schedule of Unit Entitlement. It decides each owner's share of the common property and of the strata's costs. A lot with a unit entitlement of 100 in a strata whose lots add up to 300 owns one third of the common property and pays one third of the budget (Strata Property Act s.66, s.99).
What does unit entitlement mean on a strata plan? +
It is the share of the strata that belongs to each lot. The numbers are listed on Form V, the Schedule of Unit Entitlement, filed with the strata plan (Form 1 for plans filed before July 1, 2000). The strata's list of owners must also show each lot's unit entitlement (s.35).
How are strata unit entitlements calculated? +
For a residential lot, the owner developer picks one of three methods before the plan is filed: the habitable area in square metres measured by a BC land surveyor and rounded to a whole number, the same whole number for every lot, or a number approved by the Superintendent of Real Estate (s.246(3)).
How do you calculate unit entitlement? +
With the habitable area method, the surveyor measures the living space of each lot in square metres, leaves out patios, balconies, garages, parking stalls and storage, counts closets, and rounds to a whole number (Regulation s.14.2). That number is the unit entitlement. With the equal method, every lot gets the same number.
How do you work out strata fees from unit entitlement? +
Divide the lot's unit entitlement by the total for all lots, then multiply by the yearly budget. Three lots of 80, 100 and 120 share a $12,000 budget as $3,200, $4,000 and $4,800 a year (s.99). The fee split calculator does this for up to 6 units.
Can every unit in a strata have the same unit entitlement? +
Yes. The Act allows a whole number that is the same for all residential lots (s.246(3)(a)(ii)). Each lot then pays an equal share of the budget, whatever its size.
Does a bigger unit entitlement give me more votes? +
No. Each strata lot has one vote unless the strata has a Schedule of Voting Rights, and that schedule is possible only when there is at least one non-residential lot. Residential lots in such a schedule still have one vote each (s.53, s.247).
Can unit entitlement be changed after the strata plan is filed? +
Yes, and every route needs every owner or a court. When habitable area changes, the strata needs a unanimous vote, a new Form V approved by the Superintendent and a Certificate of Strata Corporation (s.261). Owners can instead agree by unanimous resolution, filed at the Land Title Office, to split fees with a different formula (s.100).
Who approves the Schedule of Unit Entitlement? +
Nobody, for a residential strata that uses habitable area or equal numbers: the schedule is filed with the plan. The Superintendent of Real Estate approves it when the numbers are set by the Superintendent or when the plan mixes residential and non-residential lots, for $200 per schedule (s.246(5); Regulation s.14.8).
Does a balcony or garage count in habitable area? +
No. Habitable area leaves out patios, balconies, garages, parking stalls and storage areas. Closet space is the one storage space that counts (Strata Property Regulation s.14.2).
Can the Civil Resolution Tribunal change unit entitlement? +
No. The Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) cannot hear claims under section 246, which covers unit entitlement, so those go to the BC Supreme Court (Civil Resolution Tribunal Act s.122).
Where do I find my strata lot's unit entitlement? +
Ask the strata: its list of owners must show each lot's unit entitlement, and it must give an owner copies of records within 2 weeks for at most 25 cents a page. The official Form V is part of the strata plan at the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA), which charges $17.78 to download a plan image, plus $3.55 per online transaction.
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