Resolutions

Whereas Section 5 of The Uniform Building and Accessibility Standards Act allows municipalities to appoint persons holding a building official’s license as a building official; and

Whereas smaller municipalities frequently request the service of a building inspection business, rather than directly hiring building officials; and

Whereas turnover within building inspection companies require municipalities to regularly appoint new officials within the contracted company to provide services, despite having no direct human resource responsibilities within that company, causing unnecessary additional work for councils and CAOs;

Therefore be it resolved that SUMA advocate the Ministry of Government Relations to amend The Uniform Building and Accessibility Standards Act to allow appoints of qualified companies as building officials and put the onus on companies to ensure that their staff are suitably qualified for the position.

Acts affected: The Uniform Building and Accessibility Standards Act

Sectors/Regions affected: ALL 

Dear Randy Goulden;

Thank you for your May 1, 2025, letter regarding resolutions passed at the 2025 Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association Convention. 

Re: 2025-15: The Appointment of Building Officials

• The Government of Saskatchewan recognizes the value that building officials provide in ensuring the construction of safe, healthy, habitable buildings.
• Individuals that meet the prerequisite, training and certification requirements can be licensed as building officials by the Chief Codes Administrator under The Construction Codes Act¹.
• Like other licensed professionals, building official licences are issued to individuals who are trained and certified to conduct the services they are licensed for.
• The powers and authority extended to a building official under The Construction Codes Act are significant. They permit entry onto land and into buildings, the issuance of orders, including stop-work orders and orders to vacate or demolish a building. Powers such as these are not provided to companies and must be held by qualified individuals who are lawfully licensed.
• Saskatchewan was the first province to licence building officials. This approach was taken in the early 1990s at the request of municipalities who wanted assurance that the individuals they were using to conduct building inspections were competent and qualified.
• The Government of Saskatchewan has recently streamlined the process of reporting building official appointments with the introduction of a web-based survey tool. This reporting to government is only required once within sixty days of the end of the municipality's fiscal year. Ministry of Government Relations' officials are continually examining the system that provides for the application of and compliance with construction standards.

1 The Uniform Building and Accessibility Standards Act was replaced by The Construction Codes Act effective January 1, 2022, following extensive consultations with municipal associations, municipalities, building officials and other stakeholders.

Congratulations on another successful convention. I look forward to continuing our work together and future discussions on areas of mutual interest.

Sincerely,

Eric Schmalz

Minister of Government Relations

Minister Responsible for First Nations, Metis, and Northern Affairs

Minister Responsible for Provincial Capital Commission