Staffing woes at city hall put squeeze on new developments

City hall’s building department faces a staffing shortage even as London, Ont. experiences near-record demand for construction approvals.

According to civic administration, 77 per cent of building applications for single-family homes are being processed by the 10 business day deadline.

“Our staffing challenges are ongoing,” London’s Chief Building Official Peter Kokkoros told the Planning and Environment Committee. “We are just under 60 per cent of [being] fully-qualified and fully-staffed in the plan examination area right now. We are constantly recruiting with job openings on our board.”

Last year, the building department experienced new records for development in London.

Kokkoros said this year is tracking a bit slower, but demand for municipal building department services remain high.

A shortage of qualified staff to review applications and plans is not isolated to London.

“Speaking with my CBO [chief building official] counterparts in 42 municipalities, we share the same pain,” explained Kokkoros.

He added that city hall has upgraded its online application portal to streamline the hiring process.

“Improvements to our portal when it comes to application submissions to ensure that applications are complete when they are made. That lessens frustration for staff, and also lessens processing time,” he said.