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The History of Strata Reserve Planning

Our Story

When we started completing Depreciation Reports, our goal was ambitious: to become the largest non-engineer firm in the Depreciation Report industry, with 10% market share. You know how it is when you're starting out in a new industry — big dreams, plenty of energy, and a healthy dose of naive optimism. The plan was to lead the non-engineer Depreciation Report market within the first five years of an industry that really took off in 2010.


Building the Foundation

To fuel that ambition, we joined the first class of Certified Reserve Planners (CRPs) in British Columbia, which became the foundation of our training in reserve fund planning. From there, we led the CRP task force and helped secure a partnership placing CRP articles in the CHOA magazine.

In 2014, the largest strata insurance brokerage in BC asked whether we could complete 3,000 reports annually — a volume that would have exceeded the combined capacity of every provider in the province at the time. That question became the driving force behind ReservePlan, our proprietary software for completing Depreciation Reports, which launched in 2018.


Setting the Standard

Until 2014, although the Strata Property Act permitted Appraisers to complete Depreciation Reports, the Appraisal Institute of Canada hadn't yet listed them in its professional standards — meaning the work wasn't insured. That changed in 2014. Drawing on the National Reserve Study Standards from the US and the new Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) standards, we developed the Commonly Accepted Reserve Study Standards (CARSS), which became the foundation for every report produced through ReservePlan. In 2024, when the Real Estate Institute of Canada introduced its own standards for CRPs, no changes to CARSS were needed.

In 2015, as business levels declined industry-wide, we let our CRP designation lapse — a common story at the time. In fact, 75% of the businesses operating in this space in 2012 had left the industry by 2020.  Our propritory software never forgets so you know in 5 years that your data will not be lost.


Growing Our Reach

In 2017, we opened an office in Victoria to serve Vancouver Island, and expanded into the Okanagan in 2024.

In 2021, we were invited to join the BC Housing Policy Branch subcommittee on Depreciation Report legislation. It was a valuable education, though we were disappointed that reporting standards weren't ultimately included in the legislation.

In 2022, we began writing Depreciation Reports in British Columbia: A Strata Lot Owner's Guide to Understanding Your Report, published in 2023 and updated again in late 2024.


Evolving to Serve Strata Better

As our business matured, so did our approach. To increase the value we bring to the strata market, we introduced CRFplanner.ca, software that lets clients update their funding and expenses throughout the five-year period between reports.

We've also expanded beyond Depreciation Reports alone, adding Insurance Appraisals, Depreciation Report Reviews, and referrals to Electrical Planning Report (EPR) providers and Elevator Specialist Reports.

What we haven't done — and won't do — is become a contractor or an engineering firm using Depreciation Reports to chase work. Our focus remains on delivering a competitively priced, high-quality report that educates Council members while meeting every standard and statutory requirement.


Making It Easier for Property Managers

Producing that quality does require good information, and we've heard clearly that our data requests can feel like a lot to ask of Property Managers. So we've built a program specifically to reduce that burden:

  • Less data requested overall — experience shows most strata councils don't have much of what's traditionally asked for, and we've found we can do without it.
  • Better systems for gathering the data we do need, without adding to a Property Manager's workload.
  • CRFplanner.ca to maintain records between reports, so Property Managers no longer need to track them down themselves.


Why Our Reports Are Longer

The number one complaint we hear from Councils is that our reports are too long. But there's a reason for that: we write them so Owners are fully educated. The truth is that every strata corporation in BC is underfunded, and raising fees or approving a special levy requires a document owners can actually understand.

Our tagline says it best: "If You Don't Understand Your Report, We Did Not Write It." Too many competitors leave owners guessing at what's actually in their report, or don't follow any comprehensive set of standards. And when they skip the details needed to measure a strata corporation's financial health, they leave out exactly the information that lenders and insurers rely on. 

This focus on financial clarity goes back to our roots. Jeremy Bramwell, AACI, P.App, RI (former CRP) and founder of Strata Reserve Planning, has for many years served as a Director of the Mortgage Investment Association of BC and as a member of the Fraser Valley chapter of the Risk Management Association, where he teaches the analysis of Depreciation Reports.


Looking Ahead

Our future is a network of providers across British Columbia, focused on serving small and medium-sized strata corporations in their own communities. We're working toward independent local offices in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan, the Kootenays, and Northern BC — each following CARSS standards, using ReservePlan software, and staffed by local AACI appraisers or Certified Reserve Planners.

Be part of this growth. If you are a Property Manager, give us a call and ask about a Lunch & Learn, in person or over Zoom.

If you are an Owner or on a Council, contact us as shown below, and we will be glad to spend 15 minutes with the council asnswering questions.