HomeMy WebLinkAboutEGD-17-05
REPORT
ENGINEERING SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Meeting:
GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
June 20, 2005 Resolution #:MIicJ13-o5"
Date:
Report #: EGD-17-05
File#:
By-law #:
Subject:
ESTABLISHING A REVISED BUILDING PERMIT POLICY FOR THE
MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
Recommendations:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee
recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report EGD-17-05 be received;
2. THAT conditional full and/or part building permits be permitted at the
discretion of the Chief Building Official for commercial/industrial projects or for
multi-family residential projects only, whereby the applicant has clearly
demonstrated that unreasonable delays in construction would occur and is willing
to enter into the appropriate' agreement with the Municipality of Clarington to
assume all risks arising from the issuance of a conditional permit.
Respectfully by,
c)~~
Submitted by: A.S. Cannella
Director of Engineering Services
Reviewed by: Franklin Wu
Chief Administrative Officer
ASC*jb
June 8, 2005
Report #EGD.17 -05 Page 2
ESTABLISHING A REVISED BUILDING PERMIT POLICY FOR THE MUNICIPALITY
OF CLARINGTON
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
The Building Department regularly looks for opportunities to streamline the building
permit application process to ensure that building permits are issued in as timely a manner
as is reasonably possible. The question as to whether it would improve processes if we
regularly issued conditional building permits for residential structures has come up from
time-to-time and is one that warrants further consideration. After a comprehensive review
we are now in a position to present our recommendations within this report.
2.0 BACKGROUND
A building permit is a document which shows that formal permission has been given by
the Municipality for construction or demolition to begin. To qualify for a building permit
the applicant must first obtain approval of plans to show that the project complies with the
Ontario Building Code, local zoning by-laws, and other applicable laws and regulations.
Building permits are documents which show that a very clear process has been followed to
protect the interests of the homeowner/developer as well as the community at large.
Permits, which are regulated by the Ontario Building Code, help ensure that the structure
is safe, legal and sound.
The majority of permits that we issue are full, unconditional permits which means that
before construction is allowed to begin all legal requirements mandated by the Ontario
Building Code, the Municipal Building By-law and the subdivision agreement must be
met. Once everything is in place we have a legal obligation to issue the permit forthwith.
Occasionally the Municipality can, at the discretion of the Chief Building Official, issue
what is known as a "conditional permit". There are two types of conditional permits; a
conditional full permit is one that is issued for the entire structure, a conditional part
permit is issued for a very specific stage construction only, such as the foundation. In
both cases, whether part or full, the term "conditional" means that the applicant must
agree in writing that certain specific conditions will be met as agreed upon within the time
frame stated in writing before the permit will be issued. The reason we enter into
Report #EGD-17-o5
Page 3
ESTABLISHING A REVISED BUILDING PERMIT POLICY FOR THE MUNICIPALITY
OF CLARINGTON
agreements with the developer before issuing a conditional permit is because we need
to ensure that the applicant has agreed to assume all risks in commencing construction
before the conditions of the building permit have been met. For example the applicant
must agree to remove the building at hislher own expense and restore the site in the
manner specified in the agreement if approvals are not obtained or plans filed in the time
set out in the agreement. Clearly, enforcing such agreements could become a
complicated and costly legal matter and it is for this reason that we do not enter into them
lightly.
At present we restrict the issuance of conditional permits, both part and full, to larger
industrial, commercial, institutional and multi-family projects only, which have
construction schedules that are one or more years in length. When a large, multi-phase
project is being constructed there are advantages, seasonal, financial and otherwise, to the
conditional permit process. Typically the foundation stage of larger projects may take
several months or more to complete and where it can be proven that "unreasonable delays
in construction would occur if a conditional part permit is not granted", and where risk
has been accounted for through the appropriate agreements, conditional permits will be
granted to facilitate construction.
3.0 COMMENTS
3.1 Conditional Full or Part Permits as a Time Saving Measure
The Building Department, as mentioned, regularly looks at opportunities to
streamline the building permit process to achieve efficiencies where it is
appropriate to do so. Recently we have looked at whether we might also achieve
efficiencies if conditional permits were issued for residential dwellings as well as
for larger projects. Our fmdings suggest that if any time was saved, and this
would seem unlikely, the risk and expense is, in most cases, unjustified.
Report #EGD.17-GS Page 4
ESTABLISHING A REVISED BUILDING PERMIT POLICY FOR THE MUNICIPALITY
OF CLARINGTON
Issuing conditional full or part permits for large projects has clearly been shown to
achieve efficiencies worthy of the time, expense and risk involved. For example, a
conditional part permit issued for the foundation stage of a large project "buys" the
applicant several months time during which he can go through the steps required
to gain additional approvals for later stages of construction. In the case of a single-
family residential dwelling the foundation stage of construction rarely lasts more
than one week, insufficient time to contribute to ''unreasonable delays in
construction".
Furthermore, if conditional part permits were issued for single-family residential
dwellings the builder would have to stop construction after the foundation was
completed and wait for the full permit to be approved. Given the expense of
having trades on site waiting to proceed, we are concerned that instead of waiting,
the builder may feel pressure to proceed without approvals. Such a process would
require constant policing, and perhaps additional staff, to ensure that builders do
not construct beyond the scope of their permit. We are also concerned that delays
would result in open foundations which may put the Municipality and the public at
risk
3.2 Existing Concerns
As explained, conditional full and part permits create substantially more work for
our Plans Examiners and Administrative staff and it is for this reason that
conditional full permits cost $500.00 more and conditional part permits cost $150
more than a regular permit. In addition to higher costs, and of much more concern,
is the inherent risk involved in permitting construction before all legislated
requirements have been met. In controlled circumstances, such as is
the case with a large commercial or industrial project, the costs and the risks may
be justified. In the case of single-family residential dwellings the same can not be
said.
Report #EGD.17-oS
Page 5
ESTABLISHING A REVISED BUILDING PERMIT POLICY FOR THE MUNICIPALITY
OF CLARINGTON
3.3 Conditional Building Permit Policies .of Other Municipalities
Other municipalities issue conditional permits only for large projects and seldom
issue them for single family dwellings. The Chief Building Official will, under
special conditions as allowed in the Ontario Building Code, issue conditional
permits for single family dwellings only occasionally and under very unique
circumstances.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Our recommendation is that the Municipality of Clarington continue to issue conditional
full permits or conditional part permits, at the discretion of the Chief Building Official, for
larger industrial, commercial, institutional and multi-family projects only.
Attachments:
Attachment I - Building permit process flow chart
ATTACHMENT /I TO_
REPORT/! ~E; \:) . 11-0::'
Municipality of Clarington
Building Permit Application Process
Builder submits plans and completes
an application form
The plans are reviewed by the
Building Department for compliance
with the Ontario Building Code.
Engineering reviews the grading
plan.
Planning reviews zoning &
architectural approval process
Planning reviews application to
ensure that all conditions in
subdivisions are met and completed.
The Building Department reviews
the project to ensure that all
applicable laws have been met and
that all of the above has been
completed and approved.
Attachment No.1
EGD-17-05