Calgary’s manager of building safety said recent charges against a Calgary homebuilding company were “incredibly alarming.”

Dhaliwal Homes Ltd. faces 49 charges for failing to comply with the Safety Codes Act of Alberta and two other Land Use Bylaw breaches, the city said.

The charges involve four Calgary homes. The homes are located in the 1700 block of 27 Street SW, and the 2300 block of 27 Avenue NW.

“This is a pretty serious case,” said Cliff de Jong, manager of building safety with the City of Calgary.

“We’ve got four homes that were built without permits, which is incredibly alarming and unusual for us.”

The company’s lone director and two agents were in court following the investigation on April 13, the city said. These charges follow a three-month investigation by Calgary Building Services.

“We had no verification as to compliance with safety codes, be that building, electrical, plumbing, gas. All of them are unverified at this time,” de Jong said.

Homeowner responsible to bring buildings up to code

 The Safety Codes Act violations are related to the construction of two semi-detached properties and include:

• Building without a municipal building permit for both homes and the detached garages.
• Building without the necessary safety code inspections (electrical, gas, plumbing and building) being conducted.
• Knowingly submitting false and misleading information in relation to permits, inspections and permission to occupy.  

All the permits submitted by Dhaliwal Homes Ltd. are alleged to have been falsified, according to de Jong. 

Homeowners are encouraged to reach out to a lawyer and a reputable real estate agent before moving forward with a purchase of a home.

Without safety protocols or the proper permits, a homeowner would be responsible.

“Our legislation directs us to the owner to rectify any issues,” de Jong said.

“For us, we need to make sure that the structure is safe. And our legislation points us to the owner, so they’d be left with a hefty, very expensive issue to resolve.”

Dhaliwal Homes Ltd. have been in business in Calgary for some time, and they have a number of projects they were working on, according to de Jong. They’re no longer operating as a business.

‘If there were any other concerns, we don’t have any evidence of anything else,” de Jong said.

“In this case, it’s just an egregious overstep that they made.”