SURREY City Council has approved the award of a contract to Archistar Pty. Ltd. for an automated rule-based zoning bylaw compliance tool for a three-year term. Called ‘eCheck,’ this tool aims to streamline zoning bylaw compliance issues in residential building permit applications, improving the quality of applications and speeding up the permitting process.
“We’re addressing Surrey’s growing housing needs with innovative solutions to ensure our community is supported as it grows,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke on Thursday. “The goal of this tool is to help speed up the permitting process and help accelerate housing development. We’re committed to being a leader in urban planning and development, and this new tool will help us achieve our vision of building a vibrant, sustainable, and livable city for all.”
With the eCheck software, single-family developers will be available to vet their submissions for preliminary compliance with the City’s zoning requirements in advance of a formal application. Through this system, developers can receive instant feedback on their permit applications, enhancing certainty to the quality of submissions, reducing the plan checking efforts and accelerating the delivery of housing in our community. This software will not remove the role of the plan checker in the approval process.
Through a competitive procurement process, Archistar demonstrated that its automated rule-based zoning bylaw compliance software can produce an accurate review of common zoning non-compliance issues such as building height and setbacks. Staff will begin the implementation of eCheck for rollout later this year.
For more information on the award of contract to Archistar, click here.
On December 4, 2023, the City received approval for $95.6 million from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). Surrey’s HAF Action Plan outlined eight initiatives aimed at increasing the housing supply. This includes the research and implementation of Artificial Intelligence powered digital compliance capabilities to support the evaluation of development permit application. For more details on Surrey’s Housing Action Plan, visit the City’s website.
