An internal City audit finds that only 4 of 154 outstanding building permit violators from 2013 were facing legal action from the City in February 2014.
There was 354 projects, that the City found out about, that started work without a building or demolition permit in 2013 and only 200 of them eventually brought themselves into compliance by seeking permits, the audit found.
On August 13, 2014, the building department says there are only 19 outstanding cases and they are all facing action from the City.
The City’s powers under the Ontario Building Code are broad, granting strong enforcement powers.
In February 2014, when the internal auditors reviewed building code enforcement, only four legal actions were underway against outstanding 2013 violators.
The internal audit report found this to be a serious shortcoming and recommends enforcement against violators who refuse to seek a retroactive permit begin within 30 days of the Order to Comply being issued by the City.
In response, the building department assigned three inspectors to enforcement. All outstanding cases are now being enforced, and all new cases are being enforced within 30 days.
Read the Full Report Below:
*[Watch Live Coverage of Council’s Audit, Finance, and Administration meeting on Wednesday starting at 9:30am](http://joeycoleman.ca/2014/08/13/hamilton-audit-finance-and-admin-committee-for-august-13-2014/)*