Property record errors: checking and correcting BC Assessment's data

What BC Assessment knows about your property

BC Assessment publishes the full list of information shown, when available, on a property's page in Assessment Search, its free lookup tool. For the building: year built, a description, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, carports, garages, land size, first floor area, second floor area and basement finish area. Where applicable, it adds strata area, building storeys, gross and net leasable area, number of apartment units, manufactured home dimensions and sales within the last three full calendar years.

Two details deserve a closer look. The description for a house gives the number of storeys and a quality rating, from lowest to highest: basic, standard, semi custom, custom. And the number of storeys, according to BC Assessment, counts distinct levels of living space above the basement, crawl space or slab foundation. For a strata townhouse, basement area is not displayed, but BC Assessment says it is calculated into your assessed value.

The checklist

Compare each detail with a document you can produce. The table pairs each characteristic with the evidence that confirms or contradicts it. Where to get each document comes from the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB) commercial guide, and it works just as well for a house.

Where to see your details

Start with your assessment notice. BC Assessment's complaint guide asks you to check "all the details" on its front page: is the information correct, and is the market value correct? The notice also shows your roll number, parcel identifier (PID) and the confidential PIN you will need.

Then open your property's page in Assessment Search, using the address, roll number or PID. Details there are updated on January 1, before notices go out, and again in early April to reflect Property Assessment Review Panel (PARP) decisions. For a commercial property, PAAB suggests asking your local office for the Property Value Summary, which shows your property's details in BC Assessment's system.

Where the data comes from, and why it goes stale

BC Assessment says it collects property details from owners, home inspections, municipal permit information, building plans, satellite and street front imagery and other methods. Municipalities typically inform it when they issue a building permit. A request to update property details is often included with assessment notices.

A detail can therefore be out of date: work done without a permit, a basement finished after the last visit, or a demolition nobody reported. BC Assessment cites sections 15 and 16 of the Assessment Act as its authority to ask owners for information: section 15 lets it require a reply within 21 days, and failing to reply is an offence.

Getting an error fixed: two separate steps

Correct the details. In Assessment Search, under "Are the Property Details Correct?", choose to confirm or update, then complete the online form. It requires the 10-digit confidential PIN printed on your notice. BC Assessment reviews every submission and may call you if the difference is substantial. A correction submitted between April and November shows up in Assessment Search at the January update.

Challenge the value. BC Assessment is clear: "Submitting a correction to your property details is not the same as appealing your assessed value." If the error skewed this year's value, call the local office shown on your notice and file a PARP complaint by January 31. An error or omission about land or improvements is a ground in itself (s. 32(1)(b)). If BC Assessment agrees there is an error, it can correct it with your consent before March 16 (s. 10(2)), with no hearing. The complete guide covers the complaint.

After those dates, the Act still lets the assessor correct errors and omissions on a supplementary roll, up to December 31 of the year after the roll is completed (s. 12(4)). See amended and supplementary notices.

Before you submit: a correction can raise your value

An honest update works both ways. BC Assessment itself lists the changes that call for an update: a recent renovation, a new garage or carport, an added bedroom, a finished basement with or without a suite. It adds that it cannot predict whether your taxes will change.

The Act is clear about omissions. A property assessed for less than it should have been must be put on a supplementary roll (s. 12(2)). For a previous year, that is only possible if the shortfall comes from an owner's failure to disclose, concealment, or a missing or incorrect return (s. 12(3)). And providing false or misleading information is an offence (s. 70). So report facts you can back up with documents.

For evidence of value beyond the facts, see evidence that works. For an unusual property, a designated appraiser can measure and document the building: see our appraiser directory. Back to property assessment in British Columbia.

Frequently asked questions