The duty discovered that transformation permits have been issued by the City of Montreal to at least four buildings in the Ville-Marie borough where several dwellings do not meet basic safety standards. The lack of inspections is pointed out by City employees and experts.
Since 2019, 5,400 transformation permits have been granted to owners of Ville-Marie, according to the City’s open data consulted by The duty. This is the case of the Place D’Youville building in which seven people died in the fire of March 16, which received two transformation permits in 2009 and 2010 to redevelop the interior of an apartment located on the third floor of the building.
The building had at least one windowless bedroom, according to a 911 call made during the tragedy. However, the City gave the owner of the building, Emile-Haim Benamor, “permission” to fit out a room without a window. “There was a permit issued. They [la Ville] were comfortable with that design,” said Mr. Benamor’s lawyer, Mr.e Alexander Bergevin.
Another building belonging to Mr. Benamor on Notre-Dame Street also obtained a permit in 2016 to redevelop housing on the third floor. According to our information, a large loft apartment has been converted into four bedrooms for short-term rental, three of which contain no windows.
A youth hostel on rue Notre-Dame Est, in Old Montreal, with two windowless rooms, also received its permit in 2021 for interior work to develop a 20-room hotel on the second floor. and third floors of the building.
Joined by The dutythe Ordre des architectes du Québec has indicated that it is looking into this file in order to understand how a firm of architects was able to approve these plans.
“It causes a lot of questions because there is a significant built heritage which clearly does not respect the new building codes, it seems obvious”, notes lawyer Alexandre Bergevin.
A hotel in a basement
Right across from this hostel is the Hygie Hotel, which The duty visited twice this week.
Most of the nine rooms in the basement of the building have no windows, but rather hard-to-reach panes that are impossible to open “due to the risk of flooding”, according to a building employee. A 10-bed dorm also has no windows or emergency exits, while this building is not sprinklered. So many findings that raise important issues in terms of fire safety in this hotel, which was filled to capacity during our visit.
Joined by The duty, the owner of the hotel, Philippe Fortunato, assured that his building has obtained all the necessary authorizations to operate as is. Verification made, the owner actually received a permit from the City in 2019 to fit out in the basement of the building concerned “a seven-bedroom hotel”, then another in 2021 to fit out another bedroom and two “conference rooms “.
“We made sure everything was up to standard. Once again, if we were not within the standards, we would not have been able to open, ”insists Mr. Fortunato.
The owner also assures, with supporting documents, that inspections were carried out by the Montreal Fire Department (SIM) in this building. This was notably the case on February 2, 2022. At the end of this inspection, the SIM issued a notice of non-compliance to the hotel owner, in particular in connection with the lack of fire extinguishers in the building and warning signs. smoke in the rooms. These shortcomings have since been corrected, but the building was able to continue operating despite the lack of windows in its dormitory and bedrooms.
“Given the facts here in question, we prefer to carry out the required verifications in order to see the history of the actions of the services concerned before commenting further. One thing is certain, the responsibility lies with the architect who designed, signed and sealed the plans, ”reacted in writing the City of Montreal.
A critical number of inspectors
A permit application officer told the Duty daily receiving non-compliant plans at the Montreal borough office where she works. She asked for confidentiality since she is not allowed to speak to the media.
“Rooms without windows, I often have them!” And these are architects’ plans! she says. “We are then sent back the same plan with marked office,” she adds.
The president of the Order of Architects, Pierre Corriveau, specifies that since 2008, the City of Montreal no longer validates the conformity of drawings signed by architects.
“In itself, the fact that an architect has filed signed, sealed plans is a guarantee of conformity. The plans submitted had to be compliant. And if they are not, the architects are responsible,” admits Mr. Corriveau.
The president of the Order of Architects nevertheless specifies that supervision of the work is essential in order to guarantee the safety of citizens.
“If there was no supervision of the works and if in the process the contractor through ignorance or obligation decides to change them, there is a problem. The government and the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec are very open to monitoring becoming mandatory when plans are mandatory,” explains Mr. Corriveau.
The built environment officer to whom The duty spoke points out that the City is sorely lacking in inspectors to meet real needs. “Inspections are done on request. The plan compliance people are the same people who do the bed bugs. These are the same inspectors as for sanitation, ”she says.
“The City of Montreal has 120 inspectors on the job who are not enough for the task of checking each site or each permit application that has been made. They will be selective, choose more problematic cases, go there randomly, but it is not continuous, ”explains Denis St-Aubin, president of the Association of Building Inspectors of Quebec (AIBQ).
His colleague Tony Porowski, president of InterNACHI Quebec, the second association of inspectors in Quebec, indicates that in 2024, “all homes over 25 years old will have to be inspected before purchase. Everyone realizes that there are significant shortfalls. Especially with the tragedy in Old Montreal, these changes are inevitable.”