The Town of Orangeville has been denied an insurance claim for ice and snow damage to a local arena – a costly lesson on the necessity of building permits that brokers need to drive home to clients.

The Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre suffered damage following last winter’s ice and snow storm, requiring $71,500 in arena repairs.

“With the snow load that came down and the ice, a lot of the structural steel was bent,” said Ed Brennan, director of parks and recreation, told the Orangeville Banner. “When we first saw it, we didn’t realize to what extent.”

It all started when Orangeville’s insurance provider – the Ontario Municipal Insurance Exchange (OMEX) – sent an engineering company to assess the damage, only to find that the roof wasn’t designed to code, and no permit had been issued for the construction of the roof.

Brennan explained construction of the roof was completed before Orangeville had a building and bylaw department and town staff did not build the roof.

“It wasn’t designed to take the load apparently that it should,” Brennan told reporters. “It was insured ‘as is.’ We want some money for this to help us out.”

The town plans on asking OMEX to reverse its decision.

“We are going back to OMEX and we are pressing the issue that we want coverage,” said Brennan, “we are hoping we will get some form of rebate towards this project.”

OMEX President Nahla Hanna is personally reviewing the file.

The cost to rehabilitate the roof will include a snow management system to avoid similar damage in the future.