Dear Richard,
I recently had a very troubling experience dealing with the office of building safety, an office I assume you oversee. First off, a bit about myself. I have been a journeyman carpenter in the Yukon since 2003, gaining my ticket through Yukon College apprenticeship program. I worked in commercial construction for 12 years for a local company that put me through the program. In 2010 I started a sole-proprietor company, Buzzsaw Construction, which I ran until my retirement in 2023. I know the business of contracting in the Yukon.
I have been aware for many years that my own home which I have owned since 1995 has some open permits, some existing from 1984, well before I owned the home. Early in the summer of 2024 I requested a "building file report" from the building safety office, which I received a week or so later. The report was helpful but did not specify what exactly had to be done to close out these permit. Many upgrades have been done over the years, mainly an addition on the original house and a garage/storage building. In my personal files I have records of foundation approval, septic tank approval, framing approval, insulation and vapour barrier approval, plumbing approval, electrical approval, etc. on both projects. What is missing is final approval and occupancy for both projects. I thought it would be a good idea to close these out.
In September I requested an inspection so I could find out what had to be done to close all open permits, but due to family matters I had to make a trip to Ontario, so this week the inspector came out for an inspection. (Tuesday October 22, 2024). I had also paid for an inspection of a new woodstove I had just installed to be done at the same time.
This is where the story becomes APPALLING. Upon the inspectors arrival he informed me he had forgotten to bring my file, but would carry on the inspection anyway. I agreed. Immediately I became concerned when he started photographing my garage/storage building from the outside before moving inside where he continued to photograph second floor parallel cord trusses, my stairs, my woodstove, etc. This was mostly all stuff that had been inspected and passed years ago, why is he focusing on this??? He proceeded through the building and finally told me what would be in his report. He told me some of framing didn't meet code, my electrical wouldn't pass, my stairs wouldn't pass, both my heating sources wouldn't pass. I was shocked, these things were passed years ago. This is when I retrieved my own file from my house so I could show him my closed permits. He didn't even look at them. At this point I was becoming quite agitated as I knew this was wrong and had thoughts that this guy was going to cost me thousands of dollars. I made the comment in a very non-aggressive tone, "this is f—ing ridiculous". Mr. Inspector then informed me I was being toxic to him and he would be leaving because I swore. Happily for me he left.
I immediately wrote an e-mail to the chief building inspector Warren Badley, and informed him what had happened and how astonished, agitated, shocked, scared, about the implication this report could have. It was devastating to me, I had never seen anything like in my 20-plus years in the industry. Warren replied and said he would be out on Wednesday.
Upon Warrens arrival I informed him I was not going to pursue closing out the two open permits as many parts of the building code had changed over the past thirty years (radon gas, R-value minimums, railing requirements, CO2 and smoke alarm changes , plus many other things). I asked him to inspect my new woodstove, which he did......and I passed. Warren was very amicable throughout the process and we started looking around the house at what needed to be done. Some good advice was obtained, but in the end I learned it will be quite a lot of work and money to bring my 40-year-old house up to present-day codes. What I learned is that anyone who has an older home in the Yukon is screwed when it becomes time to sell, finance, insure, etc. This is very troubling and many Yukon home owners should be very concerned with the hard handed=approach to us. ARE OUR HOUSES NOW WORTHLESS AND UNSELLABLE??????
This needs your attention now.
Sincerely,
Bruce Bark
Marsh Lake
