Parksville construction firm fined after issuing fake occupancy permits

“Although we only proceeded with charges in relation to three forgeries, there were approximately 20 total forged occupancy permits spanning the course of about a decade,” Uppal told the hearing.

During a break in the hearing, Uppal told reporters this conduct equated to a safety risk which can’t go unanswered.

“By allowing homeowners to occupy homes without occupancy permits, Ballard Fine Homes and Gaudreault exposed the public to a safety risk, if not a theoretical safety risk; by virtue of that the RDN has been seeking the maximum fine as well as prosecution costs.”

An apologetic Ballard told court two of the homes in question are located in French Creek and had gone through final on-site inspections.

He said all of the homes were fully built, safe and legal occupancy permits were awarded within two or three weeks of the issue arising.

“I did make every attempt to get these occupancy permits resolved. I dismissed [Gaudreault] immediately, I confronted him immediately. He confessed to doing it.”

Ballard told court his cooperation with the RDN includes supplying a confessional audio recording for pending litigation.

Gaudreault was contracted by Ballard Fine homes between 2011 and 2022 to manage single-family home construction and obtain all necessary permits, court was told.

“He was trusted and did hundreds and hundreds of permits prior to this,” Ballard said. “I was told regardless, because he wasn’t an employee, my company would still be held responsible, so I am accepting responsibility for my company’s actions.”

Defence counsel Josh Bloomenthal emphasized his client was not aware illegal occupancy permits had been issued to customers.

“Ballard Fine Homes is prepared to pay the fines, is prepared to take responsibility for what occurred, has made necessary policy and operational changes to ensure this never happens again and it won’t,” Bloomenthal said.

Court was told the RDN has paid more than $40,000 to date litigating the fraudulent occupancy permit cases, not including exhaustive internal investigating to determine the scope of the problem. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Judge Karren Whonnock agreed to the jointly submitted sentence recommendation of the maximum combined fine of $6,000 for the fraudulent permits and a $3,000 penalty to help offset the RDN’s prosecution of the case.

The fines are due to be paid to the RDN within 30 days.

Whonnock said a home should serve as a persons sense of security and trust.

“By allowing occupancy without occupancy permits, that fortress of peace and solitude, the trust and security has been seriously eroded. Any sense of peace has been put into jeopardy,” judge Whonnock said.

Gaudreault is scheduled to go on trial next month in provincial court in Nanaimo for issuing three fake occupancy permits while he was employed with Ballard Fine Homes.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated three additional fraudulent occupancy permit counts were stayed against Ballard Fine Homes in exchange for a guilty plea. Charges listed on B.C. court records were duplicates and NanaimoNewsNOW apologizes for the error.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Parksville construction firm fined after issuing fake occupancy permits

Our Community