Mission

What is By-Law Crawl?

By-Law Crawl is an event designed to locate, identify and report properties which are in violation of the City of Hamilton's Property Standards By-Law, in hopes of proactively preventing further decay and demolition of Hamilton's building stock, and ensuring that buildings do not pose a danger to the public.

What Will This Event Accomplish?

Effective By-Law enforcement is the only tool we have as citizens to ensure properties don't fall into disrepair and require demolition. This isn't just an issue of heritage preservation, it's also an issue of waste- 30% of our landfills are composed of building materials. To demolish a building instead of properly maintaining and restoring it is bad for the environment, and a massive waste of materials. By-Law Crawl is intended to equip regular citizens with the tools and legislation needed to prevent any more unnecessary demolition in Downtown Hamilton. This event hopes to improve the safety, sustainability and history of the downtown in a simple act of good citizenship.

How Can I Be Involved?

The first By-Law Crawl event took place on Saturday February 6th, 2010, and the results are currently being processed. The second event will take place on Saturday March 6th, 2010 @ Gore Park (BY-LAW CRAWL 2: SPRING CLEANING). If you fill out an online report, you'll be added to our database, and you'll receive updates and invites to upcoming events related to By-Law Crawl. You can also become a fan of By-Law Crawl on Facebook. The best way to be involved is to become familiar with the Property Standards By-Law, and to regularly check for infractions. These infractions can be reported to By-Law Crawl online, or directly to mle@hamilton.ca.

What To Look For:

• BROKEN WINDOWS
• UNSECURED ENTRANCES
• DAMAGED/MISSING ROOFTOPS
• UNCLEARED SNOW (24 HOURS)
• RUBBLE/DEBRIS
• Significant cracks in foundation walls
• Rubble foundations with gaping holes
• Significant cracks in above grade brick walls
• Mortar joints opening up creating large gaps between mortar and unit masonry / bricks
• Door and window frames dramatically out of square
• Door and window lintels, (supports above openings) severely deflecting (sagging)
• Falling bricks, fallen bricks, bricks spalling, (skin/face of the bricks chipping away from the bricks exposing the porous clay within the bricks)
• Bulging walls / Bowing walls
• Tilted or leaning chimneys
• Parapets and overhanging cornices leaning or about to pull away from the building