The City of Toronto is pushing back against a provincial government proposal that could give developers the power to skirt the rules surrounding municipal building inspections.

The Certified Professionals Program would allow architects and engineers to undergo additional training in the work that city inspectors do. Developers could then hire the newly-minted professionals, instead of calling in city inspectors to approve their progress.

“Toronto Building staff do not support the introduction of a program whereby builders would be allowed through legislation to hire designers to assume the plan review and inspection roles and responsibilities on behalf of municipalities,” Will Johnston, the city’s chief building official, wrote in a report to the planning and housing committee.

“There are a number of concerns with this model, including potential conflicts of interest.”

Even if the proposal is eventually approved, it may have a tough time getting architects onboard.

The Ontario Association of Architects, which regulates the profession, weighed in last November in a letter to the province.

 “The development industry may have pitched this to government as a cheap and simple way to to get building approvals faster,” the letter reads in part.

“As risk is transferred from municipalities to individual practitioners, the profession’s liability would increase, and higher insurance costs would directly translate into higher building costs.”

Adam Tracey, the association’s manager of policy and government relations, warned those extra costs would likely be passed on to the public.

“There will be some kind of cost transfer from municipalities back on to homeowners and business owners,” he said. “Somebody has to pay for it. It’s not going to be done for free.”

The proposal is part of larger discussion paper, circulated by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing among professionals in the building industry last fall.

The aim of the consultation, according to a statement from the ministry to CBC Toronto, is “modernizing and transforming the delivery of building code services to help speed up the construction of new housing and building projects, and better support Ontario’s $38-billion building industry.”

Builders have been complaining for years about red tape that’s slowing down the building process. They’ve been asking for a more streamlined system.

As things stand now, every builder — from single-home contractors to the largest developers — must adhere to the Ontario Building Code when erecting a new structure.

Municipalities enforce the code, signing off on each stage of construction, from the original building permit application, through foundation work, framing, plumbing, and other work normally done by tradespeople. Ultimately, after a final inspection, the city issues an occupancy permit.

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