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Defining real property

Last updated on April 1, 2025

The application of PST to the work done by most contractors depends on whether the work is considered to be done to goods that are part of real property. This page provides a detailed definition of real property, including lists of goods that do and do not become part of real property.

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Definition of real property

Real property is land and anything that is attached to the land so it becomes part of real property after installation (that is, it ceases to be personal property at common law.)

This would normally include buildings, structures, and things, such as machinery or equipment, that are attached to the land (or attached to buildings or structures) by some means other than their own weight.

The general rule states that goods that are attached to real property, even minimally (except for simply being plugged in) become part of real property.

For example: if you purchase a pallet of tile, that tile is considered personal property at common law. Once the tile is used to construct flooring in a building that is attached by way of its foundation to the land, it becomes part of real property.

Attachment for better use of the good

The above general rule does not apply if the purpose of the attachment is for the “better use” of the good itself. In this case, such minimal attachment would generally mean that the good does not become part of real property. 

However, a more substantial attachment (such as an attachment that would cause significant damage to the real property if the good were removed) would generally mean that the good becomes part of real property, even if the good was attached for the better use of the good itself.

For example: if a free-standing bookshelf were bolted to a wall to improve its stability, it would be considered “minimally attached” for the better use of the good, and the bookshelf would not become part of real property.

Classifying goods as improvements to real property or affixed machinery

For the purpose of the PST, goods that can become part of real property can be classified into two types: "improvements to real property" and "affixed machinery."

Improvements to real property 

  • Buildings and integral components of buildings or land, such as windows, doors, plumbing, electrical and heating systems
  • Structures affixed to land, including concrete driveways and sidewalks
  • Topsoil, sod, gravel and other materials that have been installed (e.g. spread) on real property
  • Certain very large machinery or equipment that is constructed on site, such as machinery used in sawmills, pulp mills or other industrial locations, that is specifically excluded from the definition of affixed machinery

Affixed machinery

Machinery, equipment or apparatus that is:

  • Used directly in the manufacture, production, processing, storage, handling, packaging, display, transportation, transmission or distribution of goods, or in the provision of software or a service, and:
  • Is affixed to, or installed in, a building, a structure or land so that it becomes part of real property

Lists of goods

Click on the headers below to see alphabetical lists of goods that do and do not generally become part of real property. These are not complete lists. If you are not sure whether a good becomes part of real property, contact us.

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Goods that generally become part of real property

  • Affixed machinery of any kind

  • Aircraft hangar doors

  • Air conditioning systems, excluding portable units

  • Air ventilation systems

  • Alarm systems that are attached to real property

  • Altar railings (built-in)

  • Asphalt, as roofing material or as a component of roads or driveways

  • Awnings

  • Bins (built-in)

  • Bleachers attached to gym walls

  • Blinds (Venetian type)

  • Bridges

  • Boilers, used to service a building with heat, electricity or lighting

  • Booths (built-in)

  • Building materials used to construct in-ground swimming pools, such as concrete, tiles or grout

  • Cabinets and counters (built-in)

  • TV cables, cable connectors and wall plates that are embedded in the wall

  • Carpeting, if wall-to-wall and attached to the floor

  • Ceiling fans – hardwired

  • Ceilings

  • Church pews, pew fronts, altar rails, organ and chancel screens (built-in)

  • Closet organizers (built-in)

  • Concrete used as a construction material, including:

    • Ready-mix concrete poured into forms for foundations or slabs

    • Precast concrete embedded into land

  • Construction materials that are used to construct a building or other structure that has a foundation or is attached to real property, including but not limited to:

    • Lumber

    • Concrete

    • Windows

    • Vapour barrier

  • Conveyors (attached)

  • Cooktops (induction or gas) that are built into countertops

  • Cranes that are permanently attached to a site and expected to remain on site for their useful life

  • Curtain rods

    • Does not include curtains

  • Decks

  • Dishwashers (built-in, such as within kitchen cabinetry under a countertop)

  • Docks attached to pilings that are sunk into the seabed, including floating docks and floating breakwaters

  • Doors, door frames and door locks, including keys if provided with lock installation services

  • Drapery tracks and rails

    • Does not include drapes

  • Elevators and escalators

  • Eaves troughs

  • Fences (attached)

    •  Does not include temporary steel fences used to secure a construction site, or fences that rest upon the ground under their own weight

  • Fibre-optic telecommunications systems, including buried fibre optic cable and access points to install or maintain the cable

    • Does not include computers used to manage the system

  • Fire alarm and detection devices (built-in)

  • Fire hydrants

  • Fireplaces

    • Does not include electric fireplaces that plug into electrical outlets

  • Flooring, including tile, linoleum, laminate, wall-to-wall carpeting and hardwood

  • Foundations

  • Furnaces and ductwork

  • Garage doors, including portable remote controls if provided with installation services

