The Hidden Infrastructure Under Your Bare Land Strata
- Dan Wilson
- Nov 27
- 7 min read
Why the Systems You Cannot See Matter Most..
It is a dark, rainy November day in Campbell River. Our team is walking two modern bare land strata developments. At first glance they look straightforward. Clean streets, newer homes, underground services, limited amenities, everything functioning as it should.
From the sidewalk, these projects feel low risk. No pool, no elevator, no clubhouse. Just houses, roads and some landscaped common areas.
That surface view can be misleading.
Under those roads, lawns and driveways sit the systems that will eventually drive six and seven figure decisions for every owner in the development. The real long term risk in a bare land strata often lives where most people never look.
This article takes a closer look at that “hidden infrastructure” and explains why it needs to be front and centre in any depreciation report or long term funding plan.
What is “hidden infrastructure” in a bare land strata
In a bare land strata, owners hold title to their individual lots, and the strata corporation owns and maintains the common property. In many modern suburban projects that common property is not a lobby or a gym. It is the infrastructure that keeps the community functioning.
Typical examples include
Water supply and distribution lines
Sanitary sewer mains and laterals
Storm sewers, ditches, culverts and swales
Private paved roads and drive aisles
Fire hydrants, standpipes and related appurtenances
Retaining walls, embankments and slope protection
Shoreline protection works where the development fronts water
Shared lighting, signage and entry features
These components often do not appear in listings or promotional material. Buyers focus on house design, finishes, garages and views. Strata councils spend more time discussing parking rules, landscaping and fencing.
Yet when you prepare a depreciation report and work through the numbers over thirty or forty years, these out of sight systems can dominate the reserve plan.
If you are on a bare land strata council and you cannot clearly describe your water, sewer, drainage and road network, you are likely underestimating both the risk and the opportunity that comes with those assets.
Why newer and “simple” developments still carry serious risk
Modern bare land stratas in places like Campbell River, Courtenay and Nanaimo often share a similar profile. They were built within the last ten to twenty years, have full municipal servicing and have no major above ground amenities.
It is easy to fall into one of these assumptions
“Everything is new, we can revisit this later.”
“We do not have a pool or elevator, so our risk is low.”
“Our roads and pipes will last longer than we will live here.”
These assumptions feel comfortable. They are also dangerous.
Long lifespans do not mean low risk
Private roads, underground piping and drainage works can have design lives in the range of 25 to 60 years, depending on construction quality, materials and local conditions. That sounds like a long time. It is not long when you think about a development that is already 10 to 20 years old.
The first generation of owners often enjoys the “honeymoon phase” of new infrastructure. No major failures, few visible cracks, no significant backups. At the same time, those early years are usually when contributions to the contingency reserve fund are lowest, because there is a perception that “nothing big is coming soon.”
That combination is the real risk.
If a strata underfunds during the first twenty years, then the first major road resurfacing or underground replacement can arrive with very little reserve behind it. The only options at that point are steep contribution increases or special levies.
“Simple” does not mean cheap
A bare land strata with full underground services and private roads might look simple compared to a high rise, but the replacement costs are far from trivial.
Think about just three items
Milling and resurfacing a few hundred metres of private road
Replacing sections of failed storm drainage around a low point or culvert
Addressing slope movement affecting a small cluster of lots
Any one of these can move from “invisible line item” to “headline on the AGM agenda” very quickly. If you are assuming that a lack of amenities equals a lack of risk, you are looking in the wrong place.
How this connects to your depreciation report
A depreciation report is more than a list of components with generic lifespans. For a bare land strata, it should act as a map, a risk register and a funding roadmap for the hidden infrastructure that keeps the development running.
Start with clarity about responsibility
The first step is basic, yet often overlooked. You need a clear understanding of which systems are common property and which fall to individual owners. That usually means reviewing
The registered strata plan
The strata corporation bylaws
Any disclosure statement or filed amendments
Servicing drawings and as built plans, where available
If the council cannot answer questions such as “Who owns the water service from the main to the lot line” or “Is the strata responsible for these ditches and culverts” then the report should flag that uncertainty. It is hard to plan for assets you have not fully identified.
