Calgary Building Maintenance Bylaw

If you own or manage a building in Calgary you will be aware of the Calgary Building Maintenance Bylaw (BEVA) that was created a few years ago. This bylaw requires buildings that are 5 storeys or more and 10 or more years old, to have a visual inspection completed every 5 years.

The city will mail out a reminder notice to the registered commercial building owners who will require the Building Exterior Visual Assessment to be completed.

Building Assessment

While building assessments are completed at multiple stages during the construction phase, there was no follow-up inspection required after the building was opened.  This allowed buildings to degrade as they naturally do and there were several incidences in Calgary that began to happen.

This caused the city to investigate multiple incidences of falling debris, falls from windows and various other issues.

This bylaw was developed with input from community members, commercial and residential building owners, and internal groups to find the right balance of keeping everyone date and costs.

Sure-Seal - Building Envelope Repair

Commercial Building Visual Assessment

If you need a commercial building visual assessment, it cannot be done by the building owner. To comply with the City of Calgary regulations for BECA, it must be done by a qualified individual or company. When the assessment is completed, there are 3 main categories that various parts of an assessment will fall into,

  • Acceptable
  • Needs Attention – A timeline for repairs should be assembled.
  • Not Acceptable – Anything falling into this category is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. Repairs must be completed and reported to the Chief Building Official.

If you are completing this before your assessment is due, you can keep the paperwork on file. However, if the city requests to see this assessment you have 14 days to provide it. The city will check the qualifications of the person who completed the BEVA report and want information about anything deficient in the building.

Drone Visual Assessment

Sure-Seal works with IHM 360 Aerial Photography/Videography, a drone company in Calgary. Working with IHM allows us to complete building assessments with ease.

By using a drone to complete a Building Visual Inspection, we can get the inspections done without a person having to swing from a rope to inspect the building. Thermal Imaging can also be completed which will identify areas that the naked eye wouldn’t see.

If your Building Assessment is due please contact Sure-Seal at [email protected] or call 403-265-8677. We will make a plan for your building so you will comply with the City of Calgary’s building maintenance bylaw.