Safety campaign aims to ensure flood property repairs are done right
The City wants to ensure its citizens are safe in the places they live and work. Last year’s June flood impacted over 2,600 buildings, requiring plenty of repairs and new construction work to be completed in homes, businesses and multi-residential buildings. Property owners are being reminded to obtain applicable permits, and to have necessary inspections completed to ensure their flood repairs have resulted in a safe building.
“We want to ensure property repairs and construction work is done safely and meets all safety codes and standards, resulting in a safe building,” notes Kevin Griffiths, Chief Building Official Development & Building Approvals. “Creating a safe property for our families, tenants or customers requires construction work to meet the standards and requirements of all applicable codes and City bylaws.”
The City can only verify that construction work is up to code and meets applicable City bylaws by requiring permits to be obtained, and inspections to be completed by a City Safety Codes Officer.
As of February 2014, City Safety Code officers had completed over 4,000 inspections, resulting in the approval of 168 building permits and 1,973 trade permits. Yet The City anticipates an increase in construction activity this spring as Calgarians are now ready to put flood recovery plans into motion.
“The numbers are encouraging, but are lower than anticipated,” notes Griffiths. “The safety campaign aims to remind property owners of their responsibilities before the spring construction season really begins.”
The City is also hoping to remind property owners that have applied for the Government of Alberta’s Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) that the deadline to obtain permits is March 31, 2014. Property owners that have not obtained permits before this date may not be eligible for assistance from the DRP in the event of a 2014 flood. For more information contact the DRP office at 1-888-671-1111.
There are number of ways The City aims to help flood impacted property owners, including:
- Verifying if a contractor has a valid business licence, and is authorized to work in Calgary.
- Determine what permit(s) are required, based on a property owner’s recovery plans.
- Clarify if permit(s) were obtained by a licenced contractor, or the status of a pending inspection(s).
- Explain The City’s role in inspecting flood mitigation measures for homeowners who have applied to the Alberta Government’s Disaster Recovery Program (DRP).
- Discuss other general or detailed technical questions about the Alberta Building Code as it pertains to your flood recovery reconstruction.
- Meet with property owners or their general contractor to review a new home design proposal, before applying for a development permit.
Calgarians are encouraged to visit calgary.ca/floodrecovery, or to contact 311 to learn more about permitting and inspection requirements for homes, businesses and multi-residential buildings.
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