Bylaw AI & Document Library

Pastrata organizes your strata corporation’s historical documents into an AI-searchable repository. Owners and residents can instantly look up bylaws, depreciation reports, insurance policies, and council minutes. With eConcierge AI, residents can ask plain-language questions like "Can I have a second dog?" and receive exact bylaw citations with direct document links.

Required Roles & Capabilities

Access to these features depends on your building role and assigned capabilities:

Quickstart (Getting Started)

1. Click Documents in the sidebar to browse categorized building records.
2. Type in the search bar to narrow the list by title or category. Press Enter (or the search key on your phone) to also search inside the documents you can open, by meaning as well as exact words (e.g. "Can I rent out my parking stall?"); matching documents come first, each with the passage that matched.
3. Or click Bylaws or eConcierge to ask building questions in natural language.
4. Ask questions like: "What are the quiet hours?" or "Can I install an air conditioner?".
5. View the AI response accompanied by verified citations and page references from your building’s official bylaws.

Step-by-Step Guides

How to Ask eConcierge Questions About Building Rules

Get instant, accurate answers to bylaw questions grounded directly in your building’s official documents.

1. Click eConcierge in the navigation bar.
2. Type your question in the chat box (e.g. What is the policy for moving on weekends?), or tap one of the suggested questions under Neighbours often ask or Try asking in a new conversation.
3. Press Enter. eConcierge analyzes your building’s bylaws, rules, and minutes.
4. Review the answer and click on the linked Citation to view the exact page in the underlying PDF.

Pro-Tip: eConcierge only answers using approved building documents and never invents rules.

Pro-Tip: If your building’s managers have added a custom disclaimer, it appears as A note from your building above your conversation, for example a reminder that only council can give a binding interpretation of a bylaw.

Pro-Tip: Suggested questions are ones at least three of your neighbours have asked. Only the wording is shared, never who asked or the answer they got. Tapping one asks it for you, so the answer reflects what you can see.

How to Ask eConcierge About Tribunal Decisions (CRT)

In a building on the Prime plan in British Columbia, eConcierge can cite how the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) has decided similar strata disputes.

1. Open eConcierge and ask a dispute-shaped question, for example "Can the strata fine me without a hearing?" or "Has the CRT ruled on who pays for a leak from a pipe in the wall?".
2. eConcierge decides for itself whether case law is relevant. It looks at tribunal decisions for questions about whether something is allowed, fair or valid, and not for lookups such as quiet hours, or for actions such as booking or paying.
3. Review the answer. Each decision is cited with the case name, neutral citation and paragraphs, for example "2026 BCCRT 1510, paras 12-18". Click the citation to open the decision on the CRT site at that paragraph.
4. Your building's own bylaws say what the rules are. eConcierge keeps them separate from what the tribunal has decided in similar disputes.

Pro-Tip: CRT decisions are examples of how the tribunal has decided similar disputes. They do not bind later decisions and are not legal advice.

Pro-Tip: Every member of the building sees the same thing, residents and managers alike. If the building's jurisdiction has no published decisions, or the building is not on the Prime plan, CRT decisions are not offered.

Pro-Tip: A manager who can edit building settings can turn off Include CRT decisions in answers under the eConcierge card on the Settings page. It turns CRT off for everyone in the building.

How to Order Certificates, Find Agreements and Organize Documents with eConcierge

eConcierge can do some document tasks for you. Nothing is ordered, sent or changed until you confirm.

1. Open eConcierge and say what you want, for example "Order a Form F for my unit", "Do I have any agreements to sign?", "Remind everyone who hasn't signed the pet agreement", "Archive the 2019 insurance certificate" or "Add a document category called Insurance under Policies".
2. eConcierge finds the unit, agreement, document or category you mean and shows a confirmation card naming it and what will change.
3. Confirm to go ahead. It is the same as doing it yourself in the app, with the same permissions.

Pro-Tip: Owners can order a Form B or Form F only for a unit they own. Management still reviews, signs and issues every certificate. Form B and Form F are British Columbia forms, so they are offered only in buildings whose jurisdiction provides for them; elsewhere, management can still prepare a status certificate.

Pro-Tip: eConcierge can rename a document, move it to another category, mark it draft, final or archived, and change whether every member, owners only, council or managers can open it. It never makes a document public or shares it with named people.

