Real Property Report (RPR)
Also known as: RPR · Real property report · Surveyor's certificate · Building location certificate
A surveyor drawing that shows where the legal boundaries actually run and where the buildings, fences and decks sit against them. It used to be a standard requirement on a detached purchase in BC and is increasingly replaced by lender title insurance, which is cheaper and answers a different question.
A Real Property Report (RPR), sometimes called a Building Location Certificate or Surveyor's Certificate, is a drawing prepared by a BC Land Surveyor showing the property's legal boundaries and the location of every building, deck, fence, shed, and major improvement relative to those boundaries. An RPR identifies setback violations, boundary encroachments (your fence on your neighbour's land or vice-versa), unpermitted additions, and zoning compliance issues at a level of detail that no other document captures. Cost: typically $1,000-$2,500 in BC depending on lot complexity; turnaround 2-6 weeks.
A seller is not obliged to provide a current Real Property Report. Most won't, and most BC lenders no longer require an updated RPR on detached homes, accepting lender title insurance instead. The result: many buyers close on detached homes with no current survey, then discover years later (when they go to renovate, sell, or refinance) that the deck or shed encroaches on a setback or onto a neighbour's lot. Title insurance covers some of this risk for the lender but does NOT cover the homeowner's cost to bring the structure into compliance. If you're buying a detached home and the seller's RPR is older than 5 years (or there have been improvements added since), commission an updated RPR yourself before subject removal; the $1,500 saves multi-figure rework on next-cycle renovations.
Related terms
- Title Insurance — A one-time-premium policy bought at closing that covers the owner, the lender, or both against loss from a title problem that pre-dates it.
- BC Land Title Office (LTSA) — The BC land registration system operated by the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) under the Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c.
- Material Latent Defect — A serious defect an ordinary inspection would not reveal.
- Closing Day (Completion) — Closing day, or completion, is when the buyer's lawyer registers the title transfer at the BC Land Title Office and the money reaches the seller.
See also
Use any of these formats. Codex content is licensed under CC BY 4.0 — attribution required.
@misc{bronsonjob-bc_title_insurance_overview,
author = {Job, Bronson},
title = {{BC title insurance overview}},
howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
year = {2000},
url = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.title_insurance.overview},
urldate = {2026-08-02},
note = {Fact ID: bc.title_insurance.overview, version 1.}
}Job, B. (2000). BC title insurance overview. *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-08-02, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.title_insurance.overview
BC title insurance overview — Bronson Job PREC, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-08-02). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.title_insurance.overview
Fact id: bc.title_insurance.overview · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/bc.title_insurance.overview.json
Verified sources (2)· re-verified Aug 2, 2026Show sources
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- BCFSAretrieved Aug 2, 2026Buying a Home — BCFSA consumer resourceshttps://www.bcfsa.ca/public-resources/real-estate/buying-home
- BC Governmentretrieved Aug 2, 2026Buying and selling property in B.C.https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/real-estate-bc/buying-selling
bc.title_insurance.overview · v1View in Codex →License: This definition is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: "Real Property Report (RPR)", BC Real Estate Glossary by Bronson Job, https://www.bronsonjob.com/glossary/real-property-report-rpr.
