I would like to thank the host committee for all the work they have done, the conference chair for the excellent informative agenda, and the rest of the executive who put the time in to put this conference together. Great job everyone, you deserve our gratitude.
I’d also like to thank our hard-working board of directors and committee chairs who work tirelessly to ensure we are moving in the right direction – as always, that is on many fronts.
I assure you, your association continues to work towards many goals and initiatives.
Likely our biggest endeavour to date, and certainly a huge new role for this association is the development and implementation of the SBOA Certification Program. We will continue to provide updates on this exciting new program that is sure to have a positive impact on all of us, as well as new building officials who chose to work in this great industry.
Many of you are still wondering about the government’s Alternative Compliance Model initiative, and where it might land. I have not heard of any changes or updates in the past six months, but I don’t think it has gone away either. There is likely still one group that still would like to see some version of it. We will stand by and keep everyone posted. I’m sure we will hear more on this from Mr. Hawkins when he gives us the latest updates from his office.
As I like to remind everyone at this time, the SBOA remains a strong and steady contributing member of the Alliance of Canadian Building Officials Associations. Alliance of Canadian Building Officials Association (ACBOA) is a national voice for Building Officials. It is made up of associations like ours from across the country, including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. As of this past year, Yukon and Northwest Territories are now members that sit at the ACBOA table. National Research Council (NRC) now participates as a full member of ACBOA. This is recognition of ACBOA’s role nationally. NRC and other national organizations are looking for a way to participate with Building Officials on a national level.
To date, ACBOA’s largest tangible contribution to the world of Building Officials has been the development of national code training that is delivered across the country. The SBOA has been delivering this training for three years now. We are extremely excited that this material has been reviewed and endorsed by NRC. The federal organization that writes the code has said that the training we are using is the training material that you should take if you want to study building codes in Canada.
As of a few months ago, ACBOA now owns a new database of 1300 exam questions, all based on the 2010 National Building Code, but work has already started to update to the 2015 NBC. These exam questions will make up the exam program for the new SBOA Certification Program. They are good questions, developed by Building Officials under the scrutiny of a professional educational institute. The format is online, and it is simple to use, effective, efficient, and your results are immediate.
SBOA, through our partnership with ACBOA, has full access to these questions, and in fact, at the end of November, Lara is going to Ontario, to meet with the exam writers, and will be developing the exam logic specifically for Saskatchewan.
No doubt, our involvement, and our contributions to ACBOA, and having a seat at the national table has great value.
As I always say, we have great partners, and great partnerships.
We will continue to work towards our association objectives, and to help our members be better Building Officials.
Chris Gates, LBO-3, A.Sc.T., CRBO
President Saskatchewan Building Officials Association