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Staff Report
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Report To: Planning and Development Committee
Date of Meeting: October 23, 2023 Report Number: PDS-055-23
Submitted By:
Reviewed By:
File Number:
Carlos Salazar, Director of Planning and Infrastructure Services
Mary -Anne Dempster, CAO By-law Number:
Report Subject: Modernization of the Building Division
Recommendation:
Resolution#: PD-069-23
1. That Report PDS-055-23, and any related delegations or communication items, be
received for information.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PDS-055-23
Report Overview
Page 2
This report will provide Council with an update of the transformation and modernization of
the Building Division through technology advancement and continuous process
improvements. This report includes a summary of the steps taken to implement change in
the various ways the Building Division delivers its services, the environmental benefits of
these improvements and the feedback from the public to date.
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 As a result of the pandemic, the Building Division expedited plans to introduce a digital
format for plans submission consisting of a public portal, AMANDA and ePlanSoft. At
the same time, the Building Division adopted an Electric Vehicle Fleet. Since January
1, 2023, the Building Division has been 100percent digital and has reduced carbon
emissions by an average of 105,000 kilometres per year. The remainder of this report
will provide Council an overview of the implementation and report on some year-to-date
building statistics, providing annual comparables, where needed.
2. Building's Progress in Meeting Council's Priorities
Sustainable Growth and Development
2.1 On October 25, 2022, the province issued a Minister's Order to sign a Housing Pledge
to meet the Provincial Government's target of providing 1.5 million new homes in the
next decade. Clarington was assigned 13,000 new units as a target (<1 %).
2.2 On February 27, 2023, the Mayor, on behalf of Council, signed the Clarington Housing
Pledge (PDS-009-23).
2.3 In the past 10 years, Clarington has approved a low of 289 units in 2019 and a high of
1,011 units in 2020. The median over the last 10 years is 850 units per year. Meeting
the Province's housing target over the next nine years requires constructing
approximately 1,445 dwelling units per year. In order to achieve this target, the
Municipality must aim to double the median annual amount of building permits issued.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PDS-055-23
Page 3
Residential Units Issued
Year
2023*
2022
2021
Totals
758
473
592
*January 1 to September 30, 2023
Table 1 — Three Year Comparable of Residential Units
2.4 To date in 2023, the Building Division has issued 319 residential permits resulting in 758
residential units, achieving 52% of the annual goal (see Table 1). Of these issued units,
staff have conducted a minimum of one on site inspection for 676 of these units.
Meaning, 89% of permits being issued are resulting in construction commencement
upon issuance (see Table 2).
2.5 The table below represents the residential units that have been issued in 2023, and
those that have been issued and construction commenced (`starts').
Residential Units — Issued and Started
January 1 to September 30, 2023
Permits
Issued
Permits
Started
Units
Issued
Units
Started
New Residential Units
254
216
692
653
Additional Dwelling Units
65
23
66
23
Total
319
239
758
676
Table 2 - Residential Unit Starts — Issued and Started January 1 to September 30, 2023
Technology and Process Modernization
2.6 In October of 2020, the Municipality signed a contract with Vision33 to provide a
Municipal Business Solution consisting of a public portal, AMANDA and ePlanSoft. On
May 3, 2021, the Building Division went live with ePlanSoft and goPost. On November
7, 2022, AMANDA was launched, and on July 3, 2023, the public portal was opened. As
of January 1, 2023, the Building Division has been 100% digital.
AMANDA Software
2.7 The Building Division uses AMANDA to process building permit and pool enclosure
applications, assigning and tracking tasks assigned to staff and tracking and assigning
inspections to inspection staff. AMANDA tracks the status of each application and
permit and generates the various reports we provide internally and externally.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PDS-055-23
GnPnst/FPR
Page 4
2.8 During the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2020, the implementation of ePlanSoft was
expedited to allow the public to submit building permit applications and drawings online
and for the Plan Examiners to review the applications remotely. To be able to do this
without the full AMANDA/Public Portal being operational we used goPost as the public
facing software. The public logged in to submit their documents and retrieve our
comments, approved plans, and their permit. Along with online payment options we
were able to continue to process and issue permits while the Municipal Administration
Centre was closed to the public with very little disruption.
2.9 The various internal departments that review and provide comments, Engineering
Development, Development Planning and Fire Prevention receive notification that there
are plans assigned to them for their review. All those who are reviewing plans are able
to review the plans at their desks, or remotely, and are able to zoom in and move
around in each drawing inserting comments, providing red line markups, and placing
stamps on the plans. When all the assignments have been completed the software
produces a deficiency letter if there are deficiencies. The deficiency letter and marked
up plans or the building permit and approved plans are then uploaded, and the applicant
is notified via e-mail that their documents are ready to be downloaded. the plans.
