Strata Approval for Garage Door Changes

You want a new garage door on your townhouse, or a quieter opener, or a door with windows instead of the plain one the builder put in. In a BC strata, the first question isn't which door. It's whether you need the strata's written OK before the old one comes off, and what to send so the answer comes back yes. This guide covers what the Strata Property Act and its Standard Bylaws say about alterations, where garage doors and openers fit, and how to write a request a council can approve at one meeting.

If your question is who pays to fix a broken door, that's a different set of rules, covered in our guide to who pays for strata garage door repairs in BC. This one is about changing the door.

Do you need strata approval for garage door work?

Start with your strata's registered bylaws. Section 120 of the Act says a strata's bylaws are the Standard Bylaws "except to the extent that different bylaws are filed in the land title office." Many stratas have filed their own, and some deal with garage doors by name. If yours haven't changed the relevant sections, these two Standard Bylaws apply.

Standard Bylaw 5: altering your strata lot

An owner must get the strata corporation's written approval before making an alteration to a strata lot that involves, among other things, "the exterior of a building" or "doors, windows or skylights on the exterior of a building, or that front on the common property." A townhouse garage door is almost always on the exterior of the building, so changing it falls squarely in that list. Bylaw 5 also covers parts of the strata lot the strata must insure under section 149 of the Act.

Bylaw 5 has a protection for owners: the strata "must not unreasonably withhold its approval." It can make approval conditional on you agreeing in writing to take responsibility for any expenses relating to the alteration.

Standard Bylaw 6: altering common property

If the garage, or the wall the door sits in, is common property or limited common property on your strata plan, Bylaw 6 applies instead. You need written approval before making an alteration to common property, including limited common property, and the strata can again require you to take on the expenses. Notice what's missing: Bylaw 6 doesn't contain the "must not unreasonably withhold" wording that Bylaw 5 has. That's one reason to check your strata plan before you write the request. Section 68 of the Act puts a strata lot's boundary midway through a wall that separates it from common property, unless the strata plan shows otherwise, so the plan matters.

Is a like-for-like replacement an "alteration"?

Possibly not. In The Owners, Strata Plan NWS 254 v. Hall, 2016 BCSC 2363, the BC Supreme Court found that an owner's replacement of old windows and a patio door "did not change the structure of the respondent's unit, or the common property," so it wasn't an alteration that needed approval. That case was about windows and a patio door in that strata, read against that strata's bylaws and facts.

Our advice is plain: ask anyway. A door that looks the same costs you one email to get approved. Skipping the request and being wrong can mean a bylaw complaint, and depending on your bylaws, being asked to put things back. And if the strata is responsible for repairing exterior doors under its bylaws, as it is under Standard Bylaw 8, a council may want to be involved in any replacement for its own reasons.

What usually counts as a change in appearance

Most strata disagreements over garage doors are about looks, not engineering. Rows of townhouses were designed to match, and councils hear from neighbours when one door stands out. These changes are the ones most likely to need strata approval for garage door replacement, and to get questions:

• Colour. Even a close match can look different in daylight next to a ten-year-old door.
• Panel design. Flush to raised panel, long panel to short panel, or a carriage-house style on a block of plain doors.
• Windows. Adding a window section, or changing glass type, changes the face of the building.
• Material. Steel to wood-look composite, or to full-view aluminum and glass.
• Exterior hardware. Decorative handles and hinges, and a keypad mounted on the outside wall.

Changes that are hard to see from outside, like going from a non-insulated steel door to an insulated one in the same design and colour, or replacing springs, are much easier conversations. Ask your installer whether the design on your block is made in an insulated version; if it is, you can get a warmer door that still looks like your neighbours'. Our garage door styles guide explains the panel and window terms councils use.

What about the garage door opener?

An opener sits inside the garage, so swapping one for another usually doesn't touch the exterior of the building. The Standard Bylaws don't name openers. Whether replacing one is an alteration under your bylaws depends on what the work involves and where your strata lot ends. These details tend to make it a strata question:

• A new electrical outlet or wiring run through a wall or ceiling that's common property.
• A wall-mount opener fastened to a wall that isn't part of your strata lot.
• An exterior keypad or a camera mounted on the outside of the building.
• Any garage that's shown as common property or limited common property on the strata plan.

A straight swap of a ceiling-mounted opener on an existing outlet is the simplest case. Even then, a one-line email to your property manager keeps the record clean. Our garage door opener installation page covers what an install involves.

When the strata wants to change every door

Sometimes the strata, not an owner, decides to replace all the garage doors on a complex, often with a different design. Section 71 of the Act says the strata corporation must not make a "significant change in the use or appearance of common property" unless the change is approved by a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting, or there are reasonable grounds to believe an immediate change is needed to ensure safety or prevent significant loss or damage. Whether a new door design is "significant," and whether the doors are common property at all in your strata plan, are questions for your council and, if needed, a lawyer. If your council is planning a complex-wide replacement, our strata garage door service page explains how we work with councils and property managers.

How to write the request so it gets approved

Council members are volunteers reading your request between other business. Give them everything they need to say yes in one pass. Send it in writing to the property manager or council, and keep a copy.

1. Who and where. Your name, unit address and strata lot number, and which door (front, rear, single, double).
2. What's there now. A photo of the existing door, plus its colour and design if you know them.
3. What you want to install. Brand, model or collection, size, panel design, colour name, window section if any, and insulation. Attach the manufacturer's spec sheet or a picture from the catalogue.
4. How it compares. Say plainly whether it matches the existing doors on the block. If it doesn't, say what differs and why.
5. Opener and electrical. Whether the opener is being replaced, and whether any wiring, outlet, keypad or exterior fixture is being added.
6. Who's doing the work. The installer's name and contact, and when the work would happen.
7. Expenses. Say you'll take responsibility for the cost of the alteration if that's what the strata requires. Bylaw 5 and Bylaw 6 both let the strata make that a condition, so offering it up front saves a round of letters.

If you want to see how much the new door could differ from what you have, our product catalogue lists the doors and openers we work with by brand, so you can pick the collection and colour before you write to council.

If the council says no, or doesn't answer

Under section 34.1 of the Act, an owner can apply in writing for a hearing at a council meeting. The council must hold that hearing within 4 weeks of the request, and if you're asking for a decision, it must give you a written decision within one week after the hearing. If there's still a dispute, BC's Civil Resolution Tribunal handles most strata disputes.

Before you order the door

Garage doors are often made to order, so get strata approval for garage door changes in writing before you place the order, not after. Then check the approval against what you're buying: same colour name, same panel design, same window layout. If the strata attached conditions, give a copy to your installer.

This guide is general information about the Act and the Standard Bylaws, not legal advice. Your strata's registered bylaws and strata plan decide the details.

If you'd like help putting together the product details for a strata request, or a door measured and specified to match your block, call or text Up and Down Garage Doors at (778) 873-7282. New clients: 10% off labour on your first repair — mention NEW10 when you book (one per household/business, work booked by Dec 31, 2026).