Builders are among the first to point out slow processes, costly fees and bureaucracy at City Hall. I've done this a few times on my blog already. What is also true is that some departments and functions work really well and the staff there do a good job and serve the taxpayer (me) promptly. 

My first example is the tax department. In order to get street parking passes for my 33 st job site I needed to show that I was the taxpayer of record. Once I identified the correct staff email address (can be a challenge) I had the new tax roll paperwork with proof of ownership in my inbox within a few hours.

My second example is the Calgary parking authority.  They regulate parking permits in the controlled areas. Residents get a pass to allow them to park in certain areas. As a land owner in the k1 zone I was possibly entitled to two visitor passes. These will allow me to park outside my job site  while I am doing the work to get it built.  I can be a visitor at my site, but I can't get a resident permit (there are a lot of rules related to this I don't claim to have scrutinized).  More than likely I will end up violating the parking restrictions so I need to retain some ability to plead ignorance.  Once I provided the correct paperwork to the staff they issued me the passes immediately and they arrived in the mail two days later (100% free of charge even!).   

My final example is the waterworks department.  I completed a service kill when I was installing my new sewer system at my duplex project. After submitting proof of completion to the staff they issued my $4250 refund in less than three weeks.  It is always a relief to get that fee back because the security payment is a real cash drain for builders with multiple demolition permits outstanding.  Hopefully one day the City will let builders with a track record of successful service kills avoid the security deposit, or at least allow one deposit to be used over multiple projects. I will tweet a photo of this cheque to the Mayor and ask him when we can stop swapping this cheque back and forth between us.  

There is a large amount of post permitting interaction between the house builder and the City staff, and it is always a relief when they respond quickly.  In another month I will have two townhouse projects in front of the planning department. I'm hopeful they can approve my applications as promptly as the parking, tax and waterworks departments did.