Frustration with the Building Permit Process

Written for CARAHS by Dave Collings, co-founder of TheRealTruthAbout.ca.

Some time ago my wife and I decided we wanted to build our own house. In the summer of 2011 our search began– it seemed the logical approach would be to find a location that suited our needs and then build new or renovate an existing house.

We found the place we wanted in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The location and property size met our requirements nicely. There was an existing older house on the property that just required some renovations to make it our home.

Before purchasing the property, we went to city hall to find out what the process was for acquiring permits. We showed the clerk at the city the location of the property on a map, and he told us it was a “green area” so site planning approval (SPA) was required and the TCRA would be involved. The entire process would take two or three months. This seemed reasonable, so we decided to purchase the property.

Just after the purchase (Sept. 2011), we began searching for a renovator. My wife and I thought this would be the most difficult part of the process– we’d watched some of those renovation shows on HGTV and saw the grief and problems homeowners went through. Over a three-month period we undertook a fairly extensive review of builders and renovators. We made a trip to the local home show, where we assessed some renovators. We selected three for interviews, and based on those interviews visited past projects of our top selection.

Our final choice was PROBUILT. My wife and I were very impressed with the process PROBUILT takes the homeowner through and with the quality of their work. I remember that when we met Michael Upshall, the first thing he said was, “I am a master carpenter at heart and feel like I have sawdust running through my veins.”

Before moving into the property, we put together preliminary ideas and sketches with PROBUILT. Shortly after moving in, which was in March 2012, we approached the city in preparation for the pre-SPA process. The details of that process can be seen on our website (www.TheRealTruthAbout.ca).

The most shocking moment of the SPA process was when one of the city planners said, “You really need to work with us by calling all the city departments on the list provided and help push your own case.” OK, I thought. But with the help of PROBUILT we began calling weekly. Feedback from each department was gathered. Comments from the departments ranged from extremely helpful and courteous, to people laughing and saying there was no chance that feedback would be given anytime soon because of the workload, to people yelling, saying we had no right to call and pester them.

Shortly after this process began I learned that all the city departments were located on the same floor of the same building. Hmm…so what’s the point of me having to call and chase all these people!?

This is one of the many problems that drove us to create a website and tell our story. This kind of nonsense is a waste of taxpayers’ money and is not fair or reasonable to the people who have to suffer through this long-winded process to get a building permit. Come check us out at www.TheRealTruthAbout.ca.