September General Meeting 
Wednesday, September 16

Finance Minister Colin Hansen will speak on the HST at the General meeting on Wednesday, September 16. 

Please note, this meeting is the THIRD WEDNESDAY in September to accommodate the Minister’s schedule. This is your opportunity to hear the Minister’s views on the HST and housing, and let him know the impact it will have on our industry.   

Date:   Wednesday, September 16
Place:   Royal Colwood Golf Club - 629 Goldstream Ave.
Time:   6:00 pm – Mix & MIngle
           7:00 pm - Dinner
           8:00 pm – Guest Speaker

We expect a full house, so this is CHBA Members Only event.

To renew your CHBA membership, contact the office. Only valid 2009/10 CHBA members will be admitted. Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to a strong showing from CHBA’s membership.  

Cost: Members: $35 + gst  

To book your seat now, email info@chbavictoria.com or call the CHBA-Victoria office at 250.383.5044.  
 

BATTLING THE HST

All three levels of your association have been working hard on the Harmonized Sales Tax issue to ensure new homebuyers are not hit with additional charges of tens of thousands of dollars. Our message has been on A-Channel, Times Colonist, Black Press, CFAX, CBC, Vancouver Sun, the Province, etc. CHBA has had meetings with Finance Minister Colin Hansen and his staff to discuss the real cost of the HST and its impact on consumers and the industry. Issues include the rebate threshold, underground economy, transition rules, etc. BC is scheduled to sign off the deal with the feds on Sept 30, so we must lobby hard now. Hansen appears at our Dinner Meeting on Wednesday, Sept 16.
 

2010 CODE FOR LATERAL LOADS

CHBA-BC Technical Advisory Chair and Victoria Building Council Chair Ron Egli has sent a letter to Housing Minister Rich Coleman, BC Building Policy Branch, and the Canadian Council on Building and Fire Codes to express our concern that seismic changes to Part 9 of the code need to be simplified, otherwise builders and building inspectors will just defer to an engineer, which defeats the purpose of the changes. In addition, we would like to see some computer modeling tests of existing homes to establish a benchmark of existing seismic safety.
 

The District of Saanich has proposed an additional charge of $1,500 to new homes to go into their “Affordable Housing Fund.” Councilors Leif Wergeland and Paul Gerard attended Builders Council to make their case, however, the builders pointed out:

1. New homeowners should not be singled out to fund the social responsibilities of the community. Affordable housing, health care, education, etc, are the responsibility of the entire community and should come from property taxes of the  entire population, including new homeowners. The perpetuation of the myth by municipalities that developers pay for these charges and not new homebuyers ignores the fundamentals of business, meaning the costs of creating a product, including labour, materials, and overhead (including taxes and fees), are borne by the consumer in the final purchase price.

2. New homebuyers will be double-taxed, first via this policy, and again as a property taxpayer.

3. There already exists a CRD affordable housing fund and Saanich is duplicating this effort.

4. New homes are facing a huge increase with the implementation of the HST and this additional fee represents a tax on tax.  

CHBA plans to appear at Council to speak to this issue in the next few weeks. We will send out a notice and we hope CHBA members will come out to the meeting and make their views known to Council.

The CRD is planning to ban wood from construction sites going into landfills, effective March 1, 2010. Our concerns are ensuring there are affordable alternatives and we will be responding before the deadline of September 18, 2008. For more information, go to www.crd.bc.ca or call 250-360-3030.
 

YOU CAN JOIN US TOO!!

BE AN EXHIBITOR AND/OR SPONSOR OF THE EVENT!

Our 2010 Home and Garden Show, February 19, 20, and 21, is guaranteed to be exciting! We have just secured Debbie Travis for two appearances during the weekend! This will be Debbie’s first time back to Victoria since 2004 - she was our most popular celebrity ever!!

We have created a Special Sponsorship Package for 2010. This is a great opportunity to promote your company through the Home & Garden Show and we want to make sure the opportunity is affordable for everyone. This sponsorship includes a $100 off booth space (on top of the $100 membership discount) and many promotional opportunities for only $2010.

CHBA’s Home and Garden Show is an excellent opportunity to sponsor an event featuring a nationally recognized celebrity, and promote your business and projects during the important Spring housing market. 

There is still a good selection of booth space available as well.  As a member, you automatically receive a $100 discount per booth.  

Thank you for your consideration, and feel free to contact us for any additional information at info@chbavictoria.com or 250.383.5044.
 

