Education

The Building Officials' Association of British Columbia (BOABC) has been notified that it is certified for another five years as a designated educational institution approved by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, effective January 1st, 2011.

The certification announcement explains that: "Accordingly, students may claim the fees paid to the institution for purposes of the tuition, education and textbook tax credits provided that the fees total more than $100 and qualify as eligible tuition expense.  Additionally, students must have attained the age of 16 before the end of the year and the courses and/or programs supplied must provide students with sufficient skills to enable them to work or improve their skills in a recognized occupation."

To claim fees paid to the BOABC for education seminars and courses, the Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada recommends that it does not guarantee that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will automatically accept receipts for all course and programs for tuition tax credit purposes.  The CRA's Interpretation Bulletins IT-515R2 and IT-516R2 provide additional details.  These Bulletins can be found on the CRA website.  For example, fees paid by an employer on a student's behalf, that are not included in income, are not eligible for the tuition tax credit, see IT-516R2 Summary.  The BOABC provides receipts for education seminar and study session enrollment fees.

Education development and delivery are vital components in the continued success and expansion of BOABC. The blueprint for this success is the Education Plan, which has been developed over the last number of years to meet the education needs of the BOABC membership, and provide a provincially-recognized Building Code training program for the building construction industry in general.

The Education Plan was developed to build on the success of previous education initiatives and to set out a plan that would formalize a more comprehensive program in the coming years. Towards this end, there are three initiatives BOABC is presently undertaking to enhance education delivery:

1. Develop Training Courses

The Education Strategy has identified the following courses as the highest priority to meet BOABC's needs:

To put these courses into a deliverable format, they have to be reviewed and modified to reflect the 2006 BC Building Code and any pertinent Acts and regulations in B.C.

2. Development of Training Facilitators

In the past, BOABC has relied upon a limited number of volunteers to deliver study sessions and workshops. These volunteers have served our Association extremely well, though in some cases it has resulted in certain people carrying too large of a workload.

The Association's objective is to develop a number of facilitators, who are trained to teach adults using interactive workshop sessions as opposed to a straight lecture format. Towards this end, BOABC will be providing opportunities for members who are interested in becoming facilitators to take courses and work with mentors who can help them develop skills in this area. The three criteria that will be used to choose and develop facilitators are:

3. Course Delivery

The Association has hired an Education Coordinator to organize and plan the development and delivery of BOABC Education.  The BOABC Executive has committed to delivering at least two code study sessions per BOABC zone annually.

4. BOABC Study Session Outline

The BOABC list of Group Study Sessions available for delivery in 2009 can be found under "Education" or by clicking below.  Contact your BOABC Zone Director who will organize the Group Study Session.  A minimum number of participants are needed to facilitate delivery.  Please click below.

5. The BC Legal, Regulatory System & the Code of Ethics Course for Building Officials (Course #1)

Please click below to view the course information for the 'BC Legal, Regulatory System & the Code of Ethics Course for Building Officials' that the BOABC is providing.

6. Overview of the BC Legal, Regulatory System & Building Bylaw Course for Building Officials (Course #2)

Please click on the Course Information below to view details regarding a new course being offered by the BOABC, an 'Overview of the BC Legal, Regulatory System & Building Bylaw Course'.  This is the second course being offered in the series.  The first course, 'BC Legal, Regulatory System & the Code of Ethics Course', must be completed prior to taking the second course.

7. Building & Safety Standards Branch Presentations

Please click below to view the topics presented at the BOABC 2012 Spring Conference.