Public Portal
2.10 With the introduction of the Public Portal on July 3, 2023, goPost has been replaced and
all applications are now submitted through the Public Portal. Applicants retrieve
comments, building permits and approved plans through the public portal, and can see
the status of their application, book each inspection and see the results of each
inspection.
2.11 When inspections are booked through the public portal, AMANDA automatically assigns
them to an inspector based on the type of inspection requested and the geographic
location. The inspectors' inspections are then uploaded to their iPads. The inspectors
use the AMANDA Inspector App on their iPads which is tethered to their cell phones, so
long as they have cellular reception, they are operating live, and the app can
synchronize with the AMANDA software.
AMANDA Inspector App
2.12 Through the app, the inspectors have access to the permit, the status of the previous
inspections and any notes made during those inspections. When the inspector has
completed their inspection, they enter the result, for example, passed, or failed, their
comments, notes, photos and signature. When the iPad synchronizes with AMANDA an
e-mail is automatically sent to the applicant, providing them the results of the inspection
and the comments/notes of the inspector.
2.13 Staff are able to have immediate access to their tasks at their desk, working remotely or
on the construction site. This has also eliminated the need for staff who work outside of
Municipality of Clarington Page 5
Report PDS-055-23
the MAC needing to drive to the office to review the plans saving time and further
reducing our effect on climate change.
2.14 To date, Municipal Building Inspectors have conducted nearly 10,500 inspections
averaging 53 inspections per day across the 506 square kilometre area of Clarington
(see Table 3).
Type of Inspection Completed
2023
Building Inspections
5,837
Plumbing and Heating Inspections
4,478
Pool Enclosure Inspections
109
Total
10,424
Table 3 — Inspections Completed January 1 to September 30, 2023
Figure 1 — Building Inspection Completing a Digital Inspection
Municipality of Clarington
Report PDS-055-23
Environmental Sustainability and Benefits
All Electric Vehicle Fleet
Page 6
2.15 In May 2022, the Building Division adopted an all electric seven vehicle fleet. An
additional two have been ordered and are expected to arrive Fall 2023, for a total of
nine.
2.16 The Building Division's electric vehicle (EV) fleet has eliminated on average 105,000
kilometres of tailpipe emissions per year, helping to combat climate change by reducing
carbon emissions and other harmful pollutants, improving air quality.
Going Paperless
2.17 As described in Section 2.6 of this report, as of January 1, 2023, the Building Division is
100 percent digital. This has eliminated the need for applicants to drive to the office or
use couriers' multiple times throughout the permit process saving them time and money.
It has also eliminated the vast amount of paper that was consumed printing and
reprinting their plans further saving the applicant money. The elimination of travel and
paper has also reduced our effect on climate change.
3. Public Response
Improved Accessibility and Transparency
3.1 Since the implementation of the outlined departmental improvements, the response
from the public has been very positive. Feedback includes, but is not limited to:
3.1.1. The rural residents have been thankful that they don't have to drive in from the
rural areas to apply and pick up their permits. The Developers' response has also
been very positive as they recognize the time and financial savings of applying
online.
3.1.2. Online permitting allows applicants 24/7 access to submit applications and check
the status of their permits, increasing convenience, improving accessibility, and
reducing barriers.
3.1.3. Remote access allows applicants to apply for permits from anywhere, reducing
the need for in -person visits to the Municipal Administrative Center.
3.1.4. The online portal provides real-time status updates on permit applications,
improving transparency for applicants. The online portal allows citizens to track
and access permit information easily.
3.2 Staff will continue to incorporate process improvements to enhance the customer
experience for years to come.
Municipality of Clarington
Report PDS-055-23
Figure 2 — Customer Service Wickets in the Building Division
4. Mandated Response Timeframes
Page 7
4.1 The Ontario Building Code mandates that complete building permit applications shall be
issued, or the applicant shall be notified that the permit is being refused and provided
with the reasons why it is refused within a prescribed time period based on the type of
building. the complete applications, the following table reports on the median number of
days it took for the Building Division to either issue the permit or notify the applicant why
the applications was being refused for 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Permit Type
Mandated
Median
Median
Median
Timeframe
Number of
Number of
Number of
Days 2022
Days 2021
Days 2020
Residential
10.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
Small
15.0
9.0
10.5
10.5
Buildings
Large
20.0
17.5
16.0
18.0
Buildings
Table 4 — Mandated Response Timeframes comparison, 2022 to 2020
Municipality of Clarington Page 8
Report PDS-055-23
5. Financial Considerations
5.1 Not Applicable.
6. Concurrence
6.1 This report has been reviewed by the Deputy CAO/Treasurer who concurs with the
information.
7. Conclusion
7.1 It is respectfully recommended that Council receive this report for information.
Staff Contacts:
Brent Rice, Chief Building Official, 905-623-3379 extension 2303 or brice(uclarington.net.
Brendan Grigg, Deputy Chief Building Official, 905-623-3379 extension 2313 or
bgrigq(a�clarington.net