Registered Size

When the condo construction is near completion they (developers) are required to hire a survey company to actually survey the property so they can register the plan with the city for tax purposes etc. All the companies (survey) I spoke with indicated that they measure the "inside measurement". Some will include the drywall but that is it. So if you check the registered size and compare it to the "advertised size" well then you should have a pretty good idea as to what you are buying. You would think!

I would "in future" dealings contact the survey company in advance and get the detail from them as to how the instructions were in fact given. I had a feeling that some of the companies are a little more flexible with the rules than others - or shall I say use "different standards".

It seems there really are no standards in this province. The only rule seems to be with the Real Estate board and their rule states "PAINT TO PAINT".

So what if you are dealing with a "by owner" sale.

Ask them to show you the actual survey and put in writing just what the "actual" square footage is. Again everything is based on square footage in this game so make sure you are getting what you think you are buying. ie: when you order a dozen eggs you would not accept 10 or 11. Why should you accept 900 when you thought you were buying 1000?