If you are buying a condo second-hand in a building that was first sold off a floor plan, the protections that applied to the original presale buyer do not come with the unit. The Real Estate Development Marketing Act gives rights to a person who buys from a developer. You are buying from an owner, so most of that Act simply does not reach your deal.
You are not left with nothing. You get a different rescission right, and the remainder of the building’s new-home warranty transfers to you automatically. But they work differently, and the differences are where people get caught.
The short version
- The developer’s disclosure statement, and the 7 day right to cancel that comes with it, belong to the person who bought from the developer. They do not transfer to you.
- Instead you get the Home Buyer Rescission Period: 3 business days, a fee of 0.25% of the price if you use it, and it cannot be waived.
- The two rights are mutually exclusive. The Property Law Act switches its right off for any contract that the Real Estate Development Marketing Act’s rescission section applies to.
- The new-home warranty does transfer. All unused benefits pass to a later owner automatically, and no notice to the warranty provider is needed.
- A strata home has two warranty policies with two different start dates, and the common property clock usually started before yours.
- A previous owner’s renovations can void coverage you thought you had inherited.
- Three completely different documents in British Columbia are loosely called a “disclosure statement”. Knowing which one someone means matters.
Three different documents are called a “disclosure statement” here
This is the first thing to sort out, because the phrase is used for three unrelated documents. When a seller, a licensee or a search engine says “disclosure statement”, ask which one they mean.
| Document | Where it comes from | Who has to produce it | Does it apply to your resale? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The developer’s disclosure statement | Real Estate Development Marketing Act, section 14 and section 15 | A developer marketing a development unit. Mandatory, and filed with the superintendent | No. It was produced for the original buyer |
| The Property Disclosure Statement, usually called the PDS | A standard real estate board form, not a statute | Nobody. A seller may complete one, and may decline | Yes, if the seller agrees to complete one |
| A site disclosure statement | Environmental Management Act, section 40 (6), with a remedy in Property Law Act section 40 | A vendor of certain real property, in the circumstances that Act sets out | Only for the kinds of property that Act covers |
The confusion is not just a reader’s problem. Search for whether you get a disclosure statement when buying a resale condo and the results are mostly about the seller’s PDS, which is a different document answering a different question.
Why the presale Act stops at the first owner
The Real Estate Development Marketing Act defines who it protects. In the definitions section, “purchaser” means a purchaser, a lessee, or a prospective purchaser or lessee, and each of those three limbs says from a developer.
That single phrase decides the whole question. A resale buyer does not buy from a developer, so they are not a “purchaser” under that Act, and the duties owed to a purchaser are not owed to them.
The Act confirms it by never addressing the situation. Reading the whole Act, the word “resale” appears nowhere, and the phrase “subsequent purchaser” appears nowhere. It is not that the Act gives a resale buyer less. It does not contemplate them at all.
One caution, because it matters in a small number of deals. That Act defines a “developer” by what the person holds, not by whether they built anything. Somebody who controls enough units in one building can still be a developer. The point above is about an ordinary owner reselling the unit they live in.
What you do not inherit
| Presale protection | What it does | Why it does not reach a resale |
|---|---|---|
| The disclosure statement itself | A developer must not enter a purchase agreement unless the statement has been provided, the buyer had a reasonable opportunity to read it, and the developer holds a signed acknowledgement | The duty is on a developer entering a purchase agreement with a “purchaser” |
| The 7 day right to cancel | Written notice to the developer within 7 days of the later of the agreement date and the date the acknowledgement was obtained | Section 21 (1) (a) removes the right where the purchaser is not entitled to receive a disclosure statement |
| The written request for the earlier statements | A new purchaser may request earlier or master statements in writing, and the developer must provide them without charge within 30 days | The right belongs to a new purchaser who received a statement from the developer. There is nobody to ask |
| Deposit held by an independent trustee | A developer must place the deposit with a brokerage, lawyer, notary public or prescribed person, who holds it for both sides and not as agent for either | A resale deposit is held on the terms of your contract under the brokerage trust rules instead |
| The damages claim for a misrepresentation in the statement | A purchaser is deemed to have relied on it, and may sue the developer, directors and signatories, within 2 years of learning of it | Section 22 (2) says that section does not apply to a purchaser not entitled to receive a disclosure statement |
| The contract being unenforceable against you | A purchase agreement is not enforceable against the purchaser by a developer who breached the marketing part of the Act | It only runs against a developer |
Section 21 (1) is worth reading carefully rather than in summary. Paragraph (a) removes the rescission right where the purchaser is not entitled to a disclosure statement. Paragraph (b) then deals separately with amendments, and carries its own exception. Quoting (a) on its own makes the subsection look shorter and simpler than it is.
The right you do get: 3 business days
The Property Law Act gives a buyer of residential real property a right to rescind by serving written notice on the seller within a number of days set by regulation. The Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation sets that number at 3 business days.
