FILE PHOTO - Drinking water is poured into a glass from a faucet in North Vancouver, Tuesday, July 30, 2019.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A Kelowna construction company that failed to put a water meter into a strata unit has been ordered to pay the homeowner $2,500.

According to a Nov. 21 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, the construction company that built the strata development on Hilltown Drive in Kelowna were supposed to install a water meter in each townhouse.

However, the numbered company didn't install water meters in each unit which led to billing complications.

The decision said Sharmayne Owen bought one of the townhomes in 2021 and later learned she didn't have a water meter.

Due to the complications of not having a water meter the Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District retroactively billed the strata leaving Owen with a $1,600 bill for four months use.

Owen then took the construction company owned by Robert Jabs to the Tribunal.

She argued Jab's company should pay for the water meter installation costs and the excessive water bills.

However, Jabs refused saying it wasn't his company's responsibility to install the meters and the Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District should have done so.

The evidence proved otherwise.

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Owen submitted paperwork that stated it was the builder's responsibility to install the meters when constructing the townhomes.

"The letter clearly stated that 'the developer will be required to coordinate the installation of water meters' in accordance with Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District bylaws," the decision read.

Another piece of paperwork stated it was the developer's responsibility to install the water meters and once done it needed to contact the Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District to approve and activate them.

Owen also provided her purchase agreement which stated that water metering will be in each strata unit before purchase.

The decision said it was only after Owen had moved in that the Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District learned that Jab had sold the unit and it had not been contacted to inspect or turn the water on.

"Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District surmises that the water was improperly tampered with and turned on without (its) permission," the decision said.

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The Tribunal ruled that it was the construction company's responsibility to install the meters.

"Due to (the company's) failure to install the water meter as required, I find Ms. Owen incurred installation costs that are (not her) responsibility," the Tribunal ruled.

The tribunal then worked out how much Owen should have been charged for the water and how much she'd paid and ordered the construction company to pay $2,113.

With interest and fees, the Tribunal ordered Jab's company to pay Owen $2,470.

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