Noncompliant Brian

Intel

Vancouver Art Gallery - Parts ways with Herzog & de Meuron

The new Vancouver Art Gallery has been a grand topic of discussion and debate starting just after I moved to Vancouver back in 2007. The debate continues today, and it would be nice to see a home grown BC Architectural firm take up the lead for this iconic project!

BCAB #1929 - Combustible Piping in Noncombustible Buildings

Ah retrofits, they bring interesting challenges particularly in older buildings. In this BC Building Code Appeal board ruling, combustible water piping in a highrise. Is combustible piping permitted? The Building Code does indeed permit combustible piping in noncombustible buildings and not just for water piping, but there are restrictions and can be unexpected costs as part of the installation.

The appeal considered if combustible piping is concealed sufficiently within a wall assembly. The Appeal Board ruled that combustible piping is indeed considered concealed including where it is located behind the shower valve escutcheon.

However, care must be taken with combustible piping as it is typically exposed under counters where the p-trap for a drain and hot and cold water connections for a lavatory penetrate from the wall. For the exposed combustible piping in a noncombustible building, it must have a flame spread rating not exceeding 25, and in a high building must also have a smoke development not exceeding 50. There are combustible piping materials that meet these requirements, though an alternative at least for the hot and cold water supplies can be copper stubs, if the approach is to use the lower cost supply piping that does not meet all the requirements.

On the Town

RAIC 2025 Conference - Montréal!

Starting to think about a vacation spot for the coming summer? How about Montréal, with a side of CPD?

RAIC is holding their next conference in Montréal from June 1st to 4th, 2025, so mark your calendars!

Unsolicited Opinion

Residential Bliss, or Impossible?

As I endeavour to educate myself on the expansive world of architecture so that I can position Celerity to better serve the needs of our wonderful Architect clients, I sometimes come across very different ideas of how buildings can achieve their purpose. The Marbella Residential Complex is one of these very different ideas.

The Marbella design is certainly fun and different from the design narrative we see in multi-family construction here in Canada. However, the creation of "floating" residential "pods" as proposed has potentially significant challenges in applying the constraints inherent in the Canadian Building Code framework. Besides the finish materials in the design, the exiting from each of the residential units is very outside the traditional public corridor approach we see in this country.

What are your thoughts on this? Does our Building Code stifle creative options such as the ideas in the Marbella design? Is there a hole in the Iranian building safety standards that would allow a building of this design? Or, do you think working together we could find creative solutions to make a project like this work in Canada? I'd love to hear what you think!

About

December is well upon us now. I am looking forward to the holiday break, and I hope you are all too. This is the last issue for the year.

Thanks to everyone that has been responding to the Articles and my comments. I have enjoyed the discussions!

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.

As always, feel free to email me at bfraser@celerity.ca with any questions or comments!

Until January! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and New Years!