BILD Calgary Region Bulletin 2024 – 42
| From: | Sarah Champagne, Senior Coordinator, Policy and Building Technical, Calgary and Region |
| Date: | August, 20, 2024 |
| Subject: | The City of Calgary's Building Permit Application Review for Completeness |
A message from the City of Calgary's Chief Building Official regarding changes to the City's building permit application review for completeness process:
As part of our ongoing work to improve our application review processes, The City is making changes to how we review building permit application completeness. These changes will help shorten review timelines and better manage staff capacity during a time of high application volumes. In turn, builders will benefit from clearer review expectations and faster decisions.
We have several different tools available on Calgary.ca/carl to assist you in ensuring that your BP applications are complete and ready for submission. These tools include our Complete Application Requirement Lists (CARLs), Guides to a Complete Application, and the Building Permit Application Prescreen Requirement List.
Our next step to increase the number of complete applications submitted will be to implement changes effective August 15, 2024. The following changes will take place:
- BP application completeness will be assessed as soon as possible after the file is assigned to a file manager.
- Applicants will be notified if their application is incomplete and given 30 days to submit the required documentation.
- Applications will be refused after 30 days if still deemed incomplete and the applicant will get a 100% refund.
Note: This process applies only to new applications.
Benefits to you:
- A complete application will receive a BP faster.
- You will be notified quickly about what is missing from your application.
- You will have an opportunity to submit any missing documentation.
- You will know who the file manager is sooner.
To facilitate the prescreen review, we will be using existing tools such as the Guides to a Complete Application, must have lists and prescreen requirement lists. As mentioned above, you can find copies of many of these on Calgary.ca/carl. I encourage you and your staff to use these tools when you are preparing your BP applications.
We updated and republished Building Advisory A19-002 'Building Permit Complete Application' to reflect the 30 days for application completeness. You can find a copy of it posted on Calgary.ca/buildingadvisory.
Please note, after a BP has been deemed complete the 30-60-90 Permit Refusal Process will still apply to the detailed review phase. As a reminder, this is how the process works:
Hold Status: When an application is missing crucial information, it's placed on hold until the necessary details are provided.
Email Reminders: Applicants will receive two automated reminders: one after 30 days and another after 60 days, to stay updated on their application's status and act if necessary.
Application Decision: If no progress is made after 90 days, the application may be refused or cancelled. Applicants will have a 30-day window to appeal the decision to the Safety Codes Council after refusal or cancellation.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact sarah.champagne@bildcr.com
