March 24, 2011- The Whistler Question
Muni needs to act on illegal space
The Public Voice
Nancy Wilhelm-Morden
It�s not about the right to build larger houses as suggested at a recent council meeting. It�s also not about rewarding cheaters as the mayor describes it.
It is about safety and inequitable taxation.
I�m speaking about the euphemistically called non-conforming space issue. It�s an important topic that is once again going nowhere.
Like most towns, Whistler determines the size of residences by measuring floor space. There�s a limit on that size, and out comes the ruler when applications for building permits are received. If all houses here were built on flat lots with no vaulted ceilings or over-height crawlspaces, there wouldn�t be a problem.
But that�s not the way it is and consequently, there are houses with extra rooms and even extra floors that were not part of the original permitted plans. After the occupancy permit is issued in a newly constructed or renovated house, the over-height crawlspace is transformed into a media room, the vaulted garage is filled in and becomes an extra bedroom and so on.
From the outside, the house looks like it should. Inside there is more square footage than allowed and no one is the wiser.
Why should we care? Two reasons � the first is safety. None of this illegal space has been inspected. (And let�s call it what it is. It�s not non-conforming, it�s flat out illegal. Something like the asphalt plant).
Probably most of it has been properly constructed, but until inspected there is no assurance that this is so. This raises questions of insurability, uncertainty for future buyers and potential liability for owners, builders, realtors and possibly the municipality.
The second reason we care is because of the leakage of property taxes. When a house is first constructed, the provincial assessor considers the plans filed in the Hall in coming to a conclusion of its assessed value. The illegal space is not on the plans, isn�t assessed and isn�t taxed. Those without illegal space pay proportionately more in property taxes.
When the house with the illegal space sells, it sells at a higher value than its law-abiding neighbour because it is bigger. That in turn drives up the assessments in the neighbourhood increasing the tax burden on the owners who played by the rules.
So what should we do? If there were only a handful of properties with illegal space, the municipality�s approach of taking no action until there�s a complaint, then registering a notice of the illegality on title, might be justified.
That�s not the situation. According to a report of the local Canadian Home Builders� Association (CHBA), 70 to 80 per cent of Whistler homes contain illegal space. It�s pervasive.
The issue has bubbled to the surface from time to time. The previous council considered the CHBA report in 2007 and referred it to staff for review. Almost four years later it reappeared on the council table and, once again, was sent back to staff.
In this latest go-round, two fundamental mistakes were made. The first was to describe the CHBA as the �proponent� and then recommend the CHBA commission a study to address various issues.
The CHBA is not the proponent. It is a group of citizens who raised an issue of general community concern and made some suggestions for resolving it. To toss this back to the CHBA is an abdication of municipal responsibility. This is exactly the sort of thing the planning and building departments should be working on.
The second mistake was to suggest that changing the zoning to bring illegal space in from the cold could potentially increase the developed floor area in the neighbourhoods with an unknown impact on infrastructure. That ship has already sailed. We�re not talking about new bathrooms here. Those toilets are already flushing and have been for years.
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Feb 23, 2011 2:16pm- Pique Newsmagazine
A different take on non-conforming space bylaws
Proposed bylaw not about bigger houses
By Andrew Mitchell
This week the local chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) released a statement in reply to last week's story in Pique, "Non-conforming space bylaw delayed."
According the CHBA, the article - based on back and forth discussions at the council meeting - contained some misinformation, and misstated the intention of the proposed bylaw. The CHBA says the goal of the proposed bylaw is not to build larger homes or exceed the current limit of 5,000 square feet, but to increase public safety, bring homes into conformance and change the measuring system from square footage to volume.
"The public's safety must and always has been our number one reason for pushing for this bylaw change," wrote CHBA Sea to Sky president Eric Prall. "To date, there has been a gross non-compliance with illegal spaces that are turned into unpermitted living spaces in Whistler, once a new build has been completed.
"Our objective with this proposed bylaw change has never been about building larger houses, as reported last week; rather it is about taking existing houses that are non-conforming and having the ability to bring them into conformity... The bylaw also addresses new construction by using 'volumetrics' calculation."
Passing a voluntary volumetrics bylaw, said the CHBA, will not give consumers or builders the opportunity to build bigger houses, but to make effective use of the space/volume that has already been permitted.
