The Standard Bylaws: What Applies If Yours Were Never Changed

Many BC strata councils operate for years without ever reading their own bylaws — and a surprising number of them are running on the Schedule of Standard Bylaws without realizing it. If nobody ever filed anything different in the Land Title Office, the Standard Bylaws are your bylaws.

Where your bylaws actually come from

Section 120 of the Strata Property Act is the whole rule in one sentence: the bylaws of the strata corporation are the Standard Bylaws except to the extent that different bylaws are filed in the land title office (s.120). The section also lets an owner developer file bylaws that differ from the Standard Bylaws when the strata plan is deposited.

Two consequences follow:

• You always have bylaws. A strata corporation that has never passed an amendment is not un-governed; it is governed by the Schedule of Standard Bylaws, bylaws 1 through 30.
• Filed bylaws displace the Standard Bylaws only to the extent they differ. If your strata filed a two-page bylaw about pets and parking in 2014 and nothing else, the rest of the Standard Bylaws likely still fill the gaps. Whether they do depends on the wording of what was filed — some filings expressly repeal and replace the bylaws in their entirety, others only add or substitute a few.

This is also why the Standard Bylaws are sometimes called the default strata bylaws: they are the baseline the Act supplies, not a template you have to adopt.

Questions councils actually ask

Q: We've never filed a bylaw amendment. Which bylaws apply to us?
The Standard Bylaws in the Schedule, in full (s.120). Check the Land Title Office record before you assume this — the owner developer may have filed a different set at deposit.

Q: If our filed bylaw conflicts with a Standard Bylaw, which wins?
The filed bylaw. For strata corporations created under the former Condominium Act, the Regulation says so expressly: where a filed bylaw conflicts with a Standard Bylaw, the filed bylaw prevails (Regulation s.17.11).

Q: Can a bylaw we filed years ago still be unenforceable?
Yes. Under the same transitional rule, a bylaw filed in the land title office ceased to have effect on January 1, 2002 to the extent it conflicts with Parts 1 to 17 of the Act or the Regulation (Regulation s.17.11). A bylaw sitting in the registry is not automatically a valid one.

Q: Are bylaws and rules the same thing?
No — different approval routes and different scope. See Strata Bylaws vs Rules in BC: What's the Difference?.

Older stratas: the Condominium Act hand-over

If your building predates the Strata Property Act, the transition still matters. On January 1, 2002 the Standard Bylaws were deemed to be the bylaws of every strata corporation created under the Condominium Act, except to the extent conflicting bylaws were filed, and old deemed bylaws carried forward from earlier Acts ceased to have effect (Regulation s.17.11). There is a narrow carve-out for pre-July 2000 bylaws apportioning contingency reserve fund contributions by type of strata lot.

The Regulation also handles one quirk: where the Standard Bylaw about pets was deemed to apply to a strata corporation this way, it is treated as having been passed on January 1, 2002 for grandfathering purposes (Regulation s.17.12).

What the Standard Bylaws actually do

The Schedule covers payment of strata fees, repair and maintenance obligations, use of property, council elections and procedure, and alterations. Two that come up constantly:

• Bylaw 5 — an owner must get the strata corporation's written approval before altering a strata lot in the listed ways (structure or exterior of a building; balconies, stairs, chimneys and things attached to the exterior; doors, windows and skylights on the exterior or facing common property; fences and railings enclosing a patio, balcony or yard; common property inside the strata lot; and parts the strata must insure). Bylaw 5(2) says that approval must not be unreasonably withheld, and the strata may require the owner to agree in writing to take responsibility for expenses relating to the alteration.
• Bylaw 6 — the same written-approval requirement for alterations to common property, limited common property or common assets.

Both are in the Schedule of Standard Bylaws. Note that this is written approval by the corporation, normally given by council — not a vote of the owners. Many stratas have filed bylaws that go further than bylaw 5 or 6, so read your own registered set before answering an owner.

Some bylaws are also constrained by the Act itself. Age-restriction bylaws, for example, are limited, and the Regulation prescribes classes of people a specified age requirement cannot be applied to — including a child whose caregiver is a qualifying resident, and the spouse of a qualifying resident (Regulation s.7.01).

Changing the defaults

For a strata plan composed entirely of residential strata lots, a bylaw amendment must be approved at an annual or special general meeting by a 3/4 vote (s.128). A 3/4 vote means at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy when the vote is taken, excluding abstentions — not 3/4 of all owners (s.1). Mixed residential/nonresidential plans need separate 3/4 votes, or as the bylaws otherwise provide for the nonresidential lots.

Then the part councils forget: an approved amendment has no effect until an Amendment to Bylaws in the prescribed form is filed in the land title office, and the strata must inform owners and tenants of the amendment as soon as feasible after approval (s.128). There is no set number of days to file — but an unfiled amendment is simply not a bylaw, no matter how decisively it passed. Record the resolution accurately; see How to Prepare AGM Minutes in BC.

Practical steps for a self-managed council

• Order a full bylaw search from the Land Title Office and assemble every filed amendment in date order.
• Compare the consolidated set against the Schedule to see which Standard Bylaws still apply by default.
• Flag anything that may conflict with the current Act or Regulation, and get advice before enforcing it.
• Remember council's own standard: act honestly and in good faith in the strata's best interests, with the care, diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person (s.31).

For a large or messy bylaw history, tools like SearchStrata can run AI analysis across your filed documents to surface amendments and inconsistencies faster than reading them cold. Keeping the consolidated set, the filing evidence and the meeting records in one place — which is what ManageStrata is built for — saves the next council the same archaeology. More on running a strata without a management company: How to Self-Manage a Strata in BC.

This article is general information about BC strata law, not legal advice; verify against the current Strata Property Act and Regulation or consult a BC strata lawyer.