13.2 Real Property Reports (RPR) & Municipal Compliance
Key Takeaways
Clause 6.1 of the January 2026 AREA Residential Purchase Contract gives warranties about use and improvements. Clause 10.2 specifies the RPR and accompanying evidence due for closing.
An Alberta Land Surveyor shows boundaries, visible improvements and relevant registered interests. Compare the report with the property as it exists today.
Check what the municipality certifies. Verify permits, private rights and lawful non-conforming status separately when relevant.
Identify the affected land or utility interest before evaluating an encroachment agreement, written consent or removal.
If a report is incomplete, check the delivery deadline and coordinate with counsel. A holdback or title insurance substitution requires terms agreed by the parties.
Read the warranty and the delivery obligation together
In the unmodified January 2026 AREA Residential Purchase Contract, clause 5.1 allows certain interests to remain on title, such as ordinary nonfinancial registrations and items the buyer agrees to assume. A utility right-of-way can remain on title under that clause while a deck built across it still raises a warranty issue. Read the registered instrument and compare it with the survey.
| Contract provision | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Clauses 6.1(d) and (e) | The current use and the location of improvements satisfy the applicable warranties. Check restrictive covenants, the boundaries and location of improvements, the exceptions for registered agreements or written municipal approval, and any lawful non-conforming building status. |
| Clauses 6.1(f)–(g) and 6.2 | Check written disclosure of known material latent defects, authority notices and missing development permits. The representations and warranties must be true on Completion Day and survive completion subject to limitation periods. |
| Clauses 10.1–10.2 and 10.8 | The seller supplies and pays for a current RPR where required. It must show the current improvements, include evidence of municipal compliance or non-conformance and confirm the seller’s warranties. The buyer or the buyer’s lawyer gets reasonable time to review it before submitting transfer documents. Clause 10.2 makes an exception for land with no structures. |
These are provisions of the named form. For a condominium, acreage or other purchase, identify the ownership interest, read the executed contract and schedules, and confirm the survey or condominium documents required there.
Match the document to the question
An Alberta Land Surveyor prepares a Real Property Report showing the legal description, surveyed boundaries, visible improvements and their locations relative to the boundaries. It identifies relevant registered easements and rights-of-way and shows visible encroachments. Compare the report with the current site and title. A seven-year-old report may still reflect the property. A later workshop or expanded deck missing from it calls for an update if it is being used to show current improvements. Ask the surveyor to locate boundaries on the ground before building a fence.
Ask the municipality what its compliance letter, stamp or certificate covers. Calgary’s certificate checks the location of structures against its land-use bylaw. Verify permit history and required inspections separately. If a previously lawful building became non-conforming when a bylaw changed, section 643 of the Municipal Government Act governs continued use and alteration. A non-conforming building can continue to be used, with specified limits on enlarging, rebuilding or structurally altering it. When damage exceeds 75% of the building’s value above its foundation, repair or rebuilding must conform to the land-use bylaw. A setback shortfall by itself does not establish that the building was lawful when built.
| Survey or municipal finding | Next step |
|---|---|
| A garage sits 0.9 m from the boundary and the bylaw requires 1.2 m. | Verify how the setback is measured and search approvals. Ask the development authority about any variance or required alteration. Confirm the outcome in writing. |
| A garage eave extends onto private land. | With counsel, check existing rights and whether an agreement with the adjoining owner can be registered. Otherwise consider modifying or removing the eave. |
| A deck crosses a registered utility corridor or municipal land. | Identify the rights and consent process from the instrument and the authority. Verify approval from the municipality or other affected rights holders as applicable, or explore relocation or removal. A zoning variance addresses the bylaw and may leave the rights-of-way issue outstanding. |
Resolve a survey issue before closing
If a stale report arrives before the required delivery time, alert the parties through the broker and lawyers so the seller can supply the required evidence in time. Assess any missing permit or encroachment separately. If the seller ultimately fails to deliver the required closing documents, clause 10.10 defers payment and late interest until the buyer or lawyer receives the documents and has reasonable time to review and register them, arrange financing and verify the transfer of other agreed items. If a willing and able buyer requests possession in that situation, reasonable terms include late interest only on the buyer’s mortgage amount at that mortgage rate. The lawyers can assess a negotiated extension or holdback with written terms for amount, release, deadlines and any remaining deficiency.
An owner’s title policy protects the named owner for covered losses. A lender’s policy protects the lender’s interest. Coverage for a survey defect, enforcement, fraud or a known issue depends on the specific policy and any endorsement. A policy provides no survey or municipal approval. Have counsel check the actual exclusion, coverage and lender instructions before relying on it. Buying a policy independently leaves the seller’s contractual delivery duty in place. If the parties agree to change that duty, document which report will be provided, who secures the policy, which interests are covered and how costs are allocated. AREA’s 2026 supplementary clauses illustrate both a policy with no RPR and a policy with an identified older RPR, each with a negotiated cap on the seller’s contribution. Coordinate any changes to related warranties and the closing arrangements with counsel.
AREA January 2026 purchase contract · AREA supplementary clauses, pp. 30–31 · Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association · Calgary certificate of compliance · Alberta Municipal Government Act · Law Society conveyancing guidance · Competition Bureau title insurance guidance
Two weeks before completion under the unmodified January 2026 AREA Residential Purchase Contract, with all purchase conditions removed, a seller sends a seven-year-old RPR. It shows the house but omits a detached workshop and a deck extension built later. What should the buyer’s associate identify first?
The prior compliance stamp makes the missing improvements irrelevant to closing.
The report does not yet meet clause 10.2. Raise the omissions promptly and check current survey and municipal evidence, separately from the permit and warranty issues.
The buyer must pay to update the seller’s report now that the contract is unconditional.
The buyer has an automatic right to a fixed holdback as soon as any outdated report arrives.
An updated RPR shows a deck extending 1.8 m into a registered utility right-of-way. The municipality withholds its certificate. Closing is scheduled in ten days. What should the seller’s associate do?
Send the previous RPR because it shows the deck before the extension.
Treat the right-of-way as harmless because ordinary title registrations can stay on title.
Tell the buyer that any zoning relaxation will also amend the registered right-of-way.
Raise the finding with the seller and broker, have counsel review the instrument, and verify the applicable consent, alteration or removal options.
The parties sign an amendment replacing the seller’s RPR delivery with a seller contribution toward title insurance. Two years later the owner wants to build a garage and needs its setbacks measured on the ground. Which advice is sound?
The owner should arrange for an Alberta Land Surveyor and check the municipality’s submission requirements. The policy covers specified losses and does not establish setbacks.
The owner’s title policy establishes all physical boundaries as of closing.
The lender’s policy requires the lender to mark the boundaries for the owner.
The former seller automatically owes the cost of the survey because the amendment changed the closing documents.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.