Servicing Agreement Process

The Subdivision and Development Coordination section in Urban Planning and Economy is responsible for preparing and administering servicing agreements.

The Servicing Agreement and Engineering Drawing Review Process flowchart outlines the various steps of preparing a servicing agreement.

Once the requirement for a servicing agreement has been identified, the developer must enter into the servicing agreement prior to construction of any municipal improvements or infrastructure on City-owned land or City right-of-way, or on lands that will become City property upon registration of a subdivision plan.

The design and specifications of municipal improvements and infrastructure to be constructed are to be shown on detailed engineering drawings prepared by an engineering consultant retained by the developer. 

All related City departments and EPCOR will then review and approve the engineering drawings to ensure the design conforms to City of Edmonton Design and Construction Standards. 

The engineering drawings are ultimately signed by the Subdivision and Development Coordination section on behalf of the City departments and EPCOR. 

The approved engineering drawings will form part of the servicing agreement. Once the engineering drawings are in second circulation, the developer can then request the servicing agreement.

Purpose of the Servicing Agreement

The purpose of the servicing agreement is to identify the municipal improvements to be constructed, along with the responsibilities of both the developer and the City once the improvements are completed. These responsibilities include construction, inspections, approval of the municipal improvements and short and long term maintenance.

The servicing agreement also identifies any fees and assessments the developer is required to pay. The assessments will be requested once the drawings are in second circulation and a servicing agreement request has been made.

In order to obtain registration of a subdivision plan which requires a servicing agreement, the developer must have an executed servicing agreement as well as approved engineering drawings.

Similarly, for a development permit that requires a servicing agreement, the developer must have an executed servicing agreement, fully paid all fees and securities identified, as well as approved engineering drawings.

Servicing Agreement Securities

The City uses the security in servicing agreements guidelines (development permits) and the security in servicing agreements guidelines (subdivisions) to determine the security amount to be included in a servicing agreement. Developers are first categorized based on their past performance, then a percentage of the estimated construction costs, as submitted by the developer’s consultant, is used as the security amount based on the category in which the developer is placed. Any holdback amounts are also determined based on category, as well as timing for submitting fees and assessments.

Development Bonds

In an effort to remove barriers for business owners and provide developers with financial flexibility, the City is now accepting development bonds in lieu of a letter of credit or cash security for new and existing servicing agreements.

New Servicing Agreements
To apply for a development bond for your new servicing agreement, please:

Existing Security Agreement Security Conversion
Effective November 1, 2020, the City of Edmonton is now accepting development bonds for all existing servicing agreements executed after January 1, 2014 that are in good standing.

To apply to convert your existing security to a development bond, please email the development engineer for your project. In the email, be sure to include the name of your surety company.

An initial fee of $500 will be required for this service; however, the fee amount will be reviewed as the program progresses and may be adjusted to reflect the service cost.

Questions?
Please contact the development engineer for your file directly or email development.coordination@edmonton.ca.