  • Gas fireplaces, gas heating stoves and gas heaters that are attached (not just to the gas line), including a system which vents to the outside

  • Glass (installed in buildings)

  • Greenhouses

    • Does not include portable types or freestanding greenhouses that are unattached, or that rest on their own weight

  • Hand rails

  • Hardwood floors

  • Heated towel rails (installed and hardwired)

  • Heating and cooling systems

  • Heat pumps

  • Hooks (attached)

  • Hot water heaters

  • Hot tubs attached to the land or buildings

    • Does not include hot tubs that are Plug-N-Play and rest on their own weight

  • Houseboats and other portable floating structures if:

    • The houseboat or other floating structure is not designed as a means of transportation or to be self-propelled, and:

    • The building is sold as a unit consisting of a building and a platform or barge, the primary purpose of which is the flotation of the building, and the building covers most of the surface of the platform or barge

  • Irrigation systems

  • Island units (kitchen or supermarket islands)

    • Does not include freestanding island units

  • Kitchen countertops

  • Landscaping materials, including soil, sod, gravel, plants, trees, shrubs, underground sprinklers, irrigation lines or retaining walls

    • Does not include potted plants or plants in freestanding containers

    • Note: installation of landscaping materials means the materials are spread, planted or installed in the place where they are to remain. This does not include landscape materials that are delivered and left in a pile, such as on a customer’s tarp or in their driveway

  • Lighting systems or fixtures (attached), including light bulbs if they are provided with installation services

    • Does not include freestanding lamps such as desktop, tabletop or floor lamps and other plug-in lights

  • Microwaves (built-in), such as range hood and microwave combination units

  • Mirrors and medicine cabinets

    • Does not include mirrors or medicine cabinets that hang on hooks

  • Moldings and baseboards

  • Ovens (built-in)

    • Does not include freestanding ranges

  • Partition walls

  • Plumbing fixtures (such as faucets and in-sink soap dispensers) and pipes

  • Pools and spas that are plumbed into the water supply; above ground must be enclosed by a deck

    • Does not include above ground pools or spas that are minimally attached or that rest on their own weight

  • Rail sidings and rail spurs

  • Range hoods

  • Restaurant booths and stools that are attached to the floor

  • Retaining walls

  • Roofing materials

  • Scatter antennae

  • Security systems (for more information, see How PST applies to security systems)

  • Sewage disposal equipment

  • Sheds that are not freestanding

  • Shelves (built into walls, or as part of attached closet shelving systems and closet organizers)

  • Signs that are permanently attached, including signs directly bolted to concrete bases embedded in the ground, or affixed to poles or pylons that are bolted to concrete bases embedded in the ground (such as canopy, cube, twin pole and flag mount pylon signs)

  • Signs mounted on walls  (such as fascia or neon signs)

  • Sinks and sink counters (attached)

  • Smoke detectors – hardwired and attached battery powered units

  • Speaker systems (built-in)

  • Sprinkler systems (attached, including systems embedded in the ground or affixed to a building)

  • Stairs

  • Stools (attached, such as restaurant stools attached to the floor)

  • Storm windows

  • Tanks (such as gas tanks) that are buried underground and attached to a distribution line

  • Telecommunications towers

  • Thermostats (attached)

  • Towel rods

  • Trash compactors (built-in)

  • Vacuum cleaner systems (built-in)

    • Does not include plug-in hoses and attachments

  • Venetian blinds

  • Water meters

  • Water filtration equipment attached to plumbing

  • Water treatment systems (built-in)

  • Windows and storm windows, including screens

  • Wiring (built into walls)

  • Wood burning stoves including a system that vents to the outside

 

Goods that generally do not become part of real property

  • Audio/video equipment that is not substantially attached to real property (such as being enclosed by built-in cabinetry), including:

    • Computers mounted on a wall

    • Satellite dishes attached to buildings

    • Televisions attached to wall mounts, and the wall mounts themselves

  • Automatic teller machines (ATMs) that are freestanding

  • Bookshelves and other furniture

  • Cubicles

  • Curtains

  • Desks (not built-in)

  • Dishwashers that are freestanding, such as freestanding island dishwashers

  • Equipment that is only connected to a building by power, water or air supply connections, such as ice machines or water coolers that are plugged in and connected to the water supply, but not attached to the building

  • Exercise equipment that is not substantially attached to real property

  • Furniture

  • Kiosks that are portable and that rest on their own weight

  • Paintings and sculptures

  • Plants in freestanding containers

  • Plugged-in lamps

  • Real estate signs or other temporary signs and banners

  • Refrigerators and freezers

  • Sheds that are freestanding, such as types that rest on skids in a driveway

  • Ranges (cooking stoves or kitchen stoves) that are freestanding, including gas ranges attached to a gas line

  • Washing machines and dryers

  • Window air conditioner units

 

 

Contact information

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Phone
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Email
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