For renters · free, printable, yours

Questions Your
Building Hasn’t
Answered

Twenty-two questions a well-run building can answer in writing. Most cannot answer half. Print this, tick what you already know, and send the rest to whoever manages your building.

Why this exists

Every one of these is a requirement in a published standard, and every one has a right answer your building already holds somewhere. You are not being difficult by asking. You are asking for information that was supposed to reach you and did not.

Nothing here is transmitted, and nobody sees your answers.

Right now, tonight

If the fire alarm sounds at 2am, does this building expect me to leave or to stay in my unit?Which two exits are nearest to my unit, and by what route?Where is the water shutoff for my unit?Where is my breaker panel, and which outlets are on the bathroom GFCI?What number do I call after hours, and what counts as an emergency?If I am trapped in the elevator, who answers and how long do they take?

Money and the record

Do I have a copy of the condition report from move-in day, with photographs?What is the replacement cost of each key, fob and remote I was given?What fees exist, what triggers them, and how do I dispute one?Am I required to hold tenant insurance, and where does proof go?When does my lease convert to month-to-month, and what happens if I do nothing?

How the building actually works

Which bins take what, who collects them, and what changed most recently?What is the exact address format for parcels, including where my unit number goes?Which internet providers are physically wired to this building?How do I report a repair, and what response time should I expect?What are the quiet hours, and what bylaw are they based on?Do I need to book the service elevator, and how far ahead?

Before I need it

Does this building keep a list of residents who would need help evacuating, and how do I join it?Where is the fire safety plan kept, and may I read it?What happens to my heat in winter if the system fails?What is the cleaning standard I will be held to when I move out?How much notice must I give, on what form, and by what date?

What to do with it

“Hello — I’ve been going through what I know about the building and there are a few things I can’t find an answer to. Could you point me to where these are written down, or let me know if they aren’t?”

If the answers do not exist, that is worth knowing too — and in Ottawa, several of them are required by by-law rather than optional.

If you manage a building and this made you uncomfortable