The CHBA provided an example of two houses:
House A (Existing bylaw.) This house is designed to meet the bylaw setback, height restrictions and has a maximum square footage requirement. What has been happening in some cases is as follows: the house gets completed and occupancy permit issued. The owner then proceeds with converting certain space within the building into added living space. Often this converted space does not meet building code and safety egress requirements. This space now becomes unsafe in the event of fire etc.
House B (Proposed bylaw.) This house is designed to the same bylaw requirements, but has no maximum square footage requirements. From the street, the two houses could look exactly the same as they both have the same volume, however House B may have more square footage added inside the house. This is accomplished by the Architect/Engineer incorporating that footage into the volume of the house. The footage is designed to meet all code/egress requirements and is reviewed/approved by the Building department. The entire house meets code requirements and is safe.
The same process applies for when a renovation plan is provided to the Building Department for a home that has nonconforming space. Currently, there are many owners who may want to renovate, but will only proceed with the work without a permit and proper inspections because their non-conforming space would be exposed. This results in perpetuating the situation, as well as seeing the RMOW missing out on permit fees that would otherwise be paid of the work were done legally. The proposed bylaw would allow many homeowners to proceed with these renovations.
The CHBA has been working on the bylaw for over eight years, and was delayed by council once again as it was referred back to staff for review.
Bob Deeks from RDC Fine Homes has been following the issue closely, and said he believes the bylaw could result in smaller homes by making more effective use of the space.
"The current bylaw is unenforceable (and) anecdotal evidence suggests that 80 per cent of new construction has some form of non-conforming space requiring a section 219 covenant," he wrote in an email, emphasizing that non-conforming spaces create safety code issues.
"The volume calculation method would actually result in a smaller house size with regard to massing and volume than the current bylaw," he added. "Energy use would be reduced both in construction and heating as the maximum size would be reduced. In fact this would result in greater overall efficiency as people would be encouraged to maximize the living space inside a given volume."
Because non-conforming space already exists in all types of homes, Deeks said the focus should be on remediating that space to bring it into code rather than maintaining the status quo.
Said Deeks: "When faced with such gross non-compliance, should we not consider a better way that meets the current needs of residents today?"
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August 20, 2010
THE FUTURE OF SAFETY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Dorothy Barkley, Interim General Manager, BC Construction Safety Alliance
According to WorkSafeBC statistics, the 2009 injury rate in construction showed a significant 31 per cent reduction in claims from 2008. Claim numbers continue to reduce in 2010. This has been accomplished through a coordinated effort by B.C.�s construction employers, their workers, their health and safety associations and WorkSafeBC.
The human and financial cost of these incidents is considerable. There�s a life long impact on families who lose a loved one to a workplace fatality or face a lifetime of care for someone who has been seriously injured. All construction companies are impacted through the WorkSafeBC assessment rates and those construction sites that suffer a serious or fatal incident face considerable morale and productivity issues.
Since their inception, and as they worked to reduce the workplace injury rate, the Construction Safety Network (CSN) and the Construction Safety Association of B.C. (CSABC) were supported by industry and WorkSafeBC as they created and implemented health and safety programs.
On July 1, 2010, the CSN and the CSABC merged to form the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA). While each organization has had specific programs there have been overlaps. The consolidation of the staffs and programs will be of significant benefit to the entire industry through administrative efficiencies and the streamlining of program delivery.
In September, BCCSA will open its new office in New Westminster.This will be the �one stop shopping� place for large and small construction sector companies who need traffic control advice, require return-to-work information, want to become COR certified or wish to access the many video and print resources that will be available to employers. The same construction safety specialists you have always worked with will be available to give you advice and assistance.
The BCCSA has been developed with the support and advice of many industry stakeholders � from individual companies to the many construction-related associations who encouraged the merger. In the world where we work, the benefit of the consolidation of resources, and a sharper focus on worksite needs, is recognized and the new BCCSA is a reflection of this reality.
We have much to accomplish as we move forward through the remainder of the year. The board of directors will be conducting a search for a general manager while finalizing business and strategic planning. The staff will be settling into their new offices, while solidifying new work teams to better meet the health and safety needs of present and new clients.
Both the new board and the staffs of the CSN and the CSABC have worked tirelessly through the past year to accomplish this merger for the basic reason that they believe it is in the best interest of BC�s construction industry employers and workers. We hope you will drop by and introduce yourselves, and see what we have to offer.
