Services

Past Projects

Multi-Family Residential

Industrial | Warehouses

Daycares

What We Offer

Complete Electrical Designs

It's not just about ensuring that you have enough power; it's also about lighting up your building for safety, beauty, and of course, functionality that works for the way you work. Emergency lighting, life safety systems, and fire alarm design are part of it, too.

Experience On a Wide Variety of Projects

Every project is unique in its own way. Talk to us about your vision, and we'll work to design an electrical system that fits your specific needs.

Integrated Designs With Mechanical and Structural Consultants

Electrical building designs often go hand-in-hand with mechanical designs, and sometimes structural, too. We work with partners in the industry to offer integrated solutions for your design needs.

Communities We Serve

Okanagan

Includes Vernon, Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Penticton, Oliver, Osoyoos

Vancouver and the Lower Mainland

Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Mission

Other Regions

Vancouver Island, Revelstoke, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Cranbrook, Kimberley

Get In Touch

Electrical Planning Reports & EV-Ready Plans for BC Stratas

British Columbia recently passed legislation that requires stratas of 5 or more strata units to obtain an Electrical Planning Report (EPR). The EPR allows stratas, and the owners, to better understand their current electrical capacity and how well-suited it is to meet future needs. Stratas can use the EPR to help plan for future upgrades to heating and cooling systems, for potential electrification of systems that aren't currently electric, and for additional needs such as EV charging stations.

Electrical planning report and EV-ready plans for stratas

The EPR provides information on the strata's:

Current electrical capacity;
Estimated peak usage;
Spare capacity;
And an estimate on future needs.

All BC strata corporations with 5 or more strata units are required to obtain an EPR. This includes condominimums, townhouse complexes, commercial buildings, hotels, and more.

External links (new windows):
• Bulletin from the BC Government website
• Strata Property Amendment Act, 2023

EV-Ready Plans

The increasing popularity of electrical vehicles also means that there's a heightened demand for EV chargers. In 2023, the BC Government lowered the voting threshold for strata corporations to install EV charging stations as a strata corporation expense. Some municipalities within British Columbia have also made it mandatory for new developments to include EV charging stations.

An EV-Ready Plan is a strategy for residential stratas to include at least one EV-ready parking stall per strata unit. Paralynx will determine how much electricity will be consumed by these chargers and their infrastructure. We'll provide a professional opinion on what the strata needs to plan for in order to include EV charging infrastructure.

BC Hydro and Fortis BC offer rebates for EV-related upgrades, including up to 75% of the cost of an EV-Ready Plan, to a maximum of $3,000. Rebates for EV chargers and their infrastructure are also available.

The Process

Paralynx will request some information from the strata prior to visiting your site in-person. During the site visit, we'll begin our investigation into its electrical system. This is an extensive, detailed process where we collect the data we need to prepare the EPR. Someone from the strata will need to provide us with access to the electrical room(s), mechanical room(s), any other service room(s), the rooftop, and accompanying spaces as well.

An EV-ready plan can be prepared together with the EPR if initially requested.

Once our engineer has completed their initial investigation and data collection, we will begin the process of performing the analysis and calculations. The final step is to compile the results of the assessment and create a report for the strata.

Deadlines for Obtaining an EPR

The deadline to have an Electrical Planning Report produced is the end of 2026 for Lower Mainland stratas and for those within the Capital Regional District (CRD). Stratas located outside of these areas must have an EPR by the end of 2028. As the deadline approaches, we anticipate a surge in activity as stratas strive to get the EPR in place. While the deadline may seem far off, we recommend that stratas get the EPR in motion well ahead of time to ensure that they are completed on time.

Frequently Asked Questions: EPRs and EV-Ready Plans

Can our strata opt-out of getting an EPR?

No. If your strata has 5 or more strata units, an EPR is mandatory. There's currently no provision for opting-out or deferring the EPR.

What's the difference between an Electrical Planning Report and an EV-Ready Plan?

The EPR is a planning tool that provides information to help the strata understand its current electrical usage and how to plan for future upgrades. Think of it as a way to help understand the strata's electrical capacity. The EPR is mandatory.

An EV-ready plan is narrowly focused on what it takes to install electrical infrastructure that will support EV charging, as many stratas don't currently have the infrastructure in place. Getting an EV-ready plan prepared is voluntary. That said, the report is necessary if a strata wishes to be eligible for BC Hydro or Fortis BC's rebates.

Will the EPR tell us how to increase the strata's power capacity?

The electrical planning report will include information such as:

Steps the strata can take to reduce the electrical demand;
A high-level overview of options to increase capacity (note: this is not the same as a design solution, which is outside the scope of the EPR);
An estimate on how much capacity would be available if the above two actions were taken.

How much does the EPR cost? How about the EV-Ready Plan?

Costs will vary widely depending on the individual strata. Some of the factors that affect the cost include the number of buildings in the strata, number of strata units, number of floors, common amenity spaces, and ready access to data such as the single line diagram (SLD), electrical room layout & elevations, site plan, and up-to-date mechanical drawings.

The cost for preparing the EV-Ready Plan is dependent on similar factors. Note that BC Hydro and Fortis BC offer a partial rebate of up to 75% (maximum $3,000) for EV-Ready Plans (more info).

Paralynx will be pleased to provide a quote for your specific strata.

How long will it take to create the electrical planning report?

The timeline will depend on the several factors. One of the largest factors is how quickly the utility companies (BC Hydro, Fortis BC) can provide data to us, which is generally in the range of a few weeks to a few months. Other factors include the time it takes to receive information from the strata, the size and complexity of the strata, and our workload at the time at which we are engaged. We strongly recommend getting the EPR done as soon as possible to avoid the anticipated rush as the deadline approaches. It's anticipated that timelines will increase as the deadline approaches.

What is the process like?

Once your strata has engaged us, the general process is:

We'll contact you to obtain some information about the strata in prepration for our on-site visit.
The site visit will be scheduled next, where one of our engineers will walk through the strata with a strata representative and continue the data collection process and document the visit.
We'll review the information from the visit and reach out to the strata for anything additional we may need. If we need to reach out to the utility company for data, we'll do so.
Once we have all the data, we'll begin our analysis, perform the calculations, and create the Electrical Planning Report and/or the EV-Ready Plan.
We'll review the EPR and/or EVRP with a strata representative and address any questions.

How do I get an EPR or EV-ready plan quote for my strata?

Contact us to get the process started. We'll ask a few questions to better understand your strata, and then we'll provide a quote for the Electrical Planning Report and/or the EV-ready plan.

Request an EPR Quote