Ottawa Construction News staff writer
Ottawa’s municipal Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has released a report on its investigation into the City of Ottawa’s Building Code Services (BCS), highlighting inconsistencies in the documentation of due diligence activities required before issuing a building permit and an occupancy permit.
The investigation was initiated following several reports received through the City’s Fraud and Waste Hotline. The OAG’s objective was to review building permit application and inspection practices in relation to the concerns raised.
The OAG found in the report released on Monday (Feb. 10) that while BCS review and inspection activities were being taken, the documentation available did not allow them to conclude that all due diligence activities were completed before permits were issued.
“Evidence assessed demonstrated that some BCS review and inspection activities were being taken; however, the documentation available did not allow us to conclude that all due diligence activities were completed before the permits were issued,” the report states.
The report under the signature of deputy auditory general Joanne Gorenstein says:
“While we were able to substantiate specific allegations reported, the lack of specificity of various other allegations and the inability to corroborate the other claims resulted in us not being able to fully prove or disprove their merit. No further information can be provided on these allegations as we were unable to conclude on them.”
The report makes several recommendations to improve BCS processes and documentation, including:
- Proactive and timely monitoring of open inspection files
- Enhanced operating and documentation protocols
- Design and introduction of a risk-based quality assurance program
- Development of a categorization/priority scale for deficiencies identified
The Chief Building Official has agreed to implement all of the OAG’s recommendations.
In addition to the recommendations, the report also highlights some of the challenges faced by BCS, such as the high volume of building permit applications and the need for more staff.
The report also notes that BCS is in the process of migrating to a new Land Management Software (LMS) system, which is expected to improve record keeping.
Other observations from the report:
- “The work we performed highlighted the need to improve processes and documentation within BCS to consistently demonstrate the due diligence undertaken to support the issuance of a building permit and an occupancy permit.”
- “While we were able to substantiate specific allegations reported, the lack of specificity of various other allegations and the inability to corroborate the other claims resulted in us not being able to fully prove or disprove their merit.”
- “This investigation has highlighted areas where the city’s documentation does not consistently demonstrate the due diligence activities required to be completed before issuing a permit under the Ontario Building Code.”
- “The recommendations, once implemented, will allow the city to consistently demonstrate the activities undertaken to support the permit.”