Pro-Tip: Uploads, signing, sending agreements for signature, deleting documents, bylaw changes and statutory records requests stay in the app. eConcierge links you to the right screen.

How to Request Signatures on a Library Document

Managers can send any document in the library to one or more people for e-signature and track who has signed.

1. Open Management → Signatures.
2. Click Request Signature, choose the document and add each signer's name and email.
3. Send it. The request shows each signer's status (pending, signed or declined) until everyone has signed, and you can cancel it while it is still pending.

Pro-Tip: Agreements are a separate flow: send them from Agreements and track who has signed under Agreements → Agreement signatures. The Signatures page links there if you manage agreements.

How to Browse Bylaws in the Mobile App

Read your building’s bylaws section by section on your phone, and hand a question about any section to eConcierge.

1. Open Documents from the More menu and tap Bylaws.
2. Tap a section to read it. Use the search bar to find a section by number, title, or wording.
3. To ask about a section, tap Ask eConcierge about this section. eConcierge opens with a drafted question — edit it if you like, then send it. You can also tap the sparkle icon in the header to ask a general bylaw question.

Pro-Tip: The Ask eConcierge options appear only when eConcierge is available for your building.

How to Order Certificates as a Conveyancer or Agent (Conveyancers, Lawyers, Notaries & Realtors)

Third parties working on a sale can order a Form B or Form F from the building's public order page and pay the statutory fee online. Owners don't use this page: they request certificates from Documents > Certificates (see below).

1. Open the order page link the strata council or property manager shared with you. It's a public page: you don't need a Pastrata account, and there's no link to it inside the app.
2. Choose Form B Only (Information Certificate) or Form F Only (Certificate of Payment), and select the unit.
3. Enter your name, email, phone, firm, and file reference. Optionally tick Rush Priority Processing for a 24-hour turnaround instead of the standard 7 days, and Bundle Mandatory Statutory Attachments.
4. Review the fee breakdown and click Proceed to Payment to pay by card.
5. After paying, you'll get a tracking link for the order. Use it to check progress and, once the certificate is issued, download it. You'll also get an email when it's issued.

How to Request a Certificate for Your Unit on the Web (Owners)

Owners can request a Form B or Form F for a unit they own and follow it through council review.

1. Go to Documents and click Certificates. You'll see each certificate request and its current status. The Certificates button appears only if you own a unit in the building.
2. Click + Request Certificate.
3. Choose Form B (Information Certificate) or Form F (Certificate of Payment). If you own more than one unit, pick the unit. Optionally add the purpose (for example, Sale of unit).
4. Click Submit request. You're taken to the new request, where you can follow it from review through to issue.

How to Order and Track a Certificate from the Mobile App (Owners)

Owners can request a Form B or Form F for their own unit and follow it through council review from the Pastrata mobile app.

1. Tap More > Certificates. You'll see each certificate you've requested and its current status.
2. Tap Order a certificate, choose Form B (Information Certificate) or Form F (Certificate of Payment), and optionally add the purpose (for example, Sale of unit).
3. Tap Submit request. Your request goes to council or management for review and signature.
4. Open a request to track its progress: Submitted → Under review → Approved → Issued. If a request is rejected, any note from management is shown.
5. Once a Form B is issued, tap Download certificate package (PDF) to save or share the signed certificate with its statutory attachments.

How to Upload and Categorize Building Records (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

Upload new minutes, insurance certificates, and financial statements with automatic text indexing.

1. Go to Documents > Upload Document. In the mobile app, open the Documents tab and tap the upload icon in the header.
2. Drag and drop one or more PDF files, or choose them from your device's file picker in the mobile app.
3. Leave the category on Auto to let Pastrata pick the best match from your building's categories, or select one yourself. With a single file you can type a title, or leave it blank and one is generated from the content.
4. Set member visibility: All Residents, Owners Only, or Council Only.
5. Click Upload. Each file shows its own progress. Files still being categorized appear in a Processing section at the top of the library (visible to managers only) and move into their category once Auto finishes. The document will be indexed for instant search and eConcierge citation within moments.

How to Remaster and Verify Uploaded Documents (Property Managers & Council)

Inspect OCR-extracted markdown side-by-side with original scanned documents, fix formatting anomalies, and approve clean markdown before vectorization.

