Decision Notice: Boiler plant operating permit fee consultation

From March 19 through May 3, 2019, Technical Safety BC consulted with industry clients and stakeholders on proposed fee changes for boiler plant operating permits, to be implemented October 2, 2019. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their insight into this consultation.

After reviewing the feedback received through consultation on the proposed change, Technical Safety BC has been granted approval to move forward with fee changes as outlined below:

Boiler ​plants registered with Technical Safety BC after October 1, 2019 will need to pay the above fee for obtaining your operating permit. The fees in the above table are also proposed to be the same for renewing your plant operating permit, subject to any annual fee increases.​

Accepted recommendation

Proceed with the initial proposal, effective October 2, 2019. 

65% of those surveyed responded that the proposed fees were "reasonable" or "somewhat reasonable", and 89% agreed with structuring fees by plant class. We received feedback from 17% of respondents indicating that the $94 annual fee for 5th class plants may disproportionately negatively impact these plants. However, we have not reduced this fee in the final decision because the fee is proportional to the cost of safety oversight for these plants.

Through registering boiler plants over the past year, we have begun to identify a number of plant-related issues, including misclassification and incorrect supervision levels. We expect to report on these and other valuable outcomes of the program in our State of Safety publication.  

Note that heritage boilers are exempt from plant operating permit requirements due to the nature of their operations.