Commercial Building Inspector

ASTM Property Condition Assessment

 

All of our property condition inspections use the baseline property condition assessment process as outlined in the ASTM E-2018 Standards and InterNACHI International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties. Inspections are generally more invasive than the PCA Property Condition Assessment Inspection outlined in the ASTM E-2018 Standards and InterNACHI International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties The end result provides you with detailed picture of the age and condition of the major building components and how maintenance has effected its life span. The final report will list deficiencies, repair recommendations, and a detailed report with representative photos when appropriate.

 

The term Greater Toronto has been used in writing as early as the 1900s although at the time, the term only referred to the former City of Toronto and its immediate townships and villages. The usage of the term involving the four regional municipalities came into formal use in the mid-1980s, after it was used in a widely discussed report on municipal governance restructuring in the region and was later made official as a provincial planning area. In 2006, the term began to be supplanted in the field of spatial planning as provincial policy increasingly began to refer to either the GTHA (see below) or the still-broader "Greater Golden Horseshoe". The latter includes communities like Barrie, Guelph and the Niagara Region. The GTA continues, however, to be in official use elsewhere in the Government of Ontario, such as the Ministry of Finance. The City of Hamilton, though possessing extensive ties with the City of Toronto and its suburbs, has traditionally been regarded to be outside the GTA. Beginning in the late-2000s, the term "Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area" (GTHA) was introduced by a few public bodies,a often in place of "GTA", reflecting the usual GTA plus the former Wentworth County, but not yet widely used. The population of the combined area is 6,539,700 as of 2008.[5] Census metropolitan area A map of Toronto's Census Metropolitan Area, which contains a large portion of the Greater Toronto Area. Some municipalities that are considered part of the GTA are not within Toronto's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) whose land area (5,904 km² in 2006) and population (5,113,149 as of the 2006 census) is thus smaller than the land area and population of the GTA planning area. For example, Oshawa, which is the centre of its own CMA, or Burlington, which is included in the Hamilton CMA are both deemed part of the Greater Toronto Area. Other municipalities, such as New Tecumseth in southern Simcoe County and Mono Township in Dufferin County are included in the Toronto CMA but not in the GTA. These different border configurations result in the GTA's population being higher than the Toronto CMA by nearly one-half million people, often leading to confusion amongst people when trying to sort out the urban population of Toronto. Other nearby urban areas, such as Hamilton, Barrie or St. Catharines-Niagara and Kitchener-Waterloo are not part of the GTA or the Toronto CMA, but form their own CMAs that are in fairly close proximity to the GTA (all within one hour's drive to downtown Toronto). Ultimately, all the aforementioned places are part of the Golden Horseshoe metropolitan region, an urban agglomeration, which is the seventh most populous in North America. When the Hamilton, Oshawa and Toronto CMAs are agglomerated with Brock and Scugog, they have a population of 6,170,072. It is part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis containing an estimated 54 million people. History Before 1900 The Greater Toronto Area was home to a number of First Nations groups who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario long before the first Europeans arrived in the region. At various times the Neutral, Seneca, Mohawk and Huron nations were living in the vicinity of the region. The Mississaugas arrived in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, driving out the occupying Iroquois. While it is unclear to who was the first European to reach the Toronto area, there is no question that it occurred in the 17th century.[15] The area would later become very crucial for its series of trails and water routes that led from northern and western Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Known as the "Toronto Passage", it followed the Humber River, as an important overland shortcut between Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and the upper Great Lakes. For this reason area became a hot spot for French fur traders. The French would later establish two trading forts, Magasin Royale in the 1720s, although abandoned within the decade and Fort Rouillé in the 1750s, which would later be burnt down and abandoned in 1759 by the French garrison, who were retreating from invading British forces. A map of York County during the 1880s The first large influx of European settlers to settle the region were the United Empire Loyalists arriving after the American Revolution, when various individuals petitioned the Crown for land in and around the Toronto area. In 1787, the British negotiated the purchase of more than a quarter million acres (1,000 km²) of land in the area of Toronto with the Mississaugas of New Credit. York County, would later be created by Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1792, which would at its largest size, comprise all of what is now Halton Region, Toronto, Peel Region, York Region and parts of the current Durham Regional Municipality. The Town of York (present day Toronto) would later be attacked by American forces in the War of 1812 in what is now known as the Battle of York, in 1813. In 1816, Wentworth County and Halton County were created from York County. York County would later serve as the setting for the beginnings of the Upper Canada Rebellion with William Lyon Mackenzie's armed march from Holland Landing towards York Township on Yonge Street, eventually leading up to the battle at Montgomery's Tavern. In 1851, Ontario County and Peel County were separated from York. Since 1900 The idea towards a streamlined local government to control local infrastructure was made as early as 1907 by member of federal Parliament, and founder of the Toronto Globe, William Findlay Maclean who called for the expansion of the government of the former City of Toronto in order to create a Greater Toronto. The idea for a single government municipality would not be seriously explored until the late 1940s' when planners decided that the city needed to incorporate its immediate suburbs. However due to strong opposition from suburban politicians, a compromise was struck which resulted in the creation of Metropolitan Toronto. In 1953, the portion of York County south of Steeles Avenue, a concession road and township boundary, was severed from the county and incorporated as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. With the concession of Metro Toronto, the