Council of the Corporation…

Council of the Corporation of the Town of Midland considered the above-noted Discussion Paper together with Staff Report PL-2019-91 and authorized and directed staff to submit comments to the Province in keeping with the approved staff report. The following are the comments and concerns of the Town of Midland respecting the proposals to reform the delivery of Ontario’s Building Code Services.

1. The Town is supportive of ways to improve the educational and examination processes for building professionals and support the concept of internships. Further harmonization and coordination between the Province and its Building Code Identification Number (BCIN) certification process and the Ontario Building Officials Association “CBCO” accreditation process is required to remove duplication and additional costs. The Province should continue to seek ways to offer increased college programs within the Building Code services discipline and offer paid internships to assist in getting more people working within the field. Additionally, the profession should be promoted at the high school level to attract more students into the field.

2. The Town raises concerns with respect to the proposal to designate other professionals to act in the capacity of a Building Inspector in terms of inspections and approvals. The proposal could result, where it was authorized by a municipality, that no municipal oversight or inspection occur on a construction project. Although this has been done in other jurisdictions like British Columbia, it is our understanding that there has been limited interest by the municipalities to use this type of alternative service. Concerns are with respect to costs that could be attributed to this service and the limited information available.

3. While the Town has no concerns and support the proposals for continual professional development and the Registration of Building Professionals, further harmonization and coordination between the Province and its BCIN certification process and the Ontario Building Officials Association “CBCO” accreditation process is required to remove duplication and additional costs.

4. The Town supports the proposal for more penalties and stricter fines and points out the success of the shared service model in Penetanguishene and Midland.

5. The Ontario Building Code is thousands of pages of technical requirements that requires daily and weekly application and interpretation. The proposal to provide additional tools and interpretation supports and advice will help standardize the administration and enforcement of the Code across Simcoe County and the Province. Enhanced support services to the professionals in the field administering the Code daily is fully supported by the Town.

6. The key concept of the proposal, the creation of a new Administrative Authority and the creation of a new fee or tax on building permits, warrants more consultation and information. The funding for the Administrative Authority is proposed to include a fee or tax of 0.016% on the construction cost estimate noted on every building permit application submitted in the province of Ontario including in the Town of Midland and would be collected by the municipality. All revenues generated through this fee will be required to be recorded, reported and transferred to the Province. The Town has numerous concerns with this proposal as follows:

The calculation, collection, recording, reporting and transfer of these funds will result in additional administrative efforts by the Town with no opportunity to cover those costs. If Building Code administration and enforcement is intended to be self-financed, municipalities should be provided the opportunity to recover these costs imposed by the Province.

In addition to the proposed flat rate on construction value, there should be a minimum value where that fee will be collected. For example, a construction project of $5,000, the proposed provincial fee would be $80.00. The cost of calculating, collecting, recording, reporting and transferring this fee by the municipality would exceed the fee collected.

Construction values, being self-reported, tend to fluctuate widely. Most municipalities, as a result, have gotten away from determining permit fees on the basis of stated construction value and instead use the size and occupancy of the building. The Province should fully investigate the best way to collect a fair and accurate fee or tax. Where it proposes to use construction values, it should establish minimum values by project type. This would help eliminate disputes at Building Services department counters across Ontario.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments and we look forward to being further consulted about the proposed changes to how the Province delivers its services to the municipalities and people of Ontario.

Yours truly,
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF MIDLAND

Wesley R. Crown, MCIP, RPP.
Director of Planning and Development