1. When uploading a scanned PDF or bylaw document, check Verify extracted text (Remastering) in the upload modal, or open an uploaded document and click Remaster Text.
2. In the split-pane Remaster view, compare the original PDF on the left with the OCR-extracted markdown on the right.
3. Use the markdown toolbar to format headers, bold/italic text, lists, and tables to ensure accurate sectioning.
4. Preview the rendered output using the Preview tab.
5. If editing in stages, click Save Draft to preserve working revisions.
6. Click Approve & Vectorize to commit the corrected text and trigger AI embedding generation for search and eConcierge. Alternatively, click Skip & Use Raw OCR to index the raw OCR extraction without edits.

How to Access the Statutory Records Vault

Access official British Columbia Strata Property Act s. 35 statutory records with continuous self-serve access and automatic compliance audit logging.

1. Navigate to Documents and click Statutory Records Vault (or go directly to /[building]/records-vault).
2. Browse statutory tabs: Minutes (Sanitized), Bylaws & Rules, Financials & Budgets, Insurance Policies, Depreciation Reports, Contracts, and the Council Directory.
3. Filter by search terms or calendar year.
4. Click Inspect to review statutory retention schedules and compliance metadata.
5. Click Download to receive an official, timestamped PDF stamped with a running footer compliance watermark.

How to Access Unredacted Master Records (Step-Up Audit) (Strata Council Members & Property Managers)

Access original, unredacted records for legal, governance, or audit purposes after a step-up confirmation; every access is logged as a security safeguard. Requires the PRIVACY_REDACTION_MANAGE capability (Strata Council and Property Management by default; your building can change this in its permission settings).

1. In the Statutory Records Vault, locate a document with an unredacted master record.
2. Click Unredacted Master to open the confidentiality confirmation.
3. Review the notice confirming the access will be permanently logged to the building audit trail.
4. Provide a legitimate governance reason (e.g. Legal proceeding review or Auditor request).
5. Check the affirmation box confirming the access is authorized.
6. Click Confirm & Download Unredacted Master to generate a secure, short-lived download link.

How to Approve and Execute Statutory Document Disposals (Strata Council Members)

Review expired non-permanent records under BC SPA s. 35(2) and execute cryptographic disposal purges.

1. Filter the Records Vault to locate documents marked with Expired (s. 35) or Review Pending.
2. Click Approve Disposal to mark the document as council-approved for disposal.
3. Once approved, click Purge Document to open the cryptographic purge confirmation dialog.
4. Confirm the purge. The system will permanently delete the primary file from storage, remove AI search embeddings, compute a SHA-256 cryptographic proof digest receipt, and record a permanent audit entry.

Key Concepts & Building Policies

Statutory Records Vault & Continuous s. 35 Access

Under BC Strata Property Act s. 35, strata corporations must make official records available for inspection to owners and authorized residents. Pastrata provides 24/7 self-serve access to approved records, automatically imprints running footer verification watermarks on downloaded PDFs, and synchronously records compliance access logs in the strata corporation's audit log.

Document Retention Schedules & Cryptographic Purge

Each kind of building record is kept for a set period, which depends on the record and on the building’s jurisdiction (minutes, bylaws, strata plans and depreciation reports are kept permanently). Pastrata's daily retention scheduler flags records past their retention period for council review. When council approves disposal, the purge permanently deletes the record's files from storage and removes it from search and eConcierge retrieval; the disposal is kept in the audit trail.

Bylaw AI Grounding & Citation Accuracy

eConcierge uses semantic vector search to identify relevant clauses. If a question cannot be answered from your building’s uploaded bylaws, eConcierge clearly states that no policy was found and offers to route your inquiry to building management.

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting

Are uploaded documents scanned for viruses?

Yes. All uploaded files undergo automated security validation and malware scanning prior to publication.

Who can see Council-only confidential documents?

Confidential documents (such as legal advice or unredacted dispute files) are restricted to verified Strata Council members and property management by default. In the Document Library, Council level documents are visible only to verified Strata Council members, while Manager and Auditor level documents (and every custom-shared document) are visible to verified members whose role holds DOCUMENT_VIEW. In the Statutory Records Vault, council master records and their unredacted originals require PRIVACY_REDACTION_MANAGE. Both capabilities follow your building's permission settings.

Related Guides

• Strata Council & Board Hub
• Owners & Landlords Hub