Maintain
Strata maintenance programs
Common property drainage on a schedule council can budget for, scoped from measured condition and recorded year after year.
Inspect · Drainage services See your drainage before the depreciation report guesses at it
A whole-site camera assessment for strata councils and property managers: every reachable run rated by section, with the footage behind it, in a report council can vote on.
The cost of guessing on drainage
A pipe at footing depth is out of sight. Unless someone has put a camera in it, its rating rests on age and visible symptoms. A unit reports water and it is treated as a one-off. If more follow, the reserve may already be committed elsewhere, and the next step is a special levy nobody budgeted for.
A strata drainage assessment replaces the guess with a condition rating for every run the camera can reach, backed by footage. Sometimes the news is good. Either way, council has evidence to budget from.
Any one of these has a simple explanation. Two or more together means you are already guessing.
- A depreciation report coming up for renewal, with drainage carried on age alone
- A unit reporting water that is being treated as a one-off
- A damp parkade wall or a slow catch basin
- Nobody on council can say when the drainage was last put on camera, or whether it ever was
- A drainage quote heading to a special levy vote with no footage behind it
- Original drain tile under some wings and newer pipe under others, after additions or repairs
New to the topic? Start with what a perimeter drain is and how it works.
The whole site, not just the buildings
At Drainage Pro we diagnose before we excavate. For a strata site, that means the shared drainage of the whole property, including sewer piping, waterproofing condition at and below grade, and each system's age, material and remaining service life. Four ways it fails, and what each one shows:
- A failed section of a building's perimeter drain. A run silts up, fills with roots, crushes or collapses, so water builds up against the foundation wall instead of leaving. On camera: a bore that is closed or broken partway along the run.
- Catch basins and storm lines full of silt. A basin's sump sits below its outlet. Once the sump has filled, grit and leaves pass into the storm line. We check each catch basin's sump condition and silt depth. On camera: sediment along the bottom of the line. On the surface: ponding on the paving, or water at a parkade ramp after rain.
- Sump pumps and discharge lines that cannot keep up. A pump past its working life, a stuck float or a failed check valve means the pit cannot keep up. We test sump pump switches and check valves. It shows as a pump that does not start, or one that short-cycles under test.
- Parkade and trench drains working harder than they were built for. Resurfacing, additions and landscaping changes can send more water to drains sized for the original site. It shows as silt in the trench drain channel and slow drains at the foot of a ramp.
What council gets back
- A condition rating for every run the camera can reach
- Footage and photographs behind every rating
- Catch basins and sump pumps tested, not assumed
- Repair priorities with budget ranges
- Estimated replacement timelines, run by run
- Findings presented at your council meeting or AGM on request
Runs we cannot enter are listed as unverified, not rated as sound.
Who the report is written for
Strata councils
Ratings by section, the footage behind them, and a plain list of what was not verified. Evidence to put in front of owners.
Property managers
One assessment for the whole site, one coordinated attendance, resident notices through you.
Depreciation report authors
Condition data per run, each rating tied to footage or an on-site observation. Raw footage on request.
Every BC strata with five or more lots must obtain a depreciation report on a five-year cycle, and council can no longer vote to defer it. Only the professions the province lists may prepare it, and the author's evaluation rests on what can be seen on site.
Buried drainage is the one component the author cannot see. We put a camera in it and supply what the report needs: footage, a condition rating for each run, and an estimated replacement timeline. We are not the report's author and do not prepare it; we coordinate directly with whoever does, whether that is your depreciation report provider, engineer or building envelope consultant.
Covered by our Built Better Warranty.
See details of the Built Better WarrantyPhasing the work against the budget
Runs are rated so the most urgent work goes first and the rest can be planned. That lets council carry drainage as a planned component instead of a surprise. Owners asked to approve spending should see the evidence, not a summary of it.
-
Replace now.
Closed or collapsed runs, and any run with water against the wall. Usually one side of a building first. -
Plan for.
Runs of the same era as the failed ones, still passing water. Budget them for the next cycle. -
Monitor.
Runs that are sound on camera. Re-inspect at the next depreciation report.
If a run can wait, we'll tell you. If it can't, we'll tell you that too. And when the whole site is the same age, we'll say plainly that phasing means paying to open the same ground twice — before council votes, not after.
What moves the scope
- How many buildings, and how much perimeter, storm and parkade drainage the site has
- How many lines already have accessible cleanouts, and how many need locating from the surface
- Whether waterproofing condition and sump systems are included alongside the drain lines
- Building age, complaint history and any surviving drawings
- Access and parking on site
What happens when you call
- Scoping call. We talk with council or the property manager about the buildings' history, known problem areas and your reporting deadline. Scope and price come back in writing before anyone attends.
- Site walk and camera work. One coordinated attendance. We run an HD drain camera through every accessible line, photographing and filming as we go. Resident notices go through your property manager.
- The report, and the meeting. Ratings by section, footage, priorities and budget ranges. On request we present it at your council meeting or AGM.
After the report, council can scope a repair from the same findings, in perimeter drainage, sump pump or sewer line work. Catch basin cleaning is also available on its own.
Related services
Maintain
Catch basin cleaning
We empty the sump, check the outlet and record each basin, for houses and strata parking areas, ahead of the wet months.
Repair
Sump & sewage pumps
Storm sumps and sewage ejectors load-tested, then serviced or replaced before they fail, with battery backup and alarms where they count.
Related reading
Guide ·
What is a perimeter drain?
A perimeter drain collects groundwater at the footing and carries it away from the foundation. How it works, how deep it sits, and where the water goes.
Questions we get asked
Does our depreciation report already cover drainage?
It may list drainage, but drainage is one of the hardest components to evaluate. The province bases the report's evaluation on an on-site visual inspection of the site and, where practicable, of the components, and nobody can see inside a buried pipe from the surface. Unless a camera has been through the runs, their rating usually rests on age and visible symptoms.
How often should a strata get a drainage assessment?
It depends on the buildings' age and drainage history. Many councils time one ahead of their depreciation report renewal, so the report carries current drainage data. A run of new water complaints, or a change to the site such as resurfacing or an addition, is another reason to look sooner.
How much disruption should residents expect?
We schedule one coordinated attendance and handle resident notices through your property manager, so owners are not dealing with separate visits for each building.
Can the repairs be phased instead of done all at once?
Usually. Runs are rated by urgency, so the most urgent work can go first and the rest can be planned across budgets. Phasing is council's decision. The assessment gives it the order of work and the evidence behind each rating.
Can you present the findings at a council meeting or the AGM?
Yes, on request. The ratings, footage and repair priorities are set out so that owners who are not in the trades can follow what is proposed and why.
What happens to runs you cannot get into?
They are listed as unverified, not rated as sound. That keeps the gap in the record visible to council instead of hiding it behind a guess, and a run can be inspected later once there is a way in.
Who can commission the assessment, council or the property manager?
Either. We work directly for the strata council, for the property manager acting on council's behalf, or for both together.
Reviewed
Book a scoping call before your next budget meeting
Tell us the address and what you're seeing — a backup, a wet wall, a smell, a sinking lawn. We'll tell you what the next step is and what it costs, before anyone digs. Not sure yet? Ask us a question first.