HOW MIGHT WE BETTER UTILIZE EXISTING DATA TO GUIDE PUBLIC EDUCATION EFFORTS ABOUT BUILDING PERMITS?
Project Description: The Building Division ensures that all building construction in the City of Hamilton meets the requirements of the Ontario Building Code, zoning by-laws and other applicable law. Due to the legal requirements of obtaining a building permit, and safety concerns with construction, members of the public will often contact their Councillor with inquiries. When members of City Council receive inquiries from the public related to the Building Division, they connect with Division's Councillor Contact Staff (CCBLD) to provide an answer. Because of this centralized contact, we have data relating to the location and types of inquiries. This information (currently stored in our AMANDA Database, and MS Excel) could be useful in providing education opportunities to the public, and identifying trends and hot spots for construction activity, including illegal construction. We are looking for an innovative way to use existing and future data to identify trends that can assist with building permit related education and enforcement. This would include a way to see how these trends may change over time.
City Staff: Julia Ricottone - Policy & Training Coordinator, Building Division, Planning and Economic Development
Other staff or community members: Lisa Simmons, Aimee Tan, Ed VanderWindt
Deliverables: A model or program to assess data
Project Start Date/ Availability: Fall 2020 - Fall 2021
Location: City-Wide
City Strategy Priority: Build Environment and Infrastructure