Construction decline has RDKB reviewing building service

Comparing commercial to residential construction is like comparing apples to oranges.

But a downward trend of big builds over six years means much less green in the regional district's building permit basket.

During the years of boom, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) built up reserves when the service's building inspectors were occupied with engineering or architectural plans, and on the road field checking industrial and commercial sites stretching from Ross Spur to Big White.

With that money stream drying up, save for mostly homeowner renovations, the regional district is looking at ways to sustain its building inspection service.

The department provides building inspection services to all five electoral areas and on a contract basis, to six municipalities.

Two RDKB building inspectors are based in Grand Forks, and three in the Trail office.

The regional district is contracted by each municipality to ensure that all buildings conform to the B.C. Building Code and applicable bylaws.

A sizeable revenue reserve was established to offset taxation when construction activity was very high at Big White and elsewhere in the region, explains Mark Andison, RDKB's general manager of operations. But, with lesser building activity over the past few years (since 2008), that reserve has been depleted.

The service's year-end report shows a decrease of 50 permits since 2013. The combined total construction value amounts to $16.6 million compared to $33.8 million the year previous, within RDKB's rural areas and municipal participants in Fruitvale, Montrose, Trail, Warfield, Greenwood and Midway.

While that number appears dramatic, locally there's more to the service than dollar signs.

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Construction decline has RDKB reviewing building service