Almost every year, an r/Langley thread appears that reads roughly the same way: “Our strata uses [contractor name] and they’re a crap company. They don’t do much, plants have died, and they charge about $18,000 a year. Who do you use?”
The replies are predictable too. A handful of names. A few warnings. One long comment from someone who has worked in the industry explaining that staffing is a mess across the Lower Mainland right now and even the good companies are hit and miss.
This article is for the strata councils and property managers reading those threads, looking around at their own complex, and wondering whether they are getting what they pay for. It is a procurement checklist for evaluating your current landscaper, putting together an RFP if you decide to switch, and knowing what to look for in a site walk before you sign anything.
How To Tell If Your Strata Landscaper Is Underdelivering
Most councils know something is off before they can put it into words. The diagnostic comes down to four signals.
1. You cannot tell what they did on the visit. The crew came on Tuesday. You walk the property Wednesday. Other than the lawn being slightly shorter, nothing visible has changed. No edged beds, no blown driveway, no obvious sign of attention. This is the most common complaint in BC strata threads. As one Vancouver resident put it on r/vancouver: “Zero effort. We have no idea what we are paying for.”
2. Plants and shrubs are dying without remediation. A few dead plants in a year is normal. Multiple dead plants with no proposal to replace, no irrigation diagnosis, and no communication is a contract failure. Healthy common-area plant material is part of what owners pay strata fees for.
3. Different people show up every visit. The local industry has a staffing problem. One r/Langley commenter put it directly: “All landscaping companies are struggling like hell to get staff now and a lot of them lose a good hunk of their people every year.” If your property has a rotating cast of crew members and nobody on-site knows the property history, the company is not investing in the account.
4. You do not get a monthly report or photo documentation. The industry standard for any strata contract over $10,000 a year should include some form of monthly summary: what was done, what was flagged, what needs council attention. If you have to ask, ask. If they will not provide it, that tells you what kind of contract you signed.
What To Put In Scope When You Go To RFP
If the diagnostic says it is time to move, the scope document is where most strata councils give away leverage. Generic scopes get generic bids. Detailed scopes get comparable apples-to-apples quotes.
A solid Langley strata scope covers:
- Visit frequency by season. Weekly mowing April through October. Bi-weekly in March and November. Monthly site checks through winter.
- Lawn care specifics. Mow height in summer (around 3 inches), edging on every visit, sharp blades, blow-off on all hard surfaces. Chafer beetle prevention plan including July nematode application.
- Bed maintenance. Weeding cycle, mulch top-up schedule, dead plant replacement policy.
- Pruning windows. Hedge trim frequency, ornamental tree pruning schedule, line-of-sight clearance around visitor parking and signage.
- Spring and fall cleanups. Defined start and end dates, debris removal included or excluded, leaf collection method.
- Tree work boundary. What is in-scope (small tree pruning under a certain height) versus billed separately (large tree work, removal, stump grinding).
- Snow clearing. If bundled, define trigger threshold, response time, salting included or not. Confirm contractor carries commercial snow insurance.
- Communication cadence. Monthly photo report. Quarterly council meeting attendance. Same-day response to council emails during the season.
- Pet awareness. Crew protocol for properties with pets in LCP yards.
Red Flags In Bids And What They Signal
You will likely receive a wide spread on bids for the same scope. Strata threads on r/Langley regularly mention contracts in the $15,000 to $25,000 range for a 30-unit complex, with quotes sometimes varying by 40% on identical specs.
The lowest bid is almost never the right one. As one local council member put it bluntly: “They bid low and just do the bare minimum. Plus they hire young workers who don’t seem to take pride in their work.”
Specific red flags to filter on:
- A bid arrived without a site walk. Anyone quoting a complex from a satellite photo is guessing. Walk away.
- No named crew lead on the proposal. Healthy contracts assign a senior person to the account. If the proposal is generic, the service will be too.
- No insurance documentation provided. Both general liability and commercial snow insurance (if applicable) should appear in the bid package. Asking after the fact is a warning.
- Sub-contracting without disclosure. Some bidders win the contract and immediately subcontract to the cheapest available crew. Ask directly: who is on the truck on Tuesday morning?
