Building Permit Audit 2024 Report

2/23/2025 Building Division

Why this Audit Matters

This audit identified key opportunities to improve operational effectiveness, strengthen compliance with regulatory standards, and enhance service delivery. The audit reviewed processes and controls around building permits to assess whether they are adequately designed, operating effectively, and compliant with relevant legislation.

In Ontario, building permits are required for all construction and renovations. Building activity must comply with the Ontario Building Code. In 2023, Brampton issued 7,871 permits valued at over $2.3 billion and conducted 249,854 inspections. The Brampton Building and Business Portal, launched in 2024, streamlined the building permit process by allowing online submissions, status tracking, fee payments, and inspection scheduling.

The building permit process includes pre-screening applications, fee assignments, and thorough plan reviews to ensure compliance with building and zoning by-laws. Inspections are carried out at various stages of construction, and unpermitted construction activities are investigated and addressed through Orders to Comply. Callback requests related to building permits are managed through the City’s customer relationship management system.

1. Building Inspection Monitoring Needs Continuous Improvement

A review of open inspections revealed gaps in enforcing Ontario Building Code requirements, which mandate inspections to begin within six months of permit issuance and occur at least every 12 months:

Delayed Initial Inspections – 12% of inspections were scheduled beyond the six-month requirement or not scheduled at all.
Missed Inspection Intervals – 9% of permits had no inspections for over 12 months.
Occupancy & Final Inspection Deficiencies – 8 of 20 commercial businesses reviewed were operating without required final inspections and occupancy approvals.

2. Monitoring of Occurrences, Orders to Comply, and Prosecution Files Needs Continuous Improvement

A review of building violations revealed inconsistencies in monitoring occurrences, Orders to Comply, and prosecution files:

Aged Open Occurrences and Orders to Comply – As of December 31, 2024, 81% of open occurrences and 80% of open Orders to Comply were created in 2023 or earlier, with no updates recorded.
Inaccurate File Status – A sample review found that 6 of 15 open occurrences and 10 of 20 open Orders to Comply should have been closed.
Limited Progress on Prosecution Files – Of 140 Orders to Comply assigned for prosecution, only 22 advanced to the prosecution stage.

3. Monitoring of Inactive Building Permit Applications Needs Continuous Improvement

A review of open building permit applications found inconsistencies in monitoring and follow-up processes for aged permit applications.
While most applications are recent, with 67% created in 2024, 33% remain open from 2023 or earlier due applicants not fulfilling re-work requests. Many of these older files lack documentation of recent reviews or applicant correspondence.

4. Process for Managing Callback Requests Needs Improvement

A review of the current callback request process, managed through Buildings Outlook email accounts, revealed significant inefficiencies and process gaps.
In 2024, over 12,000 callback requests were received, but the manual process offers no effective means for centralized record keeping, streamlined request management, or reporting capabilities.

5. Standard Operating Procedures Need Updating to Align with Current Practices

While Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Brampton Building and Business Portal have been updated, most SOPs need updating to align with current practices.

6. Technical Employee Audits Should be Conducted in Accordance with Standard Operating Procedures

According to the Technical Employees Auditing SOP, supervisors are required to conduct audits for all new employees within the first four months of employment, and at least bi-annually for all other technical employees in the areas of Plans & Permits, Inspections, Zoning, and Permit Expediting.
A review of the audit program revealed that audits are not consistently carried out across the four required areas. Two areas have not conducted audits since 2022, one area has not conducted audits since 2023, and one area only audited some employees in 2023 and 2024.

Implementing the recommendations in this report will enhance the processes and performance of building permit activities, which, when combined with improvements in the development application process, will strengthen the City’s overall planning, development and building practices.

Why this Audit Matters

Background

What We Found

How Recommendations Will Benefit the City

Appendices