The 2009CARE Awards Finalists have been announced! View photos of all the finalists at www.careawards.com.   

The Times Colonist is working on the 2009 CARE Awards supplement – this is a members only publication, it’s your opportunity to showcase your business and enjoy an excellent marketing opportunity. 

Tickets to the CARE Awards Gala on Friday, October 2 in the beautiful Crystal Ballroom are now available through the office. The Gold Awards will be presented to the winners at the gala, come out and celebrate with all of the winners! 

If you have any questions regarding the CARE Awards, please call our office at 250-383-5044. 

Thank you to all of our 2009 CARE Awards sponsors:

Gold:

Silver:
BC Housing, Berwick Retirement Communities, National Home Warranty Programs, RCITO, Travelers Guarantee Company, and Victoria Real Estate Board

Bronze:
BC Hydro Power Smart, Built Green™ BC, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation,
Canadian Western Bank, Georgie Awards®, and Habitat for Humanity Victoria

Media:
Times Colonist, and Western Living Magazine
 

During the summer the office hours will remain 8:30 am – 4:30 pm Monday thru Friday but due to holidays, and sunny days, there may be times when the office needs to be closed. If you plan to drop by for a contract, information, a visit, a coffee or a beer, please call ahead to make sure someone is here – we do enjoy the company!

CHBA – Victoria's membership keeps growing! Out of a total of 194 members, there are 92 CHBA builders representing almost 50% of the membership and building the majority of projects in our region.    

Welcome our newest members:
Bayview Properties Limited Partnership – Ken Mariash
Concert Real Estate Corporation – David Podmore and Heather Harley
Jenny Martin Design – Jenny Martin and Shauna Scott
K2 Stone (Victoria) Inc. – Rob Broekhuizen and Dan Harlow
Smithdesigns – Jeff Smith and Rich Poulin
tdSwansburg design studio - Teresa Ryback and Kelly Moir
Victoria Traditional Homes Ltd. – Les Hoppe 

AND we have three new applications:
Artus Tile Contracting Inc. – Arin and Dana Willing
Alexander Enterprises Ltd. – Larry and Diane Alexander
Java Designs – Kyle Leggett
Rannala Building Contractors Ltd. – David and Becky Rannala

We thank you for your continued support!

Just in case you haven’t renewed yet – the invoice for CHBA – Victoria Professional Fees is now overdue! Please dig through that pile of papers on your desk, find the invoice, and give us a call with your VISA or MasterCard as soon as possible – we don’t want you to miss out on all the benefits of membership in a professional association. If you plan to send a cheque – please give us a call and let us know “the cheques in the mail”! A payment plan is available as well. 

Support CHBA and professional home building. Do Business with a CHBA Member!    

The following companies have cancelled their membership for 2009/2010: Black Press Group; Cherry Hill Estates; HSBC Bank Canada; Premier Closets Ltd.; Tedford Overhead Doors & Gates
 

CRB Courses - Fall 2009 

If you do not have your Certified Residential Builder (CRB) designation, or, if you need a refresher, now is the time.  

The complete package of CRB courses is being offered in the Fall. These are mostly single day courses with an “at home/online” component. Sign up now to work online so you can be ready for the one-day class. 

The courses are: (click on course title for more information)

• Project Management – Cancelled – will be rescheduled later in the fall
• Built Green™ Builder Training – September 16-17
• BC Building Code - Single Family Dwellings – October 10
• Construction Law – November 16
• Financial Management – November 27
• Marketing and Project Sales – December 4 

Don’t delay. We don’t know when these courses will be running again as package.

To register online, please visit
http://www.elearning4u-chba.com/ or
contact Lauren Carter at 1-800-933-6777 or lauren@chbabc.org
 

Why not advertise your inventory of new homes for sale at no charge?  

To help you sell your homes, we have set up the New Homes for Sale page at ww.chbavictoria.com. Our CHBA-Victoria site gets 500 visitors per week – that’s 26,000 per year interested in homes by our professional home builders.  

We plan to make our CHBA site the “go to” web address for new home developments in our region, including marketing our New Homes for Sale page in CHBA’s weekly  Ask a Pro column in the Times Colonist. Check out Wednesday’s column featuring Bob Gill, CHBA President in the Homes section.  

New Homes for Sale is more value for your CHBA membership. No additional fees apply.  If you have new homes for sale, and they’re not on our page, contact Shelly at sportmann@chbavictoria.com or call the CHBA office so we can get them online. Check out the page once and awhile just to make sure your listing is still correct!