Building Safety plan and budget
Our service is responsible for building safety in Calgary. We support customers and Calgarians during the building permit process, from issuing the building permit to performing site safety inspections to ensure buildings meet provincial safety code requirements. Our service creates programs and strategies focused on keeping buildings safe. We work with industry and partner agencies (provincial and regulatory) to enable development by identifying, educating and promoting safety best practices with the goal of preventing public safety incidents. We identify required changes to codes to support climate policy, affordable housing, and safety and work on a provincial and national level to update safety codes.
Our customers
- Business owners
- Homeowners
- Land developers
- Builders
- Contractors
- Trade professionals and supporting professionals
- Property owners and renters
- Citizens
- Communities
- Partnering construction industry associations
Our partners
- Calgary Fire
- Community Planning
- Community Services
- Law
- Transportation
- Water Resources
- ENMAX
- First responders
- Alberta Health Services
Value to Calgarians
- Alberta's building safety codes are met
- staff assist customers to support project success
- partnerships develop best practices
- provide urgent response services
- administer bylaw and safety requirements
What we deliver
- Deliver permits and inspections to ensure safe buildings.
- Provide assurance that new construction projects meet Alberta's building safety codes.
- Address inquiries by Calgarians regarding construction sites.
- Respond to urgent public safety calls.
Budget breakdown
Operating and capital budgets explained
The City develops two budgets to create impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction:
- The four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets
- The five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets
The operating budget includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing operations. These include:
- Salaries, wages and benefits.
- Day to day programs, maintenance and services.
- Administration costs (e.g., insurance).
- Fuel
- Utilities
- Capital financing costs.
The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means we budget to collect the revenue needed to deliver services to Calgarians — no more, no less. We collect this revenue through property taxes and other sources.
The capital budget pays for long-lived assets. These provide the foundation for the services Calgarians rely on. They include:
- Maintenance of current infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings and playgrounds).
- Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
- New infrastructure to provide services in areas that are underserved (e.g., Green Line).
- New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.
Learn more about our 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
See how the budget has been adjusted since November 2022
Measuring performance
We are measuring our performance in five areas. Each value is the goal we expect to reach by 2026.
What we've heard
Safety is ranked first by survey respondents as the highest priority for this service, followed by responsiveness.
Customers want fast, simple, and valuable service that results in a safe building. They value knowledge, expertise, guidance and certainty to ensure their project’s timelines will be realized. Timely responses, sequencing or aligning of inspections, and immediate response to safety situations are expected. Our customers have high expectations of our service and that it will be delivered in an equitable and inclusive manner. They look to us to seek out efficiencies and cost reductions without lowering service levels.
Operating in a global economy means ensuring Calgary is a business and investment-friendly community valuing diversity across all aspects of our service offerings and delivery. By doing so we will attract and retain a workforce Calgarians expect and continue to tell us is important.
Participate and view results of City researchWhat we're watching
- Economic trends can significantly impact construction activity resulting in unexpected changes to permit volumes and fee revenues which can strain staff resources and service levels.
- This service continually monitors and tracks economic indicators to minimize impacts on service.
- Safety and energy codes are updated periodically, and just before this happens, permit volumes increase, which may impact service levels.
- The service will continue to expand online services to better meet client expectations.
- The digital shift will see us consider new and transformative ways to better deliver our service efficiently and effectively.
- Reducing our service impact on the environment by using electric vehicles and reducing staff commutes is planned.
- When severe weather happens, existing resources are diverted for Emergency Management purposes impacting business continuity.
Our initiatives
What we plan to do
We are focused on ensuring building safety by providing excellent customer service and timely service delivery through permit intake, approvals, inspections, and response to urgent safety requests. We are committed to following all Council direction and will play a key role in Downtown revitalization and the implementation of the Climate Strategy.
How we're going to get there
- Reduce building permit approval timelines by applying capacity, risk, and performance management.
- Protect the public during construction through the revision of the Public Protection Site Safety Plan and monitoring of key safety indicators.
- Increase the supply of safe and affordable housing options by improving the regulatory environment for secondary suites.
- Provide time-saving, easy and convenient options through investment in customer self-serve capabilities.
- Manage inspections by providing industry leadership in risk management techniques that follow the Alberta Safety Codes Council's directive.