The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) is streamlining its building permit process by cutting the retention period for incomplete or deficient applications from 180 days to just 60.
The change is aimed at improving administrative efficiency and reducing the backlog of unprocessable files. Currently, the RDCO has 34 such permits on file from the past two years 鈥� none of which can be issued or advanced.
鈥淭hese permits sit in a drawer and do nothing,鈥� said Adam Bednarski, RDCO building official. 鈥淭his is administrative clutter that represents approximately 20 per cent of active RDCO permits, all requiring repeated handling, numerous written notifications, and ongoing back-and-forth correspondence between various customers, suppliers, and builders.鈥�
The new policy doesn鈥檛 mean applications will automatically expire after 60 days. Instead, it gives staff the discretion to remove stagnant files if applicants fail to provide the necessary documentation.
鈥淚t simply provides staff the latitude to choose to do so if necessary,鈥� Bednarski clarified.
Once issued, building permits remain valid for two years. The goal is to encourage applicants to submit complete and accurate applications from the start, which in turn accelerates review times and clears out inactive records.
鈥淭his reduction is going to hopefully eliminate those instances of back-and-forth communication and misunderstanding to create clear and concise objectives for our office,鈥� Bednarski added.
Not all RDCO board members agreed with the change. Electoral Area East Director Kevin Kraft voiced concern over the lack of consultation with the building and development industry.
鈥淲e have firms and people booking well more than two months out,鈥� Kraft said. 鈥淚鈥檓 on board with the reduction, with some consultation, but this to me is not appropriate for our existing files or future files knowing how the industry is backlogged right now.鈥�
Electoral Area West Director Wayne Carson echoed similar concerns, particularly about long-standing files.
鈥淚鈥檝e got files that have been open for a long time and I鈥檓 looking for some kind of a resolution on them one way or another. I don鈥檛 want to see those files tossed in the garbage can.鈥�
麻豆精选 Director Rick Webber noted that developers are typically well-prepared.
鈥淚 would imagine that it鈥檚 individual applicants that are coming in with bits and pieces, and 60 days seems like plenty of time.鈥�
Staff clarified that the change only applies to applications that are incomplete or contain errors and cannot be processed. It will not affect applications already in the review stream.
鈥淲e do give people grace, we do trust in certain applicants, and where this trust and process doesn鈥檛 materialize, this allows us the ability to remove those documents and applications from our system,鈥� Bednarski said.
According to staff, most serious applications are completed within days, not months, and the average processing time for complete applications is currently between two to four weeks.
The RDCO is the first jurisdiction in the Central Okanagan to implement a 60-day policy for incomplete building permits.
