Construction boom prompts call for new City of Winnipeg permit inspectors
Property and planning department looks to add 22 temporary inspectors to meet demand
A massive increase in construction projects prompted the City of Winnipeg's property, planning and development department to request — and receive — $900,000 to add 22 temporary permit inspectors.
The request was granted by the city's finance committee on Friday.
The construction industry is seeing a huge increase in tenders for work, and the city is seeing record-high permit volumes and requests for service.
"April and May were the largest on record for tenders in Manitoba and we are expecting that to continue," said Darryl Harrison with the Winnipeg Construction Association.
The association represents more than 800 construction companies that do commercial work.
Harrison's perspective on the sheer volume of work in the industry is echoed by Lanny McInnes of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
"Nobody knew what was coming. We were preparing for the worst. [Then] we had a very strong summer, especially on the home renovation side," McInnes said.
Despite challenges from the pandemic, the city saw an increase of more than 1,000 housing permit applications from 2019 to 2020, and the home renovation sector is growing at a even greater pace.
Both organizations praised management at the city's property and planning department for moving forward on the new hires and seeing the market move into more than just a slight bump in requests for permits.
"We weren't sure if it was just a catchup, a blip. At this point in time it's a trend. We've seen that over the last 90 days. If you invested in lumber anytime over the last year, you're well off," said John Kiernan, the city's director of property and planning.
The convivial relations between the department and the industry is a marked change from 2019, when a scandal broke over city inspectors using work time to pursue personal errands and leisure time.
The construction industry has been extraordinarily busy despite difficulties in getting materials and costs. The price of lumber alone has skyrocketed.
Both associations were also pleased to hear property and planning was moving to increase the cap for the permit reserve system from $2 million to $3 million.
The fund covers costs to deliver inspections and other services to builders.
"[We're] always looking to improve, always looking to make the investment so that industry and the market has the service that is needed and required," said Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James), who chairs the city's finance committee.
The committee voted unanimously to provide the funding for the new positions.