Assess condition and realistic lifespans
For infrastructure, condition and environment often matter as much as age.
Roads exposed to heavy delivery vehicles, RV traffic or steep grades may wear faster than a quiet loop road.
Storm systems in steep, wooded or high rainfall areas may see more debris loading and risk of blockage.
Slopes near the coast or along creeks can react differently to extreme rain than simple flat sites.
A good depreciation report does not just apply standard lifespans from a table. It considers the local context and the actual performance history of the development. That may mean adjusting timing on key projects where conditions suggest earlier or later intervention.
Group projects sensibly
Hidden infrastructure work is disruptive and expensive. There are usually efficiencies in grouping related tasks. For example
Coordinating road resurfacing with any planned underground repairs, so the surface is disturbed only once.
Timing drainage upgrades at the same time as slope remediation.
Aligning major infrastructure work with logical phases that match funding capacity.
The depreciation report should reflect that reality. If the plan shows multiple large underground projects scattered across a few years, with no logical grouping, that is a red flag. Councils should be asking whether those projects can be coordinated to reduce long term cost and disruption.
Model funding in a way that avoids whiplash
For many bare land stratas, the goal is not perfection. It is predictability.
Owners handle steady, well explained contribution increases much better than sudden spikes tied to a single project. A practical depreciation report will often test different contribution patterns and look at how they line up with the timing of big underground or road projects.
If your current plan holds contributions flat for twenty years then jumps sharply just before the first major project, you are likely postponing the hard conversation rather than solving the problem.
Practical questions for your next strata council meeting
If you sit on a bare land strata council, you do not need to be an engineer or an appraiser to start improving your understanding of hidden infrastructure. A good starting point is to ask clear, simple questions.
Here are a few that often reveal gaps
Can we describe our water, sewer and storm systems in plain language
Where do our mains run
Where are our low points and critical connections
Do we have up to date plans or drawings
Can we quickly show a new council member where our key infrastructure lies on site
What is our history of infrastructure related issues
Any sewer backups, drainage complaints or road failures
Any past engineering reports on slopes or shoreline protection
How old are our roads and when were they last resurfaced
What traffic loads do they actually carry
Does our depreciation report clearly identify these systems and show realistic replacement timing
Do the cost estimates feel plausible in today’s construction environment
Are our reserve contributions aligned with the scale and timing of these projects
Or are we relying on future levies to make up the gap
If the honest answer to several of these questions is “I am not sure” that is not a failure. It is a signal that the council has an opportunity to improve its information base and planning.
Bare land strata, transparency and resale value
Hidden infrastructure is not only a technical issue. It also affects resale value and market confidence.
Buyers and their advisors are increasingly asking more detailed questions about strata governance, reserves and upcoming projects. For bare land stratas, a few points are especially important.
A clear, well documented depreciation report reassures buyers that the council understands its underground and road infrastructure.
Adequate reserves reduce the perceived risk of surprise levies, which supports both pricing and buyer comfort.
Transparent communication with owners about infrastructure condition, timing and funding builds trust and reduces friction when projects do move ahead.
If a prospective buyer asks “What major common property projects do you expect in the next 10 to 15 years” a bare land strata should be able to answer that question with confidence. That answer rests largely on the hidden systems, not just the visible amenities.
Bringing it back to the rainy November site visit
On a wet day in Campbell River, walking a bare land strata in the rain, you see how these systems actually behave. You see where water collects, how ditches function, how traffic wears at edges of pavement and how slopes respond during heavy weather.
From the street, the development still looks simple. From a planning perspective, it is anything but.
If you are on a bare land strata council, a practical next step for your agenda might be a single question.
“Can we clearly describe the hidden infrastructure we are responsible for, and do we have a realistic plan for when it wears out”
If the answer is “not yet” then that is the right place to start. The underground and out of sight systems will not stay invisible forever. When they show up, it is far better to meet them with a prepared plan than with surprise and urgency.
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