The City of Trail is expected to go ahead with hiring its own building inspector.
Council has approved providing the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary with six months’ notice that it is withdrawing from the regional service, pending final adoption of the resolution.
It follows a request from councillor Nick Cashol to look into whether the city could save money by handing the service on its own. Council heard last month that Trail is expected to pay the RDKB about $340,000 this year for building inspection. The price is expected to climb to $373,000 per year by 2029.
Corporate services manager David Moorhead explained the city has contracted with the RDKB for building inspection since at least 1994 and for it made sense to do so when the city didn’t have a dedicated planner who could oversee that type of work. However, last year the city hired a planner, Chris Buchan.
Moorhead said they looked at both potential cost savings and efficiencies that could come through in-house building inspection. He said the regional model works well for smaller municipalities, but many places the size of Trail have their own inspectors, supported through revenue generated by permit fees. Moorhead said they think it’s a good idea to bring building inspection back in house, alongside existing development services.
“So if somebody had an application, we could sit with the applicant and understand what the needs are and make sure everybody’s on the same page during that whole application process,” he said. “Right now, it’s just a little bit cumbersome because you would go through zoning or permitting for development services [at city hall], require a building permit through the regional district, and then back and forth.
“This will help streamline the process and find efficiencies. It will help having in-house building inspection services dealing with issues as soon as they come up, addressing any concerns through permitting, and handling it all in one instance.”
One challenge staff identified is that Level 2 and 3 building inspectors, who are certified to handle larger and more complex buildings, are hard to come by. But since the city receives only a handful of permits each year requiring a Level 3 inspection, if they are unable to recruit someone with those qualifications, they hope to rely on the City of Rossland, which does have a Level 3 inspector.
Moorhead said when the position is posted, the job description will be flexible. They may potentially hire a Level 1 inspector who could be trained to move to Level 3.
On the financial side, Moorhead said building permit revenue fluctuates from year to year, and a single large project can inflate the numbers. From 2021-25, the city’s building permits totalled about $1 million, while it paid the RDKB over $1.4 million for inspection services, a net loss of over $400,000. From 2026-30, the net loss is expected to be over $800,000.
The city estimates its inspector’s salary would be $134,000 to $144,000 annually through 2030 and that permit revenue would more than pay for the service.
While the city won’t be out of the RDKB service until sometime in the fall, Moorhead said they expect to have an inspector start in the summer and get a head start setting up the department. They have projected a three-month overlap period.
The motion council passed unanimously on Monday directs staff to give formal notice of the city’s withdrawal from the RDKB service, to post develop a job description and post the new position, and to enter into an agreement with Rossland.
Councillor Thea Hanson, who is a realtor, said a streamlined process provides an incentive to developers and builders by saving them time and hassle. “It expedites everything and keeps things on track,” she said. “It’s been in my thought process for a few years, so it’s nice to see it come potentially into fruition.”
(CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story suggested the motion had already been adopted. In fact, that is expected on April 27.)
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyKootenayNowNews Alerts.
