Preparing for your hearing

During a conference call hearing, parties speak to one another on the phone and use a website (called POESS) to share documents electronically. The website is accessible here.​ Note that the system is only accessible to the owner of the property under appeal, and they will need the Confidential PIN from their 2024 Assessment Notice when logging in. The panel listens to facts and arguments from both parties, deliberates in private (by muting their phone), and will usually provide their decision verbally to conclude the hearing.

After making an appointment for a hearing time, you will receive an email confirmation with the phone number and an access code for the BC government teleconference system. You can call from any phone at a location convenient to you using the North America toll-free number. On your scheduled hearing date and time, dial the phone number and use the access code by following the prompts. The ​PARP Online Evidence Submission System (POESS) website is a secure site provided by the BC government that allows BC Assessment and the property owner to present documents during the hearing. Upload your documents to the POESS site at least one day before your hearing to ensure successful upload. The following file types are accepted in the POESS site:

• PDF, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG, RTF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and certain video file types (.AVI, .FLV, .MP4, .PEG, .GIF, .MOV, .MKV, .WMV, .3GP).

• Do not upload Outlook message files (.msg). Apple device users cannot view them.

• Do not upload web links as the Panel cannot access links during a hearing.
When documents are uploaded to the system, a random “ID” number is assigned for each file. This is provided for easy reference when presenting to the Panel. You can simply request they “open Evidence ID #1234”, and guide them through the information supporting your case.

A Guide with instructions on how to create a comparable sales spreadsheet using Assessment Search can be found here​.
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During the hearing, all parties call into the teleconference and log into POESS on their computer to view each other's documents. If you do not ask the panel to open a specific file, they may not look at it. The panel does not review submissions in advance, so content must be brief and understandable within your presentation time in the hearing. When presenting your case, it is your responsibility to tell the Panel which file they should look at. It is possible to upload many files to POESS, but we strongly recommend you limit your information to the two or three most important or relevant files.

For an outline of how a Panel hearing is conducted, refer to the "What happens at your PARP Hearing" ​document on the provincial government website.

Need conference call instructions? Have a question about conference calling? Visit Conference call - FAQs and instructions.

If you are unable to attend by conference call or in person, you may choose to submit a written presentation, which will be given to the Panel for their consideration. Written submissions can be sent to BC Assessment by email, fax, mail, or hand delivered to an office. You must ensure that your material arrives to the correct office on time. If you send your material the night before or day of your scheduled hearing date, our staff cannot guarantee it will get to the panel. Two days in advance of the hearing date stated on your Notice of Hearing is ideal. Your submission should be in an electronic file format, and ideally, combined into a single file. The following file formats are acceptable:

• PDF, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG, RTF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint

A written submission should be concise and address the most important points you want to make. It should be no longer than what you could reasonably talk about in approximately 8 minutes as though you were presenting at a teleconference hearing.

Comparable sales from your area, pictures and maps are typically good evidence. It is a good idea to also include some written commentary on how the facts you are providing support your view of your property's market value as of July 1 of the previous year. The PARP pages of the BC government website provide guidance on what to send or bring to PARP in this video and sample evidence package.

If you require assistance uploading your evidence, please contact BC Assessment in advance of your hearing date.

A Guide with instructions on how to create a comparable sales spreadsheet using Assessment Search can be found here.​​

If you require assistance uploading your evidence, please contact BC Assessment in advance of your hearing date.