Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why have you decided to post inspection reports on the Web?

To provide the public with accessible information about facilities permitted/licensed and inspected by Vancouver Coastal Health, and to strengthen public accountability and transparency.

2. What Inspection Reports appear on the Vancouver Coastal Health web site?

Inspection Reports on this site include: Food Premises Inspection Reports, Personal Services Facility Inspection Reports, Community Care Licensing Residential Care & Child Care Inspection Reports.

3. How often is a facility inspected in Vancouver Coastal Health?

The frequency of inspection depends on the "relative risk" of the establishment and the resources available to Health Protection. At a minimum a facility is targeted for a full inspection once per year, with more frequent inspections for those establishments found to have a poor history of compliance or other deficiencies.

4. What does a public health inspector/environmental health officer or licensing officer look for when conducting an inspection of a facility?

In general, they are assessing a facility's compliance with the legislation relevant to the type of facility they are inspecting. See Facility Terms and FAQ's for more details.

5. Does the facility operator get advance notice of an inspection?

No: inspections, although pre-planned by the inspector, are typically unannounced and conducted without any prior warning.

6. What happens as a result of an inspection, if serious problems are found?

Depending on the severity of the contravention, the operator is given a specific time to correct the deficiency or risk further penalties. In the vast majority of cases the operator can have the problem corrected promptly, sometimes even while the inspector is still there.

7. What if the operator doesn't correct a serious problem in the prescribed time?

The inspector has a number of tools available to bring about compliance with the regulations. Through a process of progressive enforcement, the inspector may use such actions as compliance meetings with the operator, ticketing (in some types of facilities), closure and removal of the operating permit/license, and prosecution.

8. Why haven't you included "hazard ratings" in your website?

Hazard ratings of a facility based on inspection results are a subjective way of the inspector summarizing the inspection. Although this might be fine for the health authority's own use and to share with the operator, it can be quite mis-leading to the general public. The misinterpretation of a rating or a score not only impacts on the poorly run establishments, but can adversely and unfairly impact on the vast majority of facilities that provide a safe experience for their clients.

9. Why is there no inspection information on the facility I am looking at?

Community Care Licensing has just begun posting Inspection Reports for licensed residential care facilities on this web site in February 2011. It may be that a routine or routine follow-up inspection has not been conducted for the facility you are looking at since then. Historical inspection information for some residential care facilities can be found at: http://www.vch.ca/your_environment/facility_licensing/residential_care/inspection_reports/ Only inspections that are related to the current owner are posted. If a facility has changed ownership, the inspections from the previous owner will not be listed