I have a unique perspective when it comes to strata painting projects. Firstly, I co-own a painting company in Surrey that specializes in strata repaints. Secondly, I live in a strata complex (84 houses) and have sat on our council for a number of years. I have worked with councils, homeowners, property managers, colour committees, painters, and paint inspectors from both sides of the table.
The benefit of this is that I have experienced many situations and have a solid understanding of the challenges a strata council faces in planning and executing a painting project.
Council members are usually unpaid volunteers elected from the pool of owners. Experience and expertise can vary greatly and most strata corporations find it challenging just to recruit owners to volunteer. Councils are also (re)elected annually and a turnover of council members can add to the challenges of planning large projects. There is no training course for strata council members and other than CHOA there are very few resources available to help councils navigate the waters of representing your strata corporation and its owners.
The other reality is today’s property managers don’t offer the same level of project management as they used to. More and more people are living in multi-unit residences and the demand for property managers has surged. This has put pressure on the industry and resulted in more and more responsibility being put on councils to organize and manage their own maintenance.
In order to help council’s prepare themselves for a painting project, I have started the Warline Way Strata Smart Series. These articles will help educate you and guide you through the process of getting your complex painted. I will discuss everything from safety to colour.
Whether you hire Warline to paint your complex or not, my goal is to help those council members who have volunteered their time to manage their strata. My hat is off to you. I hope these articles help.
