Residential Upgrades
Reno industry needs a standard of excellence
Canadians spent nearly $77.7 billion last year on residential renovations. I was impressed to learn this from a recent Altus Group housing report.
Renovation numbers have been increasing steadily for the past 18 years, making the renovation and repair industry larger than the new home construction industry, and providing a boost to the Canadian economy.
In 2017, the value of upgrades to Canadian homes totalled $59.1 billion, virtually matching spending on new home construction.
When the $18.6 billion in home repairs are added on the renovation side, total renovation spending in 2017 accounted for 57 per cent of all residential construction.
The 2016 Census identified about 920,500 existing housing units that were in need of major work. The list included such things as defective plumbing or electrical wiring, structural repairs to walls, floors and ceilings. This number represents about 6.5 per cent of the total overall Canadian housing stock.
These figures should not come as a surprise as the need for major work increases with the age of the home. More than half the homes requiring substantial renovations in Canada were built between 1946 and 1980, when home construction dramatically increased to accommodate returning Second World War veterans and as the first half of the baby boomer generation entered the housing market.
The renovation industry is expected to continue to grow at a record pace, meaning that there will be an influx of entrepreneurs looking to take advantage in the growth of the industry. Furthermore, there will be more pressure on municipalities to process building applications.
When it comes to choosing a renovator, I encourage you to visit renomark.ca and educate yourself on the RenoMark Code of Conduct that gives homeowners peace of mind. It requires renovators to offer a minimum two-year warranty on all work, carry a minimum of $2 million in liability insurance and provide a detailed written contract.
BILD is working with municipal governments to find innovative ways to make it easier for homeowners to obtain building permits and reduce the lengthy approval processes.
That is why we wrote our own Renovation Service Standard of Excellence that was presented to the city of Toronto, outlining a practical system that would streamline building permits and inspections.
Under this standard municipalities would:
Commit to reasonable turnaround time and a specific time frame for building permit applications measured in weeks, not months.
Implement a web-based, onewindow permitting portal that makes the application process smoother, and provides transparency and accountability for the progress of permits.
Improve service by building inspectors by making them accessible to renovators via cellphone, and providing reliable time frames (twohour windows) for inspections.
We can do better if we all work together. As the municipal elections approach, BILD encourages all municipalities to adopt a form of service standard of excellence.