Venmar Ventilation Expands Safety Upgrade Program

Venmar Ventilation inc. announces that it is expanding its Safety Upgrade Program for certain air exchangers with or without heat recovery that it manufactures. Venmar is asking owners of units covered by this program to immediately turn their unit off, and contact Venmar Ventilation inc. as soon as possible by phone at 1 866 441-4645, by visiting their website at www.venmar.ca, or by mail at SUP-2006 Program, 550 Lemire Boulevard, Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, J2C 7W9.

FNNBOA Report - First Nations Building Disposable Houses

Shannonville, ON - Some First Nations communities are unnecessarily forced to rebuild their homes every five years over the 50-year life cycle charges a new report released by the First Nations National Building Officers Association (FNNBOA). The exploratory report finds that housing is not built to last in communities where the Chief and Council do not require proper inspections and where there are no band bylaws or resolutions to ensure homes are built to building code standards and properly maintained.

In comparison, the report finds communities that have band bylaws and resolutions for homes to be built to code, and that have maintenance programs, only replace their homes some 1.7 times over the 50 years. These figures are comparable to some homes off-reserve.

 “Chief and Council are the authority with jurisdiction and it is their responsibility to ensure that homes are built to code and properly maintained,” said Mr. Bud Jobin, President of FNNBOA. Mr. Jobin who works as an inspector and teaches courses on building codes, says that “while poverty and overcrowding are hard on the structure of homes, in many cases the homes are not built to building code standards.” 

Mr. Jobin observes that one of the findings is that external walls or foundations are replaced or repaired every five years in some communities at substantial cost to the community. “If it had been done right the first time, it wouldn’t have been an expense down the road,” he says.

The report examines the 50 year life cycle of a home and all of the operation and maintenance costs. The report notes that the figures are based on the assumption that Chief and Council do repairs as required. The information is based on inspector’s experience for three types of First Nations communities. The exploratory study makes several recommendations including further research on life cycle of homes in First Nations communities.

For more information, please contact:
Bud Jobin, President
(780) 523-8357
bjobin@clearwave.ca

• Read the report “An Exploratory Study on the Life Cycle of First Nations Homes” (PDF)
• Read the transcript of an APTN interview with FNNBOA President Bud Jobin (PDF)
   

Building Permits for First Nations

The First Nations National Building  Officers Association (FNNBOA) has produced a manual on how to  implement a building-permit system in your community. (PDF - version français)

The FNNBOA Story

First Nations National Building Officers Association (FNNBOA) is a national nonprofit organization. It represents those individuals who provide residential, commercial and  institutional construction and renovation technical services (i.e., plans review, inspections, recommending repairs, technical advocacy and advisory role) for buildings located in First Nation/Aboriginal communities. There are approximately 250 to 300 employed in this sector.

FNNBOA Chapters

The FNNBOA network is broken up into seven specific chapters covering British Columbia, the Territories, the Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador).

Sponsors & Partners

Partnership development is extremely important in today's complex world, regardless of whether your interests lie in finance, education, health or building homes.

Partnerships are critical, particularly so to a new organization, with ambitions like the FNNBOA.

Learn more about our partners and sponsors ...

Communities Wanted!

Does your community want to improve your housing conditions? Are you planning to improve how band homes are built? If your answer is yes, then FNNBOA would be interested in talking with you.

Over the past few years, INAC has funded projects where FNNBOA provides an overview of your building and inspection activities at no cost to the community.

FNNBOA gets many requests and resources may be limited.  Priority is given to those who contact FNNBOA first and provide the necessary supporting documents.

If interested, please send an email to info@fnnboa.ca  or contact Bud Jobin at (780) 523-8357.  

Read the FNNBOA Newsletter

The Spring 2011 Newsletter features articles on the role FNNBOA plays to help build better First Nations communities, an excellent President’s Message on the often substandard treatment First Nations housing gets in terms of quality of materials, an Eagle’s Eye on Housing focused on community planning materials for First Nations communities, a “Join our network!” message from the First Nations National Housing Managers Association (FNNHMA), and a case study on the Tsuu T’ina Nation Building Process.