Arrondissement de Ville-Marie

A condo unit owner requests a renovation permit for his basement unit in order to sell it as a housing unit. Up until then, the owner had used this unit as a company office. The Syndicate of co-owners adopted a resolution authorizing the renovation work in this private portion of the building.

In order to issue the permit, the Borough requires the installation of two storage rooms for waste and recyclable material in common areas located in the building’s basement, based on its Règlement sur le civisme, le respect et la propreté.

The Borough thus issues to the co-owner a permit authorizing him to renovate his private portion and the common areas. The Syndicate of co-owners had not been consulted and disagrees with this requirement. It turns to our office.

Our site visit confirms that the building’s configuration would make it very difficult to accommodate the requested storage rooms and that their access would be very cumbersome to eventual users.

According to the OdM, the regulatory provisions could be reasonably interpreted in such a way that the requirement for garbage storage rooms not be applied to this file. The Borough does not accept this argument.

We nevertheless agree to a solution that will consider the issue’s particular context and be acceptable to all parties involved. The renovation of the private unit is authorized without the requirement for garbage storage rooms.

Comment regarding the management of permit applications involving condominiums

We receive an increasing number of complaints criticizing Boroughs for having authorized works in a condo’s common areas without prior consent from the Syndicate of co-owners, or authorizing works in a portion reserved for exclusive use without the consent of the owner who benefits from this sole use. We are concerned about this situation!

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