Item - 2014.AU14.7

Tracking Status

  • City Council adopted this item on April 1, 2014 without amendments.
  • This item was considered by the Audit Committee on February 28, 2014 and adopted without amendment. It will be considered by City Council on April 1, 2014.

AU14.7 - Toronto Building - Improving the Quality of Building Inspections

Decision Type:
ACTION
Status:
Adopted
Wards:
All

City Council Decision

City Council on April 1, 2 and 3, 2014, adopted the following:

 

1.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building and the City Solicitor to complete the review of the Dormancy Policy.

 

2.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to take the appropriate action to develop and implement an action plan to resolve dormant permits and priority be given to those with unresolved violations.

 

3.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to review the current administrative process and the controls related to outstanding violations; such process to ensure that there is ongoing supervisory review of all outstanding violations.  In particular, the review should include an immediate evaluation of “unsafe orders” and, where appropriate, immediate action be taken.

 

4.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to review system controls in the Integrated Business Management System (IBMS) to ensure additional fees to building permits issued in response to a “work no permit” violation are appropriately and consistently applied.

 

5.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to ensure all inspection requests relating to construction activity are accurately recorded in the Integrated Business Management System.  Performance measures be developed as appropriate and based on complete inspection activity information.

 

6.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to take steps to review data categories for recording inspection results in order to ensure management information reports are reliable and useful in deploying inspectors efficiently.

 

7.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to ensure compliance with inspection documentation standards and that all inspection records are complete and reliable.

 

8.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to take steps to increase the use of remote technology for recording inspection activity while on a job site.

 

9.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to review the controls in place to ensure that revenue from partial occupancy permits is appropriately accounted for and collected.

 

10.       City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to review the current quality assurance process and take steps to ensure City-wide inspection practices are consistent and comply with established Divisional standards.

 

11.       City Council request the Chief Building Official and the Executive Director, Toronto Building to review and formalize its training program.

Background Information (Committee)

(January 15, 2014) Report from the Auditor General - Toronto Building - Improving the Quality of Building Inspections
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/au/bgrd/backgroundfile-67006.pdf

Communications (City Council)

(March 31, 2014) Letter from Geoff Kettel (CC.Supp.AU14.7.1)

Motions (City Council)

Motion to Adopt Item (Carried)

Vote (Adopt Item) Apr-03-2014 8:56 PM

Result: Carried Majority Required - AU14.7 - Adopt the item
Total members that voted Yes: 28 Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Maria Augimeri, Michelle Berardinetti, Shelley Carroll, Vincent Crisanti, Janet Davis, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Frank Di Giorgio, Sarah Doucette, John Filion, Rob Ford, Mary Fragedakis, Mike Layton, Peter Leon, Gloria Lindsay Luby, Josh Matlow, Pam McConnell, Joe Mihevc, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Cesar Palacio, John Parker (Chair), James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Anthony Perruzza, Jaye Robinson, Michael Thompson, Adam Vaughan, Kristyn Wong-Tam
Total members that voted No: 0 Members that voted No are
Total members that were Absent: 17 Members that were absent are Ana Bailão, Raymond Cho, Josh Colle, Gary Crawford, Mike Del Grande, Paula Fletcher, Doug Ford, Mark Grimes, Norman Kelly, Chin Lee, Giorgio Mammoliti, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Peter Milczyn, Ron Moeser, Frances Nunziata, David Shiner, Karen Stintz

AU14.7 - Toronto Building - Improving the Quality of Building Inspections

Decision Type:
ACTION
Status:
Adopted
Wards:
All

Committee Recommendations

The Audit Committee recommends that:

 

1.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, and the City Solicitor to complete the review of the Dormancy Policy.

 

2.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to take the appropriate action to develop and implement an action plan to resolve dormant permits and priority be given to those with unresolved violations.

 

3.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to review the current administrative process and the controls related to outstanding violations.  Such a process ensure that there is ongoing supervisory review of all outstanding violations.  In particular, the review should include an immediate evaluation of “unsafe orders” and, where appropriate, immediate action be taken.

 

4.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to review system controls in IBMS to ensure additional fees to building permits issued in response to a “work no permit” violation are appropriately and consistently applied.

 

5.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to ensure all inspection requests relating to construction activity are accurately recorded in the IBMS management information system.  Performance measures be developed as appropriate and based on complete inspection activity information.

 

6.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to take steps to review data categories for recording inspection results in order to ensure management information reports are reliable and useful in deploying inspectors efficiently.

 

7.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to ensure compliance with inspection documentation standards and that all inspection records are complete and reliable.

 

8.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to take steps to increase the use of remote technology for recording inspection activity while on a job site.

 

9.         City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to review the controls in place to ensure that revenue from partial occupancy permits is appropriately accounted for and collected.

 

10.       City Council request the Chief Building Official and Executive Director to review the current quality assurance process and take steps to ensure City-wide inspection practices are consistent and comply with established Divisional standards.

 

11.       City Council request the Chief Building Official and the Executive Director to review and formalize its training program.

Origin

(January 15, 2014) Report from the Auditor General

Summary

The objective of this review was to identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness of building inspection services provided by Toronto Building.  The review also assessed compliance with legislative requirements as well as established Divisional policies and procedures.

 

Key issues identified in our report relate to the following areas:

 

  • No inspection of 98,000 permits for over a year in 2012
  • No inspection of 70 per cent of open violations
  • Need to Strengthen Inspection Activity Monitoring Information
  • Classification of Building Inspection Results
  • Inspection Documentation is Inadequate and Inconsistent
  • Quality Assurance Process Needs Improvement
  • Annual Training Plan Should be Developed

 

This report contains 11 recommendations for improving building inspection services.  Addressing the recommendations in this report will improve the quality of building inspection services, assist the division in complying with legislative requirements and ensure City-wide practices are consistent with established policies and procedures.

Background Information

(January 15, 2014) Report from the Auditor General - Toronto Building - Improving the Quality of Building Inspections
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/au/bgrd/backgroundfile-67006.pdf

Speakers

Councillor Paula Fletcher

Motions

Motion to Adopt Item moved by Councillor Mary Fragedakis (Carried)
Source: Toronto City Clerk at www.toronto.ca/council