The Association of Building Inspectors of Quebec (AIBQ) did not have a say on a certification which aims to counter the insalubrity of housing on which it nevertheless has several reservations, noted The duty.
From the end of May to June 10, many citizens and organizations took part in various opinion hearing sessions organized as part of a public consultation concerning the City’s “responsible owner” certification. Around thirty briefs were then submitted to the City’s Economic and Urban Development and Housing Commission, which will make its recommendations public next Thursday.
However, the AIBQ only became aware of the existence of this public consultation after being informed of it on May 9 by the official opposition at city hall, indicates to the To have to the vice-president and general manager of this association of building inspectors – which is also the largest in Quebec – Danny McNicoll. The association would therefore not have been invited directly by the City, which its director general considers “particular”, even “worrying”.
The group of inspectors then offered to take part in one of the hearing days for the opinions planned, but the City told them that a brief had first to be submitted to the municipal commission in charge of this consultation. .
The association, which has more than 500 members, subsequently told the City that it had to cancel its participation, which was scheduled for June 8 in this consultation. The AIBQ then argued that it did not have enough time to write its brief and have it validated by its legal department, explains Mr. McNicoll.
“In such a short period of time, we understand that it is not possible to analyze the relevant documents and write a dissertation that could include all the subjects that we would have liked to address”, can we read in an exchange of emails between the City and the AIBQ email dated June 1st.
“It is particular and a pity that the largest association of inspectors in Quebec was not consulted on the implementation of these regulations,” reacted opposition councilor Julien Hénault-Ratelle on Thursday. He is also a member of the municipal commission in charge of studying this draft by-law. He also believes that the City would have had every interest in consulting this association before even submitting this draft by-law to public consultation.
The cabinet of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, assures for its part that the AIBQ “was invited to file a brief” within the framework of this consultation. It is also said that a “deadline” would have been offered to him to allow him to file this document by June 30, “which was declined by the association”. Mr. McNicoll affirms for his part that he and the president of the AIBQ, Denis St-Aubin, have not received any email from the City to this effect.
A model to review, believes the AIBQ
The draft by-law studied, whose implementation is scheduled for next year, proposes to gradually impose mandatory inspections on owners of buildings with eight rental units or more, on which they will have to report to the City every five years. This certification will apply to approximately 250,000 housing units, or 35% of the metropolitan area’s rental stock.
However, the AIBQ considers that the frequency of inspections that will be imposed on buildings should vary according to their age and dilapidation. Otherwise, inspectors will be overwhelmed and the results of their visits will be limited, warns Mr. McNicoll.
“Why would a very recent building, we are talking about a building less than 10 years old, be required to be inspected every 5 years? It is completely new. While a building that offers a very advanced outdated can present a very marked insalubrity, well in this case, why would we wait five years between visits, since the decrepitude could increase in a severe way very quickly? notes the vice-president of the AIBQ, who hopes that the City will look into these questions.
“We will have to adopt procedures that are productive and that are viable because visiting all the buildings every five years seems utopian to me to think that it is feasible in the current context if there is no no beacons, ”he continues.
The latter also fears that this certification opens the door to attempts at corruption on the part of “wealthy owners” who would be ready to offer amounts to private inspectors so that they do not testify to the City of the poor condition. of their accommodations.
“It is certain that these are things that are completely at odds with the morals and ethics of inspectors and these are not things for which I have heard, but we know that it has happened. already passed. And my fear would be that slightly more dishonest owners could compensate inspectors in some way for having a slightly less severe inspection report,” says Mr. McNicoll.
He therefore believes that an independent organization should be mandated to choose which inspectors will be responsible for enforcing these future City regulations. The AIBQ also remains “very open” to working with the City, which will have to consider the final version of its certification project in the coming months.