- Scope substitutions in the fine print. If your RFP says weekly mowing and the bid says “weekly through peak season, bi-weekly off-season,” they are quoting a different scope.
- Vague chafer / pest plan. Langley has a chafer problem. Any bid that does not address timing of nematode application and prevention strategy is missing the most important part of local lawn care.
The Site Walk: What To Ask
The site walk is where most procurement decisions actually get made. Bring two or three council members. Walk every common area, including the parts owners rarely complain about because nobody looks at them.
Questions worth asking out loud:
- “Who exactly will be on this property each visit?” A good contractor names names. Senior crew lead, secondary crew member, who covers vacations.
- “What is your chafer beetle prevention plan for this property specifically?” Generic answers are a red flag. Real answers reference soil type, sun exposure, current turf condition, July nematode timing.
- “What does your monthly report look like?” Ask for a sample. If they cannot show you one, they do not produce them.
- “What was the last property you switched onto and what was the first thing you fixed?” This separates contractors who think proactively from those who run a checklist.
- “What is the most expensive surprise we should budget for in year one?” A contractor who answers honestly here is rare and worth listening to.
- “What is your turnover situation right now?” Industry-wide staffing pressure is real. A contractor who is upfront about it is more credible than one who pretends it does not affect them.
Switching Mechanics: Notice, Timing, And Continuity
Most BC strata landscaping contracts are annual with rolling renewal. Common patterns:
- 30-day to 90-day notice to non-renew. Check your contract for the exact language.
- Best timing to switch: November through January. This gives the new contractor time to walk the property, plan for spring, and order supplies before peak season starts in April.
- Mid-season switches are possible but harder. The new contractor has to inherit whatever state the property is in, which usually means a first-month catch-up visit at additional cost.
- Final walk-through with the outgoing contractor is worth scheduling. Document what they say still needs attention. That becomes the new contractor’s intake list.
What “Good” Looks Like After You Sign
A working strata landscaping relationship looks like:
- Same crew lead recognised by name across visits
- Monthly written report with photos and a flagged-issues list
- Same-business-day response to council emails during peak season
- Plant losses replaced or proposed within 30 days without prompting
- Annual review meeting before the renewal date, with a proposal for any scope changes
- A clear line between what is in-scope and what is billed separately, communicated before the work happens
If you are getting all six, the contract is performing. If you are getting fewer than four, that is the diagnostic for your next council conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does strata landscaping cost in Langley?
Based on what residents report in Langley strata threads, annual contracts for a 25 to 35 unit townhome complex commonly land somewhere in the mid-five-figure range, with wide variation by property complexity and scope. For Splendid specifically, we propose based on a full site walk, square footage, and the scope your council actually needs.
Can we switch landscapers mid-year?
Yes, with notice. Most contracts have a 30 to 90 day non-renewal window, and some allow mid-term termination with cause. The cleanest switching window is November through January, before the spring season kicks off.
What is “limited common property” (LCP) and who maintains it?
LCP is common property designated for the use of one or more specific units, such as a backyard attached to a townhome. Maintenance responsibility is set in the strata’s bylaws. In most BC stratas, the corporation’s landscaper still handles LCP yards as part of common-area maintenance, though owners can sometimes assume responsibility via covenant.
What does a good strata landscaping monthly report include?
Photos of work completed, a list of issues flagged for council attention, plant health notes, irrigation observations, and any items proposed for billing outside the regular scope.
Does Splendid handle snow clearing alongside landscaping?
Yes. We can quote bundled landscaping and snow clearing for Langley strata properties. Bundled contracts require commercial snow insurance, which we carry.
What size strata do you take on?
From small 8-unit townhome complexes through larger 80+ unit properties across Langley, Surrey, and the Fraser Valley. Owner Kaushik walks every new strata property personally before quoting.
Where to Start
If you are on a strata council and the contract feels off, the path forward is a site walk with two or three vendors. We are happy to be one of them. You do not have to be ready to switch to start the conversation.
See our strata landscaping page for service detail, or request a site walk. Call (604) 706-1375 to speak with the team directly.
