A Municipality may choose to incorporate Roadway Inspections into their infrastructure protection program to capture the condition of a roadway prior and after a specific move occurs with the intention of recovering any costs incurred for roadway damages as a result of that move.
Roadway inspections are most commonly performed when a Drilling Rig of other Multiple Load move occurs, while some Municipalities may choose to inspect roadways for all overweight vehicle movement.
Generally a pre-move and post-move inspection are completed, however in some situations a Municipality may decide that only a post-move inspection is required.
An inspector can be an internal staff member or a contract inspector.
Depending on the volume of inspections required, the contractor can be part time or shared fulltime between neighboring Municipalities.
Either method can be easily coordinated by Roadata.
We simply coordinate the inspection and charge the fee as part of the permit to the road user.
The net funds are remitted back to the Municipality.
WHY SHOULD YOU INSPECT THE ROADWAYS?
Roadways are one of the biggest investments any Municipality has.
Many Municipalities have reported success since implementing pre-move and post-move inspections.
Typically any cost associated with the administration of an inspection program is offset from the fees collected from the road user.
The most significant financial impact reported is the dramatic improvement of cost recovery for damage.
Some Municipalities have reported this figure to be as high as $250,000 annually.
HOW ARE INSPECTORS TYPICALLY EMPLOYED?
Some Municipalities have inspectors as full time employees, others share an inspector between one or more Municipalities and some are using contract inspectors.
Of our Municipal partnerships, 2 Municipalities use contracted inspectors and find the program to be successful.
Some Municipalities contract a former employee on a per inspection basis where volume is not an issue, while other Municipalities, with a need for 60 to 100 inspections per month may employ a full time inspector.
WHAT TYPES OF PERMITS DO MOST MUNICIPALITIES REQUIRE AN INSPECTION FOR?
Most Municipalities who charge inspection fees are doing so for movement of drilling rigs in and out of the Municipality.
There are a handful of Municipalities that charge inspection fees for service rig movement, multiple legal load movement and a few that charge for every overweight permit related move.
WHAT ARE MUNICIPALITIES CHARGING FOR INSPECTION FEES?
Municipalities vary in inspection fees and requirements.
The fees range from $100 per inspection ($200 total = 1 pre move + 1 post move inspection) to $500 per inspection.
The majority fall into the $200 to $225 range.
This would mean a $400 to $450 inspection charge to check the road before and after the move.
WHAT INSPECTIONS IS ROADATA PROCESSING FOR OTHER MUNICIPALITIES?
There are 17 Roadata Partner Municipalities that are currently charging for Roadway inspections.
Roadata (RDS) can coordinate and invoice the inspection fee to the road user with the permit approval process and then remit back to the Municipality.
We have a simple web based system that allows inspectors to track their inspections and note any of their findings.
WHAT DOES ROADATA CHARGE FOR THE SERVICE?
Our fee is $21 per inspection for the processing, invoicing and remittance of the fees back to the Municipality.
If a Municipality sets an inspection fee at $200, RDS would charge $200 to the road user as part of the permit and then remit $179 back to the Municipality following a 3 month billing cycle.
If a contract inspector is a consideration, RDS can coordinate this inspector and would ensure payment to the contractor.
The current contract inspection rate is $100 per inspection.
HOW CAN WE IMPLEMENT INSPECTION FEES IN OUR MUNICIPALITY?
An inspection process is extremely easy to implement. We encourage a minimum 30 days notice to rate payers and road users but it is not necessarily needed.
