Mapleton ‘overhauls’ building bylaw

MAPLETON – The old building bylaw here has been scrapped, and a new one put in place. 

The change was approved during an April 14 Mapleton council meeting, after the township’s building department spent about six months putting it together.  

It covers inspections, construction, demolition, change of use, occupancy, sewage systems, permits, fee payments, and appointing inspectors and chief building officials.  

Township staff will now be able to designate inspectors and enter into conditional permits instead of needing council approval. 

Mandatory inspections for radon gas and hydronic heating insulation have been added. 

The current bylaw was written in 1999, chief building official Mike Walsh said, “so it didn’t address things like digital permitting systems and PDFs instead of three copies of a drawing labelled on my desk.”

According to a report from the building department, the new bylaw “modernizes and significantly improves upon the 1999 bylaw by aligning local procedures with current practices under the Building Code Act and the Ontario Building Code. 

“It reflects changes in how permits are applied for, reviewed and enforced, including electronic permitting provisions, clearer definitions, updated inspection and expiry parameters and a more comprehensive framework for sewage systems, occupancy permits and conditional permits 

“The fees and charges bylaw is properly coded in this one so we don’t have to keep updating the building bylaw to make sure fees and charges are being applied correctly,” Walsh added.  

It also “improves clarity around enforcement, delegation of authority and code of conduct expectations for building officials, and provides stronger tools to manage inactive or stalled applications,” the report continues.  

Walsh said delegating authority for staff to enter into conditional permits without council approval “is a time saver when people want to get a project moving fast, to not to have to come to council to enter into an agreement.”