Item - 2021.EC24.14

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that: 

1.  City Council receive the report (September 7, 2021) from the Acting Fire Chief and General Manager - Emergency Management, Toronto Fire Services for information.

This report responds to City Council direction related to the Auditor General's 2018 report "Raising the Alarm: Fraud Investigation of a Vendor Providing Life Safety Inspection Services to the City of Toronto." In response to this report, the Audit Committee, at its meeting on July 13, 2018, requested Toronto Fire Services outline operational and financial implications for options related to the assessment of fire safety and compliance with the Ontario Fire Code in buildings within Toronto. Toronto Fire Services (TFS) provided three options designed to enhance annual inspection services. At its meeting on July 23, 2018, City Council endorsed Option 1 which included the assignment of 11 Full Time Employees (FTEs) to the TFS Fire Safety Quality Assurance (QA) section effective September 1, 2018. City Council further requested the Fire Chief and General Manager, Toronto Fire Services to report back to City Council with respect to outcomes and analysis of the enhanced service levels.

With the addition of 11 FTEs assigned to the TFS Fire Safety QA section, TFS estimated the completion of 80 QA Inspection Review Audits in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 325 QA Inspection Reviews annually thereafter. QA Inspection Review Audits involve a systematic and comprehensive review of all aspects of Ontario Fire Code compliance for a given building, including the associated processes completed by third-party contractors. After reviewing the data since the program's introduction, TFS believes that the 11 FTEs allocated are sufficient to complete the identified 325 annual inspection audits and that this sample size is adequate to provide TFS with an understanding of the compliance environment.  

TFS continues to work with industry stakeholders to educate property owners on the requirements of the Ontario Fire Code (OFC) including the need for detailed records management and the importance of retaining a qualified contractor to carry out the work. Since TFS launched this process in 2018 there has been an increased awareness by the fire protection industry that these reviews will continue to occur in Toronto.