We are often asked whether emails are "documents" or whether they are "legal". Generally, what is meant by those questions is whether copies of emails must be provided by strata corporations to owners upon request pursuant to the obligations under sections 35 and 36 of the Strata Property Act, S.B.C. 1998, c. 43 or in the course of legal proceedings. The short answer is "yes". Therefore, property managers, Council members, and owners need to be careful when they send emails. The following are some tips to help ensure that your emails will not come back to haunt you later.

1. You are what you send, not what you receive!

2. When sending an email, treat it as if it were a letter.

3. Draft emails on the assumption that someone other than the recipients (like a lawyer or a Judge) will be reading your email.

4. If you are writing about a particular person, draft your email as if that person will be reading it.

5. Be wary of "reply all" – read the list of recipients carefully BEFORE rebounding a reply.

6. Sit on a draft for 24 hours if the contents are emotional or a knee jerk reaction.

7. If in doubt, have a colleague read a draft of the email to make sure that what you have written is what you intend to communicate.

8. Always reread your emails twice or three times before clicking on the send button.

9. Always double check that you have the correct email address in the TO: and CC: lines.

10. AVOID:

(a) Sending bad news or discussing "delicate" topics by email;

(b) Hastily written emails;

(c) Abusive and profane language;

(d) Derogatory comments about someone else;

(e) Abbreviations that could be misinterpreted;

(f) Communication of disrespect

(i) judges should be Judge _____, not just ______; and

(ii) bosses should be Mr. or Ms.

(g) Grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors;

(h) Forwarding emails of poor taste, including sexual innuendo.

11. Consider how you would explain the contents of an email if you were:

(a) In Court;

(b) In a Council or General meeting;

(c) In your Bedroom!

12. Routinely review your address book.

13. Treat business emails (including council-related email) with more professionalism than personal emails sent from a personal computer.

14. Be aggressive in being removed from others’ lists, especially those with a penchant for forwarding to others.

15. Have a strategy regarding deleting and storing emails and be consistent.

16. Avoid making Council decisions by email. If you do, at least keep a hardcopy of the string of emails relating to that decision. These emails form part of the Strata Corporation’s records.

17. Advise Council members of these tips.

Pat Williams / Veronica Franco