🛠️ FCM · Laws, Communication, Relationships and Building Fundamentals

1. An owner in a condominium obtains a development permit to run a home-based business from her unit. Which statement correctly describes how the permit relates to the corporation's bylaws?

1. The permit overrides any bylaw of the corporation that restricts how the unit is used.
2. The permit takes effect once the board approves it by resolution at a board meeting.
3. The permit deals with municipal land use; the owner remains bound by the bylaws.
4. The permit obliges the corporation to amend its bylaws by special resolution to match.

(MGA current as of September 1, 2026; CPA current as of May 14, 2026) A development permit is issued under the municipality's land use bylaw (sections 640 and 683 of the Municipal Government Act) and answers whether the municipality allows the development; it does not change the owner's obligations to the corporation. Section 32(2) of the Condominium Property Act provides that the owners of the units and anyone in possession of a unit are bound by the bylaws, so a bylaw prohibiting businesses in units still applies. The permit does not override the bylaws, its validity does not depend on a board resolution, and it does not oblige the corporation to amend its bylaws, a change that section 32(3) of the Condominium Property Act leaves to the owners by special resolution.

2. Aspen Gate Condominium Corporation applies for a development permit for a development that the land use bylaw lists as a permitted use in its district. The application is complete and conforms to the land use bylaw, but several owners have written to the municipality to object. What must the development authority do?

1. Refuse the permit unless the municipal council votes to approve it.
2. Decide in its discretion whether to issue the permit, as for a discretionary use.
3. Hold the application until the objecting owners withdraw their objections.
4. Issue the permit, with or without conditions as the land use bylaw provides.

(MGA current as of September 1, 2026) Under section 642(1) of the Municipal Government Act, when an application for a permitted use otherwise conforms to the land use bylaw and is complete, the development authority must issue a development permit, with or without conditions as provided for in the bylaw. Discretion applies only to uses that may be permitted under section 642(2), and the section neither requires a council vote nor makes the permit depend on owners withdrawing their objections.

3. The board of Lakeview Condominium Corporation, a bare land condominium, wants a contractor to start building a detached storage building on the common property. The contractor holds a building permit but no development permit. What should the manager advise?

1. Start work now, because the building permit already authorizes the construction work.
2. Do not start; a development permit is also needed unless the land use bylaw exempts it.
3. Start work, then apply for the development permit once the framing on the site is done.
4. Wait until the owners approve it by ordinary resolution, and then start the work.

(MGA current as of September 1, 2026) Section 683 of the Municipal Government Act provides that, except as otherwise provided in a land use bylaw, a person may not commence any development unless a development permit has been issued for it under the bylaw. A building permit addresses construction standards and does not replace the development permit, the permit must come before the work rather than after the framing, and an owners' resolution, ordinary or special, cannot substitute for the municipality's permit.

4. Which statement describes RECA's role in protecting the public in condominium management?

1. It mediates bylaw disputes between neighbouring owners in the same condominium.
2. It sets contribution levels and approves the annual budget of each corporation.
3. It receives written complaints about licensees and has them investigated.
4. It approves the management fees that brokerages charge each corporation.

(REA current as of September 1, 2026) Under section 37 of the Real Estate Act, a person may make a written complaint to the registrar about the conduct of a licensee, and under section 38 the registrar commences or appoints a person to commence an investigation; protecting consumers is also a stated purpose of the Board under section 5(b) of the Real Estate Act. RECA does not mediate bylaw disputes among owners, does not set a corporation's budget or contributions, which are the board's and owners' matters, and does not approve management fees, which are agreed with the corporation in the written service agreement under Rules 43(2)(b)(viii) and 110.24(c) of the Real Estate Act Rules.

5. The written service agreement of Birchwood Condominium Corporation expressly authorizes its manager to enter into maintenance contracts up to a set amount. Within that limit, the manager signs a one-year snow-removal contract, clearly signing on the corporation's behalf. Who is bound to pay the contractor under that contract?

1. The condominium manager brokerage, since its licensee signed the contract as the agent.
2. The directors personally, since the board gave the manager the authority to sign it.
3. No one yet, since the owners must ratify the contract by resolution at a general meeting.
4. The corporation, as principal, since its agent signed within the express authority given.

Under general agency principles, a contract that an agent makes within the authority given by the principal, and openly on the principal's behalf, binds the principal: here the corporation. The FCM blueprint clarifications describe express authority as authority described orally or in writing, preferably in the written service agreement; Rule 80.88(g) of the Real Estate Act Rules requires written authorization before a licensee signs a contract on behalf of a condominium corporation, and Rule 110.24(e) requires the agreement to state any authority to enter into contracts, which this agreement does. The brokerage acted as agent of a named principal and is not the party bound, directors do not become personally liable on the corporation's contract, and no owners' ratification is needed for a contract signed within authority already given.

6. Coulee View Condominium Corporation receives a written snow-removal quote at a stated monthly price, open for acceptance for a stated period. Within that period, the board replies in writing that it accepts the quote at a lower monthly price. Under the principles of contract law, what is the effect of the board's reply?

1. It is a counter-offer that ends the quote; no contract exists unless the contractor accepts it.
2. It forms a binding contract at the quoted price, because the board replied within the period.
3. It forms a binding contract at the lower price, because the board replied in writing in time.
4. It keeps the quote open, so the board may still accept it later at the contractor's own price.

Under general contract law, a reply that purports to accept an offer while changing a material term such as the price is not an acceptance but a counter-offer: it rejects the original offer, which ends it, and becomes a new offer that the contractor is free to accept or refuse. Replying within the period or in writing does not turn a changed price into an acceptance, so no contract exists at either price, and once rejected the original quote cannot be accepted later unless the contractor renews it. (FCM blueprint 1.2.3: contract law applied to condominium contracts with service providers)