David & Elaine – FYI – I’m in Area G, where we already have building inspection requirements – and my wife and I built our new home a couple of years ago. Overall, I found that the RDN inspection added about 1% to the total cost of our new home, with no discernible benefit, and certainly no improvement in safety.
Some of the silly things we encountered during building, which may be useful in your arguments against compulsory inspections:
- When I spoke with our architectural draftsman and builder about putting in some minor additional seismic protection, they advised me not to put anything into the plans or tell the RDN because they would then insist that I have an engineer review the plans, insert ‘full seismic protection’ at considerable cost, and sign off on the additional requirements. So having RDN inspection actually decreased the safety of our plans.
- While the inspectors were generally available when needed, and there were no major delays waiting for the periodic inspections, the need for inspection added stress. I’m not aware of anything that was improved because of inspections, but one detail – the height of a narrow deck – was detrimental and annoying (and potentially deadly to a handicapped person].
- · At the end, seeking the building occupancy permit, there was a request from an RDN inspector to see the type and grade of pipe used for the water supply – something they should have inspected right at the beginning when the water line went in, and we left the trench open for inspection for a few days!
And another aspect – our builder knew that one of the most important details that one inspector looked for on final inspection was that all doors and cupboards had handles. Now there’s a serious safety issue! [He put a temporary handle on one cupboard door so it would be ‘complete’, while we waited for the last matching handle to arrive.]
I suggest that you recommend to the RDN that they make building inspection in your areas an option – home builders who want the RDN to inspect should have the opportunity to hire the RDN inspection department. Let’s see how many want the service!
My bottom line – it added cost but gave no benefit.
Regards
Andy Pickard
3789 Island Highway West
Qualicum Beach, B.C. V9K 2C7