A residential strata lot is squarely inside the definition of residential real property in that regulation, and the list draws no distinction at all between a brand new unit and a resale.
| The presale right | The resale right | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | Real Estate Development Marketing Act, section 21 | Property Law Act, section 42, with B.C. Reg. 175/2022 |
| How long | 7 days | 3 business days |
| Counted from | The later of the agreement date and the date the developer obtained your written acknowledgement | The date the acceptance of the offer was signed |
| Notice goes to | The developer | The seller |
| Cost of using it | The deposit is returned to you | 0.25% of the purchase price set out in the contract, taken from the deposit first |
| Can it be waived? | Not addressed in the same way | No. The regulation says flatly that it cannot be waived |
Two details catch people out. Business days exclude Saturdays and holidays, and the list of holidays that applies is the one in the Interpretation Act, which is not the same as the list people use for employment. And your subject conditions do not pause this clock. The rescission period runs at the same time as your subjects, not after them, and the B.C. Financial Services Authority’s consumer guide to the rescission period says so expressly.
There are four exemptions from this right, and they are about the property or the transaction rather than the buyer: property on leased land, a leasehold interest, a sale at auction, and a sale under a court order or the supervision of a court. There is no exemption for a unit that was once a presale.
You cannot have both rights, and that is the clean test
This is the part that is hard to find written down anywhere. The Property Law Act says its rescission right does not apply to a contract of purchase and sale to which section 21 of the Real Estate Development Marketing Act applies.
So the two rights are mutually exclusive by design. If your contract is a presale contract with a developer, you are on the presale clock. If it is not, you are on the 3 business day clock.
Note what the exclusion attaches to. It attaches to the contract, not to the building. A tower sold as a presale five years ago does not keep producing presale contracts. The resale of a unit in it is an ordinary contract between two owners.
Being straight about the limits of this: that reading follows from the statute and the definitions, and I could not find an official source that states it in those words. The regulator’s own guidance on the rescission period does not address the resale of a former presale unit. If your deal turns on it, that is a question for your lawyer or notary, not for an article.
The warranty does transfer, and this is the good news
The new-home warranty is the one substantial presale-era protection that follows the home rather than the first buyer, and the regulation says so in plain terms.
Under the Homeowner Protection Act Regulation, home warranty insurance pertains solely to the home it covers, no notice to the warranty provider is required when ownership changes, and all applicable unused benefits are automatically transferred to any subsequent owner. The heading on that item is, helpfully, “Transfer of warranty to subsequent purchasers”. BC Housing, which runs the licensing and warranty side of that Act, puts it in one line: the warranty is attached to the home, not to the owner of the home.
The statutory minimums are coverage for at least 2 years on materials and labour, at least 5 years on the building envelope, and at least 10 years on structural defects.
When your warranty clock actually started
For a strata home there are two policies, and working out how much time is left on each is the real task. The unit coverage and the common property coverage do not start on the same day.
| What is covered | When coverage starts | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| The dwelling unit that is your strata lot | The earlier of actual occupancy of the unit and the transfer of legal title | Your unit’s clock started when the first owner took it, not when you buy |
| The common property | At the same time as the first unit’s start date, in each separate building in the strata plan | If your unit closed late in the sales programme, the building’s envelope coverage started before yours |
The headline “2, 5 and 10” also hides tiers inside the first part. The regulation sets the materials and labour coverage in steps: the first 12 months for everything other than common property, the first 15 months for the common property and other strata assets, and the first 24 months for specific systems such as electrical, plumbing and heating, for exterior cladding, caulking, windows and doors where a defect may lead to detachment or material damage, and for any defect that renders the home unfit to live in.
What the warranty will not pay for
The regulation lists what a warranty provider is allowed to exclude, and two of those exclusions are aimed squarely at a resale buyer’s position.
A provider may exclude alterations to the home, including converting non-living space into living space or converting one unit into two or more. It may also exclude changes, alterations or additions made to the home by anyone after initial occupancy, other than work done by the original builder or its people.
Read those together and the consequence is uncomfortable. Work the previous owner did can remove coverage you assumed you had inherited, and you will not know what was done unless you ask.
Other permitted exclusions include normal wear and deterioration, shrinkage of materials as they dry, damage made worse by improper maintenance or operation, failure to give prompt notice of a defect, contaminated soil, and any diminution in the value of the home.
| Type of home | Minimum claim limit the regulation requires |
|---|---|
| A dwelling unit in fee simple ownership | The lesser of the original purchase price paid by the owner and $200,000 |
| A dwelling unit in a strata titled or multi-unit building | The lesser of the original purchase price paid by the owner and $100,000 |
| Common property | The least of the total original purchase price for all components, $100,000 times the number of units, and $2,500,000, applied to each building |
Two things to notice. A strata unit’s floor is half the fee simple figure. And the limit is anchored to the original purchase price paid by the owner, not to what you are paying now.
The claims history almost nobody asks for
The same regulation requires a warranty provider to give an owner a history of claims, and allows a fee of up to $25 for it.
That right belongs to the owner, which on a resale means the seller, not you. So the move is to ask the seller to request it. A claims history tells you what has already gone wrong and been claimed on, which is information that appears in no other document you will see.
