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The City of Calgary’s proposed Building Maintenance Bylaw aims to better protect the public by requiring the exterior of Calgary’s buildings to be professionally assessed for necessary repairs. This bylaw will fill the gap left after the final inspection when a building is first constructed or renovated, and address safety issues before they happen.
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Stakeholder working group March meeting
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The stakeholder working group includes building sciences and industry representatives, commercial and residential building owners and managers, rental associations and affordable housing providers.
At our final meeting with the stakeholder group before the bylaw is presented, we discussed our proposed bylaw changes, implementation plan, future communications and shared overall thoughts on the bylaw.
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Proposed bylaw changes
The City has been working closely with community and industry members to refine the proposed bylaw. We've heard what stakeholders think, and based on the feedback we've received, we drafted the following changes to present to the Standing Policy Committee on Planning and Urban Development in May. These points are not final, but were presented for discussion purposes at the March stakeholder meeting.
- Frequency: Assessment to be carried out every five years instead of four.
- The definition of "building envelope" means the walls and roof of a building or structure, but excludes the foundation walls and slab.
- We are proposing new definitions for roof and walls.
- The definition of qualified professional (architect or engineer) will stay the same, but we are adding provisions:
- If a building owner does not wish to use a professional architect or engineer, the assessment of the roof or walls may be performed by a person who has education, training, skills and experience related to roofs and roofing systems (for the roof assessment) or related to walls (for the wall assessment).
- If the assessment is performed by someone other than an architect or engineer, the qualifications of the person must be recorded on the Building Exterior Assessment.
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Implementation plan
We are proposing a phased approach to bylaw implementation, where the oldest buildings must complete their assessments first. This will enable an efficient use of resources.
2018: buildings 45 years old and older as of Jan. 1, 2016 would be required to complete an assessment. 199 buildings are included in this category.
2019: buildings 25-44 years old as of Jan. 1, 2016 would be required to complete an assessment. 299 buildings are included in this category.
2020: buildings 15-24 years old as of Jan. 1, 2016 would be required to complete an assessment. 39 buildings are included in this category.
2021: buildings 10-14 years old as of Jan. 1, 2016 would be required to complete an assessment. 47 buildings are included in this category.
- Another 90 buildings will be included over the next 10 years.
- Building owners will be advised by mail when required to have a Building Maintenance Assessment completed in the following year.
- After the initial assessment is completed, each building should have assessment that is less than five years old.
- We are currently looking at the possibility of creating an online tool for the assessment checklist, making it more efficient to create and potentially submit a building exterior assessment.
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Audit process
The building selection and audit process will target buildings which could pose the greatest risk to public safety. This risk is identified based on type of construction or any recently reported issues. We will also include a random sampling of buildings. Inspectors would approach the building owners or operators for copies of their Building Exterior Assessment documents, which would be reviewed.
Each item on the assessment will have been colour-coded by the person chosen by the building owner to complete the assessment.
- If the report shows no issues (all items are green), then the audit is completed.
- If the report shows "needs attention" (any item is yellow), the inspector may ask for your timeline to address the issue.
- If any item is "not acceptable" (red):
- The City may request further information
- The building owner must advise The City of any hazards observed
- The building owner must remedy hazards
- Work to remediate will likely require a permit and inspection
- The City will follow up to ensure action has been taken
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What we heard
Proposed bylaw changes:
The stakeholder group agreed that the changes present a good middle ground, allowing flexibility and striking a balance between cost and safety obligations. Requiring that the qualifications of the assessor (if not an architect or engineer) be included is valuable to evaluate the assessment.
Many concerns that stakeholders initially felt have been addressed. They feel that The City is not forcing owners to do something that's not adding value to their building.
It was noted that when we're ready to evaluate how the bylaw is working, we should look at newer buildings (in the three to five year old range) and smaller buildings (specifically four-storey wood frame) that may present safety issues.
Online tool:
The stakeholder group thought that an optional online tool to make assessments more efficient would be valuable. It was noted that it would be nice to be able to view the assessment online once it has been submitted so that building owners can reference it. Stakeholders noted that examples of qualifications of the assessor (if not an architect or engineer) set out in the guidelines would be helpful.
Enforcement:
Some stakeholders thought that the fines for not complying with the bylaw were too low. The penalties will start at $1,000 to $5,000 with a maximum of $10,000. If a charge is laid under the Safety Codes Act, fines can be significantly higher.
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Highlights from City staff engagement in February
We met with City staff in February to discuss how the bylaw will affect their buildings. Internal stakeholders that were involved included representatives from Corporate Facility Planning & Management; Information & Infrastructure Services, the Law Department, the Calgary Fire Department, Calgary Transit, Roads, Calgary Housing, Calgary Recreation, Calgary Community Standards, Waste & Recycling Services, Water Resources and Planning & Development.
- City business units have a variety of programs to conduct building assessments, including:
- Assessments by professionals and engineering firms.
- Staff inspections.
- Asset manager inspections.
- External consultant inspections.
- The frequency of their assessments vary depending on budget, size and scope of the building. It ranged from monthly to once every five years.
- General support for the minimum standard assessment every five years.
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