Happy fall! It’s soon time to hunker down with a good read, in a warm room, with a hot beverage. Here are five items that will have an impact on anyone who is involved with home construction and renovation.
ITEM 1: NATIONAL BUILDING CODE FINAL REVIEW OF CHANGES
The final round of proposed changes to the National Building Code of Canada, 2015 edition (as well as the other Code publications) have been completed. The Code is up for public review between October 22 and December 23. Put your 2 cents in!
ITEM 2 (3 & 4): BC ENERGY STEP CODE PUBLICATIONS
BC’s Energy Step Code has published a series of excellent documents on how to reach the various steps or tiers for builders, designers, energy advisors, and local governments. This is a great model for the rest of Canada to work from as the NBCC moves towards Net Zero-ready construction by the 2032 cycle.
The newest: BC Energy Step Code Handbook
From the media release: “The new resource aims to help builders, trades, professionals, and building officials get on the same page about what constitutes a “high-performance building” under the new standard, and the strategies and materials that builders and designers most often employ to make them.It also helps building officials navigate the process of ensuring that a given project will meet — or, in some cases, fall short of — a given step’s performance requirements.”
Energy Step Code Design Manual
Energy Step Code Builder’s Manual
ITEM 5: NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE'S CCMC STREAMLINES EVALUATION PROCESS
From a CHBA newsletter: Evaluation and listing numbers issued by the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC) at the National Research Centre (NRC) are key to getting innovative building products into the market. Builders and renovators rely on CCMC numbers to meet code requirements for everything from I-joists, to house wrap, to vinyl siding, to exterior foam sheathing and LVL beams.
In 2018, CHBA expressed concern to the NRC that the evaluation process took too long and was not responsive to industry needs. CCMC is making changes to the evaluation process that could triple CCMC’s capacity to handle new innovative products. This means builders and renovators should get faster access to innovative products, and experience fewer problems with building officials when these innovations are used.
If you have not signed up yet to be able to review the listings, get to it! Innovative products with CCMC listings and registrations give you another way to comply with the building code.