Dorothy Barkley is the Interim General Manager of the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance.
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PIQUE NEWSMAGAZINE
Jun 16, 2010 12:57pm, Whistler
Construction industry alive and well : Number of applications on par with last year
By Andrew Mitchell
The construction industry was unusually busy in the run-up to the 2010 Games, but even as the resort approaches build-out in terms of bed units, Whistler remains a busy place for builders.
Through the first half of 2009 the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) collected $340,000 more in building permits than the planning department budgeted for, or close to double what was expected.
That doubling trend has continued into 2010.
In rounded numbers, the department has already collected $134,000 in permit fees through the end of May, well ahead of the roughly $76,000 budgeted for that period based on estimates.
"It was really slow in January, February and most of March, but the last few months there has been a steady stream of people coming through the door," said Joe Mooney, manager of the RMOW building department. "It's not like the old days where we were putting up hundreds of millions of dollars of new construction, but there is a lot of renovation work going on, and there's the Rainbow project obviously. Projects in general are a lot smaller than what we've seen in the past, but it's still fairly busy."
The costs of permits vary, depending on the project.
From January 1 to May 31 in 2009 the RMOW sold 167 permits for residential properties and 43 for commercial. Through the first five months of 2010 the RMOW sold 132 residential permits and 46 commercial.
The 2009 year was also unusual given the work on the athletes' village/Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood and Fitzsimmons Walk, the renovation of the Aava Hotel, and numerous other projects pushed through before the 2010 Games. Without those projects the construction industry was expected to slow down.
The number of permits issued was slow during the Olympics and Paralympics, but the department picked up as soon as the Games left town.
"We had 178 total permits for this period in 2010 versus 210 the previous year, so it's not that far off considering that for the first few months of the year nobody was doing anything. We've seen a flood come through the door in the last month and a half," said Mooney.
"It's anybody's guess as to what will happen going forward, we can only really give numbers up to the day. We thought it would slow down, but really we're just seeing a different type of application."
The Canadian Home Builders Association, Sea to Sky, talked to members and found that contractors are starting to get busier heading into summer with current developments such as Rainbow, Baxter Creek, Cheakamus Crossing and Wedge Woods.
Looking ahead, the CHBA-S2S expects things to continue to be busy, even after the resort reaches its development cap of 62,150 bed units including resident restricted housing.
"Though Whistler may be reduced to limited area for building homes there has always been, and will remain, a strong industry for renovating existing properties," said Bronwen Thorburn, executive officer for CHBA-S2S. "The cost and time of renovating some of these homes sometimes surpasses that of a new home build, so it becomes a considerable project to take on by the home builder. The difference between then and now is that consumers are now looking for more green ways to do this."
As well, Thorburn notes that there are 80 lots listed by local realtors. With a conservative estimate of $800,000 that represents over $60 million of future construction.
While there was a small downturn before and after the Games, Thorburn says that builders adjusted by encouraging their employees to take advantage of training opportunities that are available.
"The professional businesses are the ones that see slower times as an opportunity to raise those standards with their businesses... by educating themselves and their employees so that they stay on top of their field."
Thorburn says that some of the builders that flooded the resort in the lead-up to the Games have moved on, while the career contractors have remained.
There is no shortage of places for those transient construction workers to go.
According to the government of B.C.'s Major Projects Inventory, the number of projects around the province is also picking up.
A June 3 release, based on numbers from January 1 to March 31, 2010, suggests there are 896 major construction projects planned or underway across B.C., or roughly triple the number of projects reported in 2001. The estimated value of the construction is $191.1 billion.
As well, there are 547 projects that have been proposed but have yet to receive the approvals that would allow them to advance to the planning and permitting phase.
The list of ongoing projects includes $752 million in investment in clean energy projects such as run-of-river independent power projects.
The Rainbow residential development is also recognized as the largest of the 15 major projects where construction is underway with a total estimated value of $400 million at buildout.
Building permits are typically required for any renovation that requires an alteration to the building, such as reconstruction, demolition, removal, relocation or a change of occupancy (such as installing a new room or a suite) to be consistent with the provincial building code. For example, every bedroom requires a window or egress.
As well, permits are required for excavations around a property or any changes to the building structure or plumbing.
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