Land Remediation

Real Estate

A number of our documents provide useful information for developers, lawyers, lenders, real estate agents, land owners, purchasers and others who are involved in real estate transactions.

Key items include documents on site profiles which may be required to be provided by vendors to prospective purchasers if the land has been used for a commercial or industrial use or purpose listed in Schedule 2 of the Contaminated Sites Regulation.  Also those involved in a real estate transaction may wish to obtain information on the environmental condition of the land and there are an number of items relating to due diligence searches and how relevant information can be obtained.  There are also several links to documents which explain the liability exposure for various parties involved in a real estate transaction. 

Direct links and detailed guidance on these and other topics are provided in the following:

Fact Sheets

• An Introduction to Contaminated Sites in British Columbia (fact sheet 1) (PDF/148 KB)
• Highlights for Developers (fact sheet 9) (PDF/129 KB)
• Highlights for Lenders (fact sheet 10) (PDF/122 KB)
• Highlights for Realtors, Property Vendors, and Purchasers (fact sheet 11) (PDF/148 KB)
• Why Search the Site Registry? (fact sheet 24) (PDF/325 KB)
• The Site Registry (fact sheet 20) (PDF/224 KB)
• Obtaining Information From the SWIS, WASTE, and COORS Databases (fact sheet 33) (PDF/146 KB)
• Remediation Liability Overview (fact sheet 16) (PDF/148 KB)
• Remediation Liability and Insurers, Lenders, Receivers, Sureties, and Trustees (fact sheet 17) (PDF/271 KB)
• The Site Profile System (fact sheet 19) (PDF/117 KB)
• Residential Heating Oil Storage Tanks (fact sheet 32) (PDF/124 KB)
• Brownfields and Brownfield Redevelopment (fact sheet 38) (PDF/201 KB)

Administrative Guidance

• Completing and Submitting Site Profiles (AG 1) (PDF/196 KB)
• The Site Information Request Process (AG 4) (PDF/117 KB) describes how we can obtain information for you
• Site Registry User's Guide (PDF/735 KB) describes how users can search the Site Registry themselves

Direct Links to Databases on Sites

• Site Registry (on BC OnLine) if you have an account you can search the Site Registry yourself
• Information on Federal sites in the province

Forms

• Site Profile Form may be required for a real estate transaction if there is a Schedule 2 use of the property
• Contaminated Sites Regulation Schedule 2
• Site Information Request Application (PDF/145 KB) submit this form when you want us to obtain information for you from our electronic records
• File Contents Retrieval Application (PDF/32 KB) submit this form when you want us to obtain paper records on sites

Laws and Regulations

• Environmental Management Act   (Section 40(6), 43, and 45 - 47)
• Contaminated Sites Regulation (Section 2(1), 3(7), 4 and 5, Part 7)