offices of York County were moved from Toronto to Newmarket. Originally, the membership in Metropolitan Toronto included the former City of Toronto and five townships: East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York; as well as seven villages and towns, which became amalgamated into their surrounding townships in 1967. The early Metro Toronto government debated over the annexation of surrounding townships of Markham, Pickering and Vaughan. The first Metro Toronto Chairman, Frederick Goldwin Gardiner planned on the conversion of these townships into boroughs of the Metro Toronto government. In 1971, the remaining areas of York County was replaced by the Ontario government with the Regional Municipality of York. In 1980, North York would be incorporated into a city, with York following suit in 1983 and Etobicoke and Scarborough in 1984, although still part of the Metropolitan Toronto Municipal Government. In 1992 the Ontario government passed legislation requiring Metropolitan Toronto to include the rest of the Greater Toronto Area into its planning. Despite this however, there was fear that different parts of the municipal system were working against one another and because of this, Bob Rae, then the Premier of Ontario, appointed Anne Golden to head a GTA task force to govern the region's quality of life, competitiveness and governance. During this time, the Metro Toronto government advocated to the task force the creation of a new GTA authority, which would be made up of 21 of the 30 existing municipalities in the GTA at the time. The proposal from Metro Toronto would have resulted in 15 new municipalities. The City of Mississauga argued that consolidation should only take place in such a way that the new municipalities would have a population between 400,000 to 800,000. The Town of Markham had similarly advocated municipal consolidation in York Region, although it was opposed to complete consolidation into a single municipality. Municipal consolidation faced stiff opposition however from smaller communities such as Ajax, Milton, and the borough of East York.[31] The incoming government of Mike Harris would later act on the recommendation of the task force with the elimination of Metro Toronto, consolidating the remaining municipalities into the new City of Toronto. The task force's recommendations towards a GTA-tier municipality however were not acted upon by the Harris government, as it similarly resembled the former Metro Toronto government. Geography Rattlesnake Point near Milton. The Greater Toronto Area covers a total area of 7,125 km2 (2,751 sq mi). The region itself is bordered by Lake Ontario to the south, Kawartha lakes to the east, the Niagara Escarpment to the west, and Lake Simcoe to the north. The region creates a natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion. Vast parts of the region remain farmland and forests, making it one of the distinctive features of the geography of the GTA. Most of the urban areas in the GTA holds large urban forest. For the most part designated as parkland, the ravines are largely undeveloped. Rouge Park is also one of the largest nature park within a core of a metropolitan area. Much of these areas also constitute the Toronto ravine system, and a number of conservation areas in the region which are managed by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. In 2005, the Government of Ontario also passed legislation to prevent urban development and sprawl on environmentally-sensitive land in the Greater Toronto Area, known as the Greenbelt, many of these areas including protected sections of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Rouge Park and the Niagara Escarpment. Nevertheless, low-density suburban developments continue to be built, some on or near ecologically sensitive and protected areas. The provincial government has recently attempted to address this issue through the "Places to Grow" legislation passed in 2005, which emphasizes higher-density growth in existing urban centres over the next 25 years.[38] Economy A worker at the Oakville Assembly installs a battery on a Ford Flex The Greater Toronto Area is a commercial, distribution, financial and economic centre, being the third largest financial centre in North America. The region as a whole generates about a fifth of the GDP of Canada, and is home to 40% of Canada's business headquarters. The economies of the municipalities in Greater Toronto themselves are largely intertwined with one another. The work force is made up of approximately 2.9 million people and more than 100,000 companies The Greater Toronto Area currently produces nearly 20% of the entire nation's GDP with $323 Billion, and from 1992 to 2002, experienced an average GDP growth rate of 4.0% and a job creation rate of 2.4% (compared to the national average GDP growth rate of 3% and job creation rate of 1.6%). The Greater Toronto Area also is home to 40% of Canadian business headquarters. Currently, over 51% of the labour force in the Greater Toronto Area is employed in the service sector, with 19% in the manufacturing, 17% of the labour force employed in wholesale & retail trade, 8% of the labour force involved in transportation, communication &utilities, and 5% of the workforce is involved in construction. Despite the fact that the service industry makes up only 51% of Greater Toronto's workforce, over 72% of the region's GDP is generated by service industries. The largest industry in the Greater Toronto Area is the financial services in the province, accounting for an estimated 25% of the region's GDP. Notably, the five largest banks in Canada all have their operational headquarters located in Toronto's Financial District. Toronto is also where the headquarters of to the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Standard and Poor TSX Composite Index are located, with offices of the TSX Venture Exchange also located in Toronto. The TMX Group, the owners and operators of TSX Exchanges as well as the Montreal Exchange are also headquartered in Toronto. The TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange represent 3,369 companies, including more than half of the world’s publicly traded mining companies. Markham also attracted the highest concentration of high tech companies in Canada, and because of it, has positioned itself as Canada'sHigh-Tech Capital. The Greater Toronto Area is currently the second largest automotive centre in North America (after Detroit). Currently, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler run six assembly plants in the area, with Honda and Toyota having assembly plants just outside of the GTA. General Motors, Ford, Honda, KIA, Mazda, Suzuki, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Subaru, Volvo, BMW, and Mitsubishi have chosen the Greater Toronto Area for their Canadian headquarters. Magna International, the world's most diversified car supplier, also has its headquarters located in Aurora. The entire automobile industry within the region accounts for roughly 10% of the region's GDP. Agriculture

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