Nothing lasts forever on a house or condo, except the land. Sometimes buyers are shocked when they see a depreciation report for the first time because it outlines all the repair and maintenance of all systems of a building for the next 30 years. And when you add it all together it's a lot of money.  The depreciation report is a planning tool that gives stratas an idea of what repairs and upgrades will be required in the future.  Most stratas will not have enough funds from their strata fees to cover all the work required in the next 30 years if everything in the depreciation report is done. That means most stratas will have assessments at some time or not do all the replacements in the depreciation report.  When buying a condominium, it's good to review this document and budget accordingly.  You get similar expenses in a house too - roof, siding, windows, paint, furnace, hot water tank etc. and when you buy, if you do a home inspection report, the inspectors will let you know what's coming up, but usually only for the next 5 years or so.  

NLD Consulting has done a table that gives the life span of 130 common components of condos or houses in British Columbia. Click here to open the report.