There is also a gap worth knowing about. The provider must give the owner a schedule of expiry dates when coverage begins, which means it went to the first owner years ago. Nothing requires it to be re-issued to you, and no notice to the provider is needed when the home changes hands. If you want the dates, you have to go and get them.
Can you still see the developer’s old disclosure statement?
Sometimes, and it is worth trying, because it describes what the building was promised to be.
The routes worth asking about are the seller, who may still have their copy from when they bought; the strata corporation, since developer material sometimes sits in the strata’s records; and your lawyer or notary, who will know what is obtainable in your situation.
What I could not confirm is a public route. Developers must file these statements with the superintendent, but I found nothing stating that a member of the public, or a later buyer, can obtain a filed statement on request. Rather than guess, treat it as a question to put to your lawyer or notary.
If the seller will not complete a Property Disclosure Statement
The PDS is not required by any statute. A seller may complete one, and a seller may decline. The clearest proof is that there is a recognised form for declining, called a Property No Disclosure Statement.
The regulator’s guidance to licensees on material latent defects is that a buyer is best protected by asking the seller to complete a PDS, and makes two further points that are easy to miss.
The first is how to read a refusal. The B.C. Financial Services Authority tells buyers that receiving a Property No Disclosure Statement should be treated as an indication that there is a defect in the property requiring further due diligence to discover.
The second is practical and rarely mentioned. The same guidance says that if you receive one, you should check with your lender or mortgage broker that it is sufficient to provide finance. A refusal to disclose can become a financing problem, not only an information problem.
A seller declining to complete a PDS also does not release a licensee from their own duty to disclose a material latent defect they know about.
What to ask for before your subjects come off
| Ask for | Why it matters on a resale | Who it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A copy of the home warranty policy | It is the document that sets your actual coverage and exclusions, and nobody will send it to you | The seller, or the warranty provider |
| The schedule of expiry dates, for the unit and the common property | Two policies, two clocks, and the building’s envelope clock probably started first | The seller, or the warranty provider |
| The claims history | Shows what has already failed and been claimed. The right belongs to the owner, so the seller must request it | The seller, from the warranty provider |
| A written list of alterations the seller made | A previous owner’s work is a permitted exclusion from coverage | The seller |
| A completed Property Disclosure Statement | Not required by law, so it has to be a term of your offer | The seller |
| The developer’s disclosure statement, if it can be found | Describes what the building was originally represented to be | The seller, or possibly the strata’s records |
Put the ones you need into the offer as conditions. On a resale nobody is obliged to volunteer any of this, which is the whole difference from a presale.
Questions people ask
Do I get a cooling-off period buying a resale condo?
Yes. The Home Buyer Rescission Period gives 3 business days from the date the acceptance of the offer was signed, by written notice to the seller. Using it costs 0.25% of the purchase price, and the right cannot be waived.
Is that the same as the 7 day presale right?
No. Different Act, different length, different starting point, notice to a different person, and a fee on one but not the other. They also cannot both apply to the same contract.
Does the 2, 5 and 10 warranty carry over to me?
Yes. Unused benefits transfer automatically to a later owner and no notice to the provider is required. What matters is how much time is left, and whether the previous owner’s alterations have removed some of the cover.
Can a seller refuse to fill in a disclosure statement?
Yes, if you mean the Property Disclosure Statement. It is a board form, not a legal requirement, and there is a recognised form for declining. Ask for one as a condition of your offer, and treat a refusal as a reason to look harder.
My building is only a few years old. Does that help?
It helps with the warranty, because more time is left. It does not give you any of the presale rights, which depend on who you bought from rather than on how old the building is.
Thinking about buying or selling on the North Shore?
Leave your name and number and I will come back to you, usually the same day. Tell me the address if you have one and I will pull the sale history and the documents that matter before we talk. No charge, no obligation.
Prefer to talk now? Call or text 778-903-7306.
Read next
- What a Form B Information Certificate tells you, and what it leaves out
- Buying into a phased strata plan in British Columbia
- The strata depreciation report, and how to read one
- What the strata insurance deductible means for a buyer
- Strata rental and age restrictions in British Columbia
- All North Shore buying and selling guides
Tom Jahed, REALTOR®
Vanak Realty, North Vancouver. Ten years in North Vancouver real estate and more than 400 transactions closed, including pre-sales. Works in English and Farsi.
This article is general information about British Columbia law and practice. It is not advice about a specific property, a specific contract or your own situation, and reading it does not make me your realtor. The Acts and regulations described here were read at their official consolidations, each of which stated it was current to 27 October 2026, and the government and regulator pages were opened on 4 November 2026. Numbers, rules and deadlines change, and a consolidation can be amended after this was written. Confirm anything that matters with the authority that owns it, and take advice from a lawyer or a notary public before you commit to a purchase. Last reviewed November 2026.
Written by Tom Jahed, licensed REALTOR®, Vanak Realty, North Vancouver.