I've been complaining to the City about how loose their recladding rules are. Even though it wouldn't absolutely guarantee that every job was great, they should all have to be approved by Planning, not just the Building department. Planning means discussions with people who have some modicum of design judgment. Building just makes sure there are enough nuts and bolts to hold it together.
Anyway, there are those in Planning looking at this, but I have no idea how near or far away a potential change to the system is.
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