ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: April 24, 1996
TO: Standing Committee on Planning & Environment
FROM: Director of Permits & Licenses
in consultation with the Director of Finance
SUBJECT: 1996 Trade Permits Fee Review
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve a general 3.0% inflationary increase, and
other specific increases as detailed in this report, in the
permit fees contained in the Building By-law (B/L 6134), the
Electrical By-law (B/L 5563), the Plumbing By-law (B/L 5964)
and the Gas Fitting By-law (B/L 3507), with the new fees to be
effective on June 17, 1996.
B. THAT Council approve the conversion of an Electrical Inspector
I position from temporary to full-time, as outlined in the
report.
C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare
the necessary By-law amendments to give effect to these
changes.
D. THAT upon approval of this report, the Director of Permits &
Licenses notify the construction industry and the general
public of the new fees.
GENERAL MANAGERS COMMENTS
The General Managers of Corporate and Community Services note that
the proposed 3% general increase in fees is over two years and
represents a 1.5% per year increase, below Vancouver inflation
rates. They RECOMMEND approval of A, B, C and D.
COUNCIL POLICY
On January 17, 1991, Council resolved that every department/board review
services for which fees are now charged to ensure full cost recovery, or
that fees are equivalent to competitive charges where the fee is of a
market nature.
It is Council policy to set fees at a level sufficient to recover the
associated costs of issuance, enforcement and administration of trade
permits. Adjustments are made annually to the trade permit fees, based
on the Vancouver rate of inflation. Once every three years a
comprehensive fee review is conducted to ensure that individual permit
fees reflect the City s changing costs. The last such review was
completed in September, 1992.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to recommend inflationary and other
increases to trade permit fees to maintain cost recovery levels.
BACKGROUND
The practice of Council has been to adjust trade permit fee levels on a
regular basis to ensure the costs of issuance, enforcement and
administration are fully recovered. A comprehensive fee review was last
undertaken in developing 1993 fees. The next major review is
anticipated to take place following completion of the Development and
Building Process Review currently underway.
Trade permit fees were last subject to adjustment by Council in early
1994, at which time a general increase of 3.2% was approved along with
several more specific fee adjustments.
DISCUSSION
Recommendation A of this report deals with Fees scheduled in the
following by-laws: Building By-law 6134, Electrical By-law 5563,
Plumbing By-law 5964 and Gas Fitting By-law 3507. It is recommended
that these fees be subject to a general increase of 3.0%, reflecting
cost adjustments for negotiated wage increases and other operating cost
increases since the 1994 fee review. In addition, increases beyond this
general level are recommended in specific fee areas for reasons
documented below. The proposed increases will ensure fees remain
consistent with Council policy to maintain cost recovery.
Recommendation B of this report deals with the conversion of an
Electrical Inspector I position from temporary to full-time and will not
require additional fee increases.
The proposed 1996 fees for trade permits are set out in Appendices A
through D.
BUILDING BY-LAW FEES
The Building By-law contains "value-based", flat and per-unit fees.
"Value-based" fees are used for building permits, providing for fee
calculations based on the estimated construction cost of a project.
These fees are not adjusted annually for inflation, since it is expected
that they will increase over time with increases in construction costs.
These "value-based" Building fees were adjusted in the 1992
Comprehensive Fee Review.
"Unit" fees are the base for fees related to specific units of work
done, such as hours of labour for special inspections, plan reviews or
after-hours work. An increase of 3.0% is recommended (rounded to the
nearest dollar) for these fees with the new fees to be effective June
17, 1996.
In addition to these recommended fee increases, it is anticipated that
in the near future, Council will be asked to consider one other
adjustment to the Building Bylaw fee schedule. This proposal will
change the process and fees which apply to a change of address request
and will ensure that this increasingly time-consuming activity in
Permits & Licences will be placed on a cost recovery basis.
ELECTRICAL BY-LAW FEES
The Electrical By-law contains "value-based," flat and per-unit fees.
"Value-based" fees are used for electrical permits, providing for fee
calculations based on the estimated construction cost of a project.
These fees are not adjusted annually, since it is expected that they
will increase over time with increases in construction costs.
"Unit" fees are used for specific units of work done, such as hours of
labour for special inspections, plan reviews or after-hours work. A
general inflationary increase of 3.0% is recommended (rounded to the
nearest dollar) for these fees with the new fees to be effective June
17, 1996.
Staff Change: Security Alarms Inspector
In 1994, at the time the new False Alarm Reduction Program was initiated
by the Police Department, Council approved the creation of a temporary
Electrical Inspector I position to deal with installation of alarm
systems in new and renovated buildings. Prior to the creation of this
program, alarm systems were often being wired into building electrical
systems without adequate inspection by the City. While it had been
anticipated that the need for this position would be temporary, the
number of security
alarms has continued to increase and outpace staff resources. At this
time the Director of Permits & Licenses is recommending that this
temporary security alarms inspector position be converted to a regular
full-time position. Existing electrical permit and alarm permit fee
revenues can support this staffing proposal.
The impact of these recommendations are reflected in Appendix B.
PLUMBING BY-LAW FEES
The Plumbing By-law fees are all based on units of work. This report
recommends an increase of 3.0% (rounded to the nearest dollar) be
applied to fees in the Plumbing By-law with the new fees to be effective
June 17, 1996. These proposed increases are detailed in Appendix C.
The following exception to this 3.0% increase is recommended.
(1) Plumbing By-law 5964, Section 2. Sprinkler Fees.
Since residential sprinklers were mandated six years ago, the
estimated cost of inspection has not been fully recovered from
fees. Sprinklers promote overall general public safety and the
City has considered it important to take every effort to keep the
installation costs to a minimum.
Sprinkler inspections include two or three site visits for
inspection purposes plus administrative activities related to
issuing, processing, plan checking and filing each inspection. The
costs for inspection and administration are approximately $55 for
each hour. On average 3.5 hours of staff time are required for
each residence. This experience suggests that fees related for
residential sprinkler installations should be increased from $72
(first head) to $192 in order to ensure cost recovery. This
represents a 267% fee increase.
GAS FITTING BY-LAW FEES
The Gas-Fitting By-law contains only unit-of-work based fees. This
report recommends an increase of 3.0% (rounded to the nearest dollar) to
be applied to all fees in the Gas Fitting By-law with the new fees to be
effective June 17, 1996. These proposed increases are detailed in
Appendix D.
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