Leaky condo crisis far from over
Report says officials still don't know "the full extent of building envelope failure."
William Boei, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Coastal British Columbia's leaky condo crisis is far from over, a recent report prepared for the provincial government shows.
The report acknowledges for the first time that thousands more strata-owned apartment units suffered water damage than the government has been estimating.
By 2012, when the leaky condo era enters its fourth decade, as many as one-third of the defective units will remain unrepaired, said the report, prepared for the province's Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) by private consultants.
At least 45 per cent and possibly as many as 68 per cent of leaky buildings have not been repaired yet, according to various scenarios explored by the consultants.
They also revealed that of the nearly 160,000 strata-owned apartment units built during the leaky condo period - considered to date from 1982 to 1999 - 45 to 55 per cent have suffered "premature building envelope failure."
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The new report said at least 72,000 strata units leaked and suffered water damage, and possibly as many as 87,500.
The HPO and the provincial government insisted for many years that no more than 65,000 strata apartments were damaged, including all the ones that had not been discovered yet.
The report said officials now realize they still don't know "the full extent of building envelope failure."
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By last September, repair loans the HPO makes to leaky condo owners had grown to an average of $62,000 for wood-frame apartments, and $72,000 for those in concrete buildings.
The repair costs continue to escalate due to construction cost inflation, 10 per cent last year and expected to be eight per cent this year, the consultants added.
The report's findings were based in part on the HPO's repair loan statistics - it has been making repair loans since 1999 - and in part on B.C. Assessment Authority records of units that suffered a sudden drop in assessed value of 15 per cent or more, a likely sign of building envelope failure.
Nearly a decade ago, the HPO estimated that the 65,000 units it then said were damaged would cost $1.5 billion to repair. The consultants did not provide a new number, but based on The Sun's extrapolations of their scenarios, it appears the complete repair cost for strata apartments alone is easily in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion.
The consultants' report was presented to the HPO last December, but was not distributed to the media and not posted on the HPO's website, although an executive summary was posted. It took persistent requests from The Vancouver Sun to obtain a full copy of the report.
It said 159,979 strata units were built during the leaky condo period. Based on a moderate estimate of 72,000 leakers, 45 per cent of those units were defective. The higher estimate of 87,500 problem units suggests 55 per cent of strata units built during the period suffered building envelope failure.
Some 30,000 homes have already been repaired, but at least 42,000 others still require major reconstruction, the report said. In the report's worst-case scenario, 68 per cent of leaky condos have not been repaired yet.
Concrete highrises have been slower to show water problems than wood-frame buildings, and the report said six to 10 highrises, often with 100 or more units per building, are being added to the leaky lists each year.
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The consultants' report said the percentage of units in leaky buildings whose owners need financial help to make repairs has risen in the last three years from just under 40 per cent to nearly 49 per cent.
Eight-one per cent of HPO repair loans have been for units in wood-frame buildings, and the rest for concrete.
With files from Derrick Penner.
bboei@png.canwest.com
, хотя здание строилось в период лики кондо 
, и вы готовы рискнуть...почему бы нет, дело хозяйское.
Kстати не думаю, что при построике типовых частных домов и таунхаузов старше 1999 г использовались какие-то принципиально другие и лучшие технологии. 
