⭐ Our BuildCanadaHomes.org Analysis:
Takeaway
The recent launch of British Columbia’s Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing (DASH) program aims to expedite the approval process for prefabricated multi-family homes, addressing the province’s housing affordability and supply issues. This innovative online tool allows builders and developers to create customized designs within a standardized framework, significantly reducing the time required for architectural drawings—from weeks to mere minutes. While housing officials herald this initiative as transformative for Canadian housing construction, skepticism remains regarding its ability to tackle persistent municipal approval challenges that often complicate timely project execution.
For Ontario’s Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and broader market, the implications of DASH are substantial. As the province grapples with a housing crisis, adopting similar initiatives to streamline the building approval process could enhance efficiency in residential development. Developers and skilled trades should closely monitor this model, as the potential for increased investment in prefabricated construction methods could reshape project timelines and costs. One actionable insight for Ontario’s construction business owners is to advocate for standardized approval frameworks at the municipal level, similar to DASH, which could facilitate faster project completions. Why it matters: A more efficient permitting landscape could alleviate the pressure on housing inventory, positioning Ontario to meet its escalating demand effectively and affordably.
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B.C. has launched software to help prefabricated homes get approved and built faster, which Housing Minister Christine Boyle says is intended to help address the province’s challenges with housing affordability and supply.
The program, called Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing (DASH), is an online building tool that uses standardized designed and prefabricated building blocks to help design three- to six-storey multi-family housing projects.
The tool is a “first in Canada” program that will speed up approvals and lower costs for developers and non-profits, according to Boyle.
“DASH is a game changer,” she said.
“It brings together everything that builders, developers, architects and manufacturers need to create homes.”
Alex Boston, an urban planner with Boston Consulting, maintains labour constraints are one of the biggest impediments to more housing. He says that Canada may not be able to build its way out of a housing crisis, but it may be able to manufacture its way out using prefab homes. He praised recent federal commitments to exploring this method for building homes at scale.
The DASH website is available now — though former Victoria mayor Lisa Helps, who is the executive lead for project origination with B.C. Builds, says it’s a prototype that she hopes to get further feedback and testing on.
Helps says her team helped to create this tool alongside the residential construction industry, and she expects it to be fully scaled up over the next five to seven years.
Architects can use the province’s “rules-based generator” – which is not based on artificial intelligence, Helps said – to select one of the province’s standardized designs and tailor it to the property they’re looking to build on.
“It’ll take into account municipal zoning, nearby buildings, making sure not to overshadow the neighbours,” said Helps.
“It gives architects these new digital tools, and then frees up time for more creative work to make sure that these buildings fit beautifully into neighborhoods.”
The process will take the program about three to five minutes to complete, she said, instead of the typical two to three weeks for an architect to draw up these designs.
Prefabricated parts are used to construct the building, which Helps says is intended to expedite manufacturing and construction.
Prefab homes are one of the options experts say could help improve the housing inventory in Canada.
During the election campaign, Mark Carney and the now-elected Liberal Party promised about $25 billion in loans to the prefabricated homes industry.
Complex approval processes
Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders Association, says he has doubts about the extent to which DASH will ease complex approval processes.
Most of the challenges he encounters are on a municipal level – and without standardized rules for floor space calculations and other parts of the permitting process, which can take months of disputes to resolve, he’s not convinced this resource will help much.
Instead of DASH, Edge says he wishes the province would standardize that process — along with reducing municipal and regional fees, such as community amenity contributions.
Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, who is also the chair of Metro Vancouver, weighs in on prefabricated homes and how they’re being used as part of the spectrum of housing solutions in the region.
“It’s another initiative that doesn’t really address the real problems of building homes efficiently and affordably,” said Edge.
“The reality is that the municipalities control whether housing gets approved or not — and so unless you have enforced, standardized rules with respect to that, rolling this stuff out isn’t going to make any difference.”
Source: Read the original article at New B.C. tool intends to speed up prefabricated housing approvals, construction on www.cbc.ca
