Phase III—industry

The ministry is having Phase III talks with industry representatives and specialists for several key parts of the new Bill.

Finances
One group is discussing finances. We'll have to wait for the Bill to be introduced to see what this is all about.

Energy saving projects
A big concern of mine is the earlier talk of allowing condo boards to sign expensive contracts that promise energy savings, possibly using the Reserve Funds to pay for this, without requiring authorization by the owners.

I have three concerns.

1.	A lot of "green" projects may be financial duds that are not financially viable and within a few years they will be quietly scrapped. (Some condos have "old" solar panels on their roofs now that they haven't yet taken down.)
2.	I can see thousands of contractors swarming all over every condo in the province installing everything from green roofs to windmills and solar panels to LED lighting packages for the parking garages.
3.	The condo corporations may be sucked in by easy loans that can be tacked onto their electrical bills. The lure is that the energy savings will pay the interest on the loans.

I hope that this is one idea that will be dropped.

Licensing managers
Another group is talking about the licencing of condominium property managers. This gets complicated because the issues may include what body does the training, examinations entry requirements and a licencing and disciplinary body. Then there is the god-fathering of the existing managers

We will also see if the condominium property management companies will also be licensed.

Two Bills?
I have heard talk that we will have two Bills: an improved Condominium Act and a Condominium  Manager Licensing Bill.

We will see soon enough.


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