1 Definitions And Interpretation

• 1 (1) In this Act:
• “certificate of completion” means a certificate under section 7 stating that work under a contract or subcontract has been completed and includes an order made under section 7(5);
• “claim of lien” means a claim of lien in the prescribed form;
• “class of lien claimants” means all lien claimants engaged by the same person in connection with an improvement;
• “completed”, if used with reference to a contract or subcontract in respect of an improvement, means substantially completed or performed, not necessarily totally completed or performed;
• “contractor” means a person engaged by an owner to do one or more of the following in relation to an improvement:

• (a) perform or provide work;
• (b) supply material;

• but does not include a worker;
• “court” means the Supreme Court;
• “head contractor” means a contractor who is engaged to do substantially all of the work respecting an improvement, whether or not others are engaged as subcontractors, material suppliers or workers;
• “holdback period” means the period of time calculated under section 8;
• “improvement” includes anything made, constructed, erected, built, altered, repaired or added to, in, on or under land, and attached to it or intended to become a part of it, and also includes any clearing, excavating, digging, drilling, tunnelling, filling, grading or ditching of, in, on or under land;
• “land title office” means the land title office for the land title district or districts in which the land or any part of it is located and on which the improvement is made or is being made;
• “lien claimant” means a person who files a claim of lien under this Act;
• “lien holder” means a person entitled to a lien under this Act;
• “material” means movable property that is delivered to the land on which the improvement is located and is intended to become part of the improvement, either directly or in a transformed state, or is consumed or used in the making of the improvement, including equipment rented without an operator;
• “material supplier” means a contractor or subcontractor who supplies only material in relation to an improvement;
• “notice of certification of completion” means a notice in the prescribed form stating that a certificate of completion or a court order to the same effect has been issued;
• “notice of interest” means a notice in the prescribed form warning other persons that the owner’s interest in the land described in the notice is not bound by a lien claimed under this Act in respect of an improvement on the land unless that improvement is undertaken at the express request of the owner;
• “notice to commence an action” means a notice in the prescribed form requiring a claim holder to commence an action to enforce a claim of lien;
• “operator” means an individual who operates equipment at an improvement site but does not include an individual who temporarily or periodically is present at the improvement site to install, inspect, service, empty or remove equipment;
• “owner” includes a person who has, at the time a claim of lien is filed under this Act, an estate or interest, whether legal or equitable, in the land on which the improvement is located, at whose request and

• (a) on whose credit,
• (b) on whose behalf,
• (c) with whose knowledge or consent, or
• (d) for whose direct benefit

• work is done or material is supplied, and includes all persons claiming under the owner, but does not include a mortgagee unless the mortgagee is in possession of the land;
• “registrar” means the registrar of a land title office;
• “required holdback” means, in relation to a contract or subcontract, the amount required under section 4 to be retained from payments under that contract or subcontract, less any payments made under an entitlement to payment arising under section 9;
• “services” includes

• (a) services as an architect or engineer whether provided before or after the construction of an improvement has begun, and
• (b) the rental of equipment, with an operator, for use in making an improvement;

• “subcontractor” means a person engaged by a contractor or another subcontractor to do one or more of the following in relation to an improvement:

• (a) perform or provide work;
• (b) supply material;

• but does not include a worker or a person engaged by an architect, an engineer or a material supplier;
• “wages” means money earned by a worker for work and includes

• (a) salaries, commissions or money, paid or payable by an employer to an employee for work,
• (b) money that is paid or payable by an employer as an incentive and that relates to hours of work, production or efficiency,
• (c) money, including the amount of any liability under section 63 of the Employment Standards Act, required to be paid by an employer to an employee under that Act,
• (d) money required to be paid in accordance with a determination or an order of the tribunal under the Employment Standards Act,
• (e) money required under a contract of employment to be paid, for an employee’s benefit, to a fund, insurer or other person and includes money payable under Parts 10 and 11 of the Employment Standards Act, and
• (f) money required to be paid under a collective agreement;

• “work” means work, labour or services, skilled or unskilled, on an improvement;
• “worker” means an individual engaged by an owner, contractor or subcontractor for wages in any kind of work, whether engaged under a contract of service or not, but does not include an architect or engineer or a person engaged by an architect or engineer.
• (2) For the purposes of this Act, a head contract, contract or subcontract is substantially performed if the work to be done under that contract is capable of completion or correction at a cost of not more than

• (a) 3% of the first $500,000 of the contract price,
• (b) 2% of the next $500,000 of the contract price, and
• (c) 1% of the balance of the contract price.

• (3) For the purposes of this Act, an improvement is completed if the improvement or a substantial part of it is ready for use or is being used for the purpose intended.
• (4) For the purposes of this Act, the construction of a strata lot, as defined by the Strata Property Act, is completed, or a contract for its construction is substantially performed, not later than the date the strata lot is first occupied.
• (4.1) With respect to common property or common assets held by a strata corporation under the Strata Property Act, for the purposes of sections 7 and 41 of this Act, and any other provision of this Act specified in the regulations, the strata corporation is deemed to be the owner.
• (4.2) With respect to common property or common assets held by a strata corporation under the Strata Property Act, for the purposes of section 25 of this Act and any other provision of this Act specified in the regulations, a reference to an owner includes the strata corporation.
• (5) For the purposes of this Act, a contract or improvement is deemed to be abandoned on the expiry of a period of 30 days during which no work has been done in connection with the contract or improvement, unless the cause for the cessation of work was and continued to be a strike, lockout, sickness, weather conditions, holidays, a court order, shortage of material or other similar cause.
• (6) Anything that may be done under this Act by or with reference to an owner, contractor, subcontractor, worker or mortgagee is valid if done by or with reference to an agent of that person.

1997-45-1, effective February 1, 1998 (B.C. Reg. 1/98), 1998-43-297, effective July 1, 2000 (B.C. Reg. 43/2000).