Another tip for something to check that most people don't:
Have a good look at the building's insurance policy and whether there's been a proper appraisal done recently to index the value of the policy and make sure the policy has adequate coverage for a rebuild in case of complete loss… (I would guess the older the building, the more likely the replacement value is not correctly assessed in the policy)
Its not unusual for the insurance provider to simply increase the value by x% (inflation) for several years in a row without proper appraisal of what it would cost to rebuild in case of complete loss… Most owners simply assume that the insurance broker is offering adequate coverage and that the management company also keeps a good eye on things.
If a fire happens causing complete loss, it might turn out that the building is under-insured to the tune of millions and each strata owner will have to quick in a substantial special assessment to cover the cost of rebuilt…
This is pretty relevant actually. It's common practice to do a FULL appraisal once every 3 years, with the other 2 years being "updates" like described above.
What's more important then the appraisal however is the Insurance Policy itself. There is only one Strata insurer (that I am aware of) that offers "guaranteed replacement cost" coverage (meaning the building is replaced at any cost, no matter the cost).
Most strata insurers limit the policy coverage to 110% of the appraised value (so more importance is placed in the accuracy of the appraisal).
In addition to that imagine if the Lower Mainland was subjected to a massive quake that damaged 1 in 10 buildings severely enough that they were uninhabitable. What would happen to the cost to rebuild those buildings in that scenario? The basic principals of supply [HTML_REMOVED] demand tell us that the cost to re-build would go up - all of a sudden that 10% buffer doesn't look so good.