Building inspections

I saw this article in the Vernon Morning Star in reference to the contracted out building inspection services. This is the first year with this service and it seems to have done quite well for the residents involved. Armstrong building inspection surplus develops and with this surplus they actually have added an extra day of service.

It was this time last year that Director Hanson from EA East and I first proposed, during RDCO Budget discussions the idea of contracting out this service. We were met with immediate obstacles put forward by RDCO Staff and Management. They insisted that a multi thousand dollar “service review” be conducted to determine the viability of the service being provided by the RDCO. In hindsight I am sorry that we did not pursue this with more diligence it seems to have provided excellent results for Armstrong and the other communities that followed this path.

A little history as I understand it. Normally the Building Inspection function of a municipality or in our case a regional district is a self-sustaining operation based upon the revenue generated by the issuing of the permits and associated costs of construction. As you can see the revenue is dependant upon building growth and if that stops such as in 2008 the revenue also stops. If the service is contracted out and there is a dip in growth then the contractor makes less money and does so until the growth and revenues return. If those inspectors wages, benefits, pensions, assistants, office space, vehicles etc. are guaranteed by tax dollars as in RDCO’s case then revenue generated by the function must cover the expenses or the full burden of those expenses fall to the taxpayer.