Noncompliant Brian

From Brian

Reminder! Webinar 3 - Single Exit Stair Provisions and Adaptable Dwelling Requirements

Reminder that on December 3th at noon, Celerity Engineering in conjunction with Nick Bray Architecture is holding a webinar on the new BCBC Single Exit Stair Provisions and an update on the Adaptable Dwelling requirements that will start to be enforced in March of 2025.

Marc Showers, P.Eng., C.P., in our Victoria Office, will present on the new BCBC Single Exit Stair provisions and discuss some the challenges and opportunities he sees with these new provisions.

Corie Luben, EIT, RHFAC Professional, in our Victoria Office, will present an update on the BCBC adaptable dwelling requirements that will start to come into force in March of 2025, and the exceptions to the March 2025 enforcement date that were added in the recent amendment to the Order In Council that created the 2024 British Columbia Building Code.

The webinar is approved for 1 hour of AIBC learning units. Attendees wanting to receive the learning units must complete the attendance form provided during the webinar.

Make sure you sign-up for this free webinar here.

See you on the call!

Aligning Building Codes with Sustainability

Stefan Germann, P.Eng., in our Vancouver office, has had his in depth article published by Canadian Consulting Engineer on how the current Canadian Building Code framework limits alternative solutions that could otherwise cut embodied carbon and allow for meeting of sustainability targets in Canada.

Intel

2025 Vancouver Building By-law - Phase 2 Change Proposals

The Vancouver CBO's office has released phase 2 of the proposed changes to be implemented in the 2025 Vancouver Building By-law.

New items up for comment are changes to electromagnetic locks on egress doors within the floor area, particularly for elevator lobbies to access the 2nd exit, a proposed reorganization of Part 11, and creation of a new Part 13 to cover temporary buildings and uses in existing buildings.

Review the proposed changes and provide your comments to the CBO's office to cbo@vancouver.ca today!

Lore

Impossible 3-Storey Sports Hall

The Sports Hall Gloriarank in Zurich is more than just the implementation of the idea that a building that can be easily deconstructed and either reused or composted, it is a building that as it has been designed, is impossible to build in Canada.

The National Building Code of Canada which is adopted with typically only minor adjustments in each Province, prescriptively does not permit an Assembly Use building to exceed 2-storeys when constructed of light wood framing, as is utilized in the Sports Hall Gloriarank. Recent additions to our Code do allow for taller buildings of light wood framing, particularly Residential or Office use, but the Assembly uses are restricted to no higher than the 2nd storey with the Residential or Office above, not to mention the requirement for the building to be sprinklered throughout - sprinklers are a notable feature missing from the Sports Hall Gloriarank. A very recent change, at least in BC, now allows Assembly Uses up to the 3rd storey in a Residential or Office building constructed of encapsulated mass timber - an Alternative Solution approach may be successful in deleting the Residential or Office portion of the building to allow 3-storeys of Assembly, but encapsulation requirements mandate the covering of nearly all of the aesthetically pleasing wood finishes with gypsum board.

To be fair, I don't think it is appropriate to compare construction regulations of other countries without digging into the details. A simple difference in firefighting capabilities or tactics can significantly alter the underlying assumptions of a buildings fire safety performance expectations. Societal experience and expectations can also vary significantly in determining the acceptable level if risk.

What do you think? Is the Canadian Building Regulation Framework excessive in keeping us "safe", or is there a hole in the Swiss Regulatory system that allows for such a highly combustible building to be home to an Assembly Occupancy? Send me your thoughts at bfraser@celerity.ca.

About

November has flown by, and it is really starting to feel a lot like winter here in Victoria. The trees are bare and frost is on the car window in the morning. Have you figured out what to get your spouse for Christmas?!

Thanks for reading today. It is wonderful that you have taken time out of your busy day to educate yourself on some of the current issues in our industry.

The Building Code can be a complex document to apply, and I hope I can steer you clear of the many faux pas that I made in the beginning of my code career that led my designs to be non-compliant.

I appreciate your support and if you found this information useful, please forward this newsletter to a colleague!

If you have any comments, please let me know by emailing me at bfraser@celerity.ca.