Legislative History: Enacted September 19, 2017 (By-law No. CPOL.-90-342); Amended June 26, 2018 (By-law No. CPOL.-307-298)
Last Review Date: July 25, 2023
Service Area Lead: Director, Planning and Development
1. Policy Statement
The Drawing Review Fees policy is intended to establish the requirements for engineering drawing review and the parameters for fees associated with the review.
2. Definitions
Not applicable.
3. Applicability
This policy applies to land owners and their engineering consultants that are submitting designs for acceptance by the City as part of the subdivision development process.
4. The Policy
4.1 Engineering Drawing Submission Requirements and Review Fees for Plans of Subdivision
Whenever an applicant submits servicing plans, drawings or specifications related to the detailed design of approved plans of subdivision for review and acceptance by the City, the following requirements are to be met:
a) 1st Submission Minimum Criteria
1st submission servicing drawings will not be received and/or deemed complete by the City until:
i) The submission shall meet the requirements for a Complete Servicing Drawing Package submission defined under the File Manager Subdivision Approval Process including, but not limited to, the Engineering Drawing 1st Submission Manifest, minimum of six sets of servicing drawing plans, supporting analysis, accepted design studies (as applicable), draft 33-M Plan, any additional calculations and supporting information, pertinent forms, and fees;
ii) Payment of a fee calculated per section d) and the Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (as amended from time to time),
iii) All submissions shall include digital copies of the complete submission, and;
iv) Submissions are put through a cursory review for base quality standards in an effort to ensure drawings are of a level of clarity that allows the drawing reviewer to conduct their review. Drawings are reviewed for quality with a focus on any obvious omissions, ambiguities or illegibility that could notably hinder a review. For example:
- Drawings are legible (i.e. no text-on-top-of-text, text fuzzy or too small, sewer design sheets too small to read).
- Drawings include supporting design details for obvious elements (i.e. pump stations, retaining walls, booster stations, road cross sections, SWM pond details, check valve detail, etc.). In some cases, missing elements may not be determined until detailed review.
- Drawings are stamped by a Professional Engineer.
b) Subsequent Submissions
i) The submission shall meet the requirements for a Complete Servicing Drawing Package submission defined under the File Manager Subdivision Approval Process including, but not limited to, minimum of four sets of servicing drawing plans, additional information identified in the redline comments letter, redline comment letter response, pertinent forms and fees;
ii) Payment of a fee calculated per section d) and the Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (amended from time to time),
iii) All submissions shall include digital copies of the complete submission.
c) Subdivision Drawing Review Fee Policy
i) The Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate shall determine the required fees for the service provided by the review calculated in accordance with section d) of this Policy and the Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (as amended from time to time) and the applicant shall pay such fees. The fees are reflective of the principle that the fees are based on the scale of the development and the associated servicing designs to be reviewed.
ii) Any fees paid under this Policy are not eligible for claim from any City sources of financing such as a Development Charges Reserve Fund. Any failure to pay all or part of any fee paid under this Policy is not eligible for interest charges or other penalties. However any such failure will result in submissions returned to the applicant without review.
iii) In all cases the fee must be provided with the submission in order to deem the submission package complete. However under special circumstances as outlined in section c)(iv) of this Policy, the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate may elect to exempt any or all of the fees at their discretion in which case all or part of the fee will be returned. The fee will be held until the review has been completed.
iv) In the case of withdrawal of a submission, the abandonment of all or a portion of the work, the non-commencement of any review, or a nominal review of a submission, pursuant to this Policy, the fees that may be refunded as follows:
- Fees shall be 100% refunded if the submission is withdrawn prior to commencement of review.
- If the review has commenced, no refund shall be made of the fees paid except as allowed under this Policy.
- Under special circumstances, the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate shall determine whether a portion of the paid fees may be refunded to the applicant and may elect to refund said portion at their discretion.
- Some minor adjustments or ‘final polishing’ may occur at the acceptance stage at the discretion of the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate. A drawing submission fee payment is required for these submissions; however, should only a nominal review be needed the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate shall determine the amount of paid fees that may be refunded to the applicant, if any, in accordance with this Policy.
d) Fee Calculation
The drawing review fees shall be calculated in accordance with the Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (as amended from time to time), based on the formula given below, unless otherwise specified in this schedule.
Drawing Review Fee (rounded to nearest dollar) = LB x LB Rate
Where LB = the total number of lots and blocks in the subdivision exclusive of 0.3m reserve blocks and LB Rate = the rate as identified in the Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (as amended from time to time).
4.2 Interpretation
The following explanatory notes are to be observed in the calculation of drawing review fees:
a) Fees for the review of subdivision servicing drawings not described or included in this schedule shall be determined by the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development or designate.
b) Lots and blocks mean any tracts of land within the subdivision defined by a PIN (property identification number) and do not include properties external to the subdivision or 0.3m reserve blocks.
c) Submission #1 refers to the first time a set of drawings is submitted for review. Submission #2 refers to the first revised set with changes resulting from the first review. Submission #3 refers to the second revised set with changes resulting from the second review. And so on.
d) Fees for drawings submitted in pursuit of a revised acceptance (i.e. drawings submitted for review after the drawings have already been accepted by the City in order to reflect a change in the design or the plan of subdivision) shall be reviewed on a case by case basis. Minor revisions will not be subject to any drawing review fees and will therefore not require a drawing review fee be provided with the submission in order to deem the submission complete.
e) Above data includes only drawings related to subdivisions and does not include other types of submissions such as drawings related to capital works projects, consents, site plans, servicing agreements and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Environmental Compliance Approvals.
4.3 Project Fee Example
If a consultant submits a set of drawings containing 45 Lots and 5 Blocks for review they would be charged the following:
1st submission - $60 per Lot or Block for a total of $3000.
2nd submission - $60 per Lot or Block for a total of $3000.
3rd submission (if needed) - $60 per Lot or Block for a total of $3000.
Total = $9000
The above calculation assumes a LB Rate of $60 per Lot or Block. Refer to Fees and Charges By-Law A-57 (as amended from time to time) for the current LB Rate.