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20 years after B.C. inquiry into the leaky condo crisis, it's still buyer beware | CBC News

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James Balderson was thrilled when he purchased his Vancouver townhouse in 1991 — until the rain started to fall and drip through the lights in the ceiling. "I bought a brand-new, four-bedroom, leaky, rotten condo townhouse," Balderson said. "It was full of holes. It leaked and rotted." Balderson had purchased his new home in the Fairview Slopes neighbourhood — for $533,000 and change — before the words "leaky condo crisis" had been uttered in the province. It didn't take long before Balderson, and the media, began to notice a slew of other condo owners also complaining about the same issues. By 2003, the B.C. Homeowner Protection Office had identified about 65,000 leaky condos across the province. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation defines leaky condos as a "catastrophic failure" of building envelopes, which lets water into the building frame and leads to rot, rust, decay and mould. The crisis was caused by a combination of poor design and shoddy construction during a building

20 years after B.C. inquiry into the leaky condo crisis, it's still buyer beware | CBC News 20 years after B.C. inquiry into the leaky condo crisis, it's still buyer beware | CBC News Loaded British Columbia 20 years after B.C. inquiry into the leaky condo crisis, it's still buyer beware Twenty years ago this week, the province established the Barrett Inquiry to look into the leaky condo problem. Experts say the inquiry provided higher standards for home construction and design. But they also say the problem still persists today. Province announced the Barrett Inquiry in 1998, leading to bette

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