New Year, Clean Data. The Most Useful Gift a Strata Council Can Give Itself
- Dan Wilson
- Dec 29, 2025
- 4 min read
Every January, strata councils make big decisions. Budgets. Reserve funding. Project timing. Insurance renewals. Sometimes a special levy conversation that nobody wants to have.
And yet, many of those decisions are made with a hidden handicap.
The information is incomplete.
Invoices are missing. Project scopes are unclear. Nobody can confirm what was actually replaced, and when. Warranties are buried. Maintenance logs live in someone’s email. The last engineering letter is on a former council member’s laptop.
If you want one New Year resolution that consistently reduces stress and improves outcomes, it is simple.
Get your data clean.
This is not a technology project. It is not about fancy software. It is just about organizing the facts so the people making decisions can rely on them.
What “clean data” means for a strata corporation
Clean data is a complete, findable, consistent record of the building’s key assets and the work performed on them.
It answers straightforward questions quickly:
What was done, exactly.
When was it done.
What did it cost, all in.
Who performed the work.
What warranties apply.
What problems were found, and what was recommended next.
When those basics are clear, everything downstream improves.
Why clean data improves depreciation report accuracy
A depreciation report is a planning document. It forecasts timing and costs for repair and replacement of common assets, typically over a long horizon.
The quality of that plan depends on component level facts. Not guesses.
When records are incomplete, planning can drift in ways that matter.
1) Remaining life becomes uncertain
If a component’s age, repairs, and condition cannot be verified, the remaining life estimate becomes more conservative or more optimistic than it should be.
Either direction can hurt.
Conservative assumptions can push contributions higher than necessary.
Optimistic assumptions can underfund the plan and increase the risk of a sudden levy later.
2) Costs become generic instead of specific
Without clear scopes and real invoices, cost planning can rely on generalized assumptions. That can miss the “real world” factors that drive actual costs, like access constraints, sequencing issues, and prior workmanship problems.
3) Deferrals become invisible risk
Deferrals are not always wrong. Sometimes they are strategic.
The problem is deferrals with no documentation. If a short term repair is treated as a long term solution, the plan can quietly become misaligned with reality.
4) Projects get repeated or missed
One consultant assumes a component was replaced because it was discussed. Another assumes it was not because there is no invoice. The depreciation report update ends up double counting, or leaving a gap.
Clean records eliminate that noise.
Why clean data improves appraisal conclusions
Appraisal work depends on evidence. Better information reduces uncertainty and strengthens conclusions.
This matters most when buyers, lenders, and advisors are sensitive to risk.
Examples include:
Deferred maintenance that affects marketability.
Recent major work that should reduce near term capital risk.
Buildings with known envelope or parkade membrane history.
Complex strata assets where responsibility can be misunderstood.
When records are clear, an appraiser can more confidently understand condition, remaining economic life, and market reaction.
When records are vague, the market often applies a silent discount. Buyers and lenders are not just pricing the building. They are pricing the uncertainty.
The handoff problem. Councils change, but the building stays
Strata councils rotate. Property managers change. Files get lost. Institutional memory fades.
Clean data is one of the best ways to protect owners from the cost of relearning the same lessons every few years.
If a new council can open one shared folder and understand what has happened, what is pending, and where the risks are, decision making improves immediately.
The New Year Clean Data Checklist
Below is a practical checklist you can implement without new software and without weeks of effort.
Start with a shared folder. Then organize everything into these categories.
1) Core reference documents
Current depreciation report and prior versions
Most recent depreciation report update, if applicable
Current year budget and most recent financial statements
Current contribution schedule and any special levy history
Current insurance summary and policy declarations
2) Capital projects and major repairs
Create one subfolder per project. Include:
Scope of work, drawings, or specifications
Contracts, change orders, and final invoices
Progress photos and completion photos
Warranties and closeout documents
Notes on issues, disputes, or lessons learned
3) Building condition and investigations
Building envelope reports and engineering letters
Leak investigations, moisture testing, IR thermography
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing assessments
Fire system inspection reports and deficiency lists
Elevator inspection reports and consultant recommendations
4) Maintenance logs and service contracts
Roof maintenance and drain cleaning logs
HVAC service and filter schedules
Fire alarm, sprinkler, standpipe inspection reports
Emergency lighting and generator test records
Parkade fan and CO monitoring service records
Gate, intercom, security system service records
5) Site and infrastructure
Paving scope, patch history, resurfacing quotes
Catch basin and drainage cleaning records
Retaining wall inspections and repairs
Landscaping and irrigation contracts
Snow removal contracts, where relevant
6) Governance records that affect capital planning
Council minutes where major asset decisions were made
AGM minutes covering funding decisions and deferrals
Current bylaws and rules relevant to alterations
Alteration agreements that affect building systems
7) The one page Asset Reality Sheet
This is the highest value item on the list.
For each major component, record what you know is true:
Component name and location
Year installed or last replaced
Warranty status and documents location
Service provider, if ongoing
Known issues and next recommended action
Even if some entries are “unknown,” you have now identified exactly what needs to be confirmed.
A realistic way to start in January
Do not try to solve everything at once. Start small and build momentum.
Create the folder structure above.
Drop in what you already have.
Create a list called “Missing but needed.”
Assign retrieval tasks with dates.
Update the Asset Reality Sheet as you fill gaps.
Ninety minutes of organized effort can remove months of confusion later.
The takeaway
Strata councils cannot control construction inflation, unexpected failures, or interest rates.
They can control the level of uncertainty they operate with.
Clean data reduces surprises, improves depreciation report accuracy, and strengthens the quality of professional advice, including appraisals, engineering, and project management.
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