The 03:00 Water Leak and the Key in the Lockbox

Decision: I do not use the pass key on my own initiative, over the owner's express refusal. I solve the problem another way and get statutory authority on scene.

Why this is not a simple yes/no:

• My authority is derived, not original. It flows from the occupier (the strata corporation, through the management contract) and from my employer's post orders. A security worker has no general power to enter private premises.
• The bylaw is a right held by the strata corporation, not by me personally. I cannot verify at 03:00 whether it covers a strata lot (as opposed to common property), what notice it requires, or whether the council has authorized me as its agent. Post orders expressly require written client authorization for key use, and no one with authority is reachable.
• The owner's refusal matters but is not absolute. Emergency entry to prevent serious harm can be justified, but the person taking that step assumes the burden of proving it was necessary, proportionate and urgent - and I would be taking it on an unsigned bylaw.
• There is a lower-risk route. Water at light fixtures is an electrical and life-safety risk, which is exactly the situation fire departments have statutory authority to enter for. Their attendance also creates an independent, documented determination.

Next ten minutes:

1. Call 911/fire and state the specific hazard (water at ceiling light fixtures, unit above, owner refusing entry).
2. Call the strata council president and my duty manager; log every attempt and time.
3. Check whether the suite's water can be isolated from common property (riser/valve room) - if so, shut it off. That may end the emergency without any entry.
4. Call the resident below: move away from the fixture, do not touch switches, and shut the breaker only if she can do it safely.
5. If fire attends and directs entry, provide the key and record who took it and when.

A police direction does not transfer the officer's authority to me, and it does not suspend my client's instructions. But I do not obstruct a peace officer in a live emergency.

The distinction that matters:

• A peace officer may enter without warrant in exigent circumstances where a warrant would otherwise be required but is impractical to obtain. That is his statutory power and his decision to make and justify - it is not a power he can delegate to a private guard so that the entry becomes mine.
• If I unlock the door at his request, I am acting as his agent for that act. My employer's post orders still apply, and if the entry is later found unjustified, both of us are exposed - him for the entry, me for my part in it.

What I actually say, in plain words:

“Constable, I have a pass key held under a strata bylaw, but post orders require written client authorization and the owner has just refused entry by phone. If you are directing entry under exigent circumstances, I'll open it and record your name, badge number and the time. I'd rather you tell me on the record that it's your direction.”

Then I write down: his name, badge, detachment, the time, the exact words used, whether he took the key himself, and what condition the suite was left in. If he simply takes the key or forces the door, I do not physically resist - I document and report to my duty manager immediately.

Do not do: unlock the door quietly and then write a report that says “police requested entry,” as if that were a complete explanation.

Record the decision trail, not just the event. A reviewer a year later must be able to see the sequence, the constraints I was under, and why each choice was reasonable.

The report should contain:

• Time-stamped sequence: 02:40 resident call; 02:55 owner call and refusal (quote her words verbatim, in quotation marks); 03:00 call attempts to manager and council; 03:05 police arrival; 03:xx fire attendance and outcome.
• The state of the hazard as I personally observed or was told, separated clearly into what I saw and what I was told.
• The authority analysis in two lines: bylaw exists, post orders require written authorization, owner refused, fire department attended.
• Every key movement in the key log: who removed the key, who received it, time out, time returned, signature. The key log is the single most scrutinized document in any later dispute about entry.
• Names, badge numbers and agency of every official involved, plus names of witnesses.
• Actions taken short of entry (riser shutoff, resident instructions) and who authorized them.

Privacy discipline: the owner's phone number and the resident's personal details go only where operationally necessary.** Any later police request for the lobby phone recording, key log or CCTV goes to my company's privacy officer and the client - under BC's private-sector privacy law, disclosure to police without consent is permitted only in defined circumstances, and my job is to preserve and escalate, not to decide and hand over.