Secondary Suites

March 1,2021 Dwellings that contain Secondary Suites must have Fire Separation between the individual units, this fire separation must be noted on plans when applying for a building permit, these details should include:

• Wall and ceiling details with fire separation and sound rating
(showing the variation used)
• Details and location of smoke and CO detectors
• Mechanical details

Building_Inspection_Bulletin_Secondary_Suites.pdf

Contaminated Site Identification

On February 1, 2021, several significant amendments to the Environmental Management Act, SBC 2003, c 53 (the “Act”) came into force and which resulted in a substantial overhaul of the Contaminated Sites Regulation, BC Reg 375/96 (the “CSR”). These changes reflect the efforts of the Province to streamline and clarify the process for addressing contaminated sites while addressing purported weaknesses within the previous regime through a mandatory investigation process for contaminated sites. 

With these amendments come a number of changes to the Act and applicable regulations that will impact application for subdivision, zoning, or a development or building permit with the Regional District.

Please visit the Province of BC website for more information at:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/site-remediation/site-identification

Effective January 1, 2021 

Any Accessory Building/Garage with over 12ft stud height or the span of any structural member exceeding 12.2m / 40ft will be required to have engineered sealed plans. Fill in the blank template applications for accessory/garage will only be accepted for the (55m2) 592 ft2 or less in size. All plans must include complete foundation, anchorage, structural framing and building envelope details, and must be submitted on minimum 11x17” (to-scale required). 

The Regional District will not accept incomplete applications, to ensure your building permit will not experience any delays please provide all necessary documents for your build.

 

2018 BC Building Code

Good news - the Province is now offering the BC Building, Plumbing and Fire Codes online at no charge.

The free online access is available at https://www.bcpublications.ca/BCPublications/.  Printed copies of BC code material will also be made available at a reduced cost. This aligns with the Federal Government of Canada's recently announced changes to the National Model Codes.  

For more details visit  www.bccodes.ca or https://news.gov.bc.ca/20411 or email questions to bccodes@gov.bc.ca

 

Protection of Foamed Plastics

According to the 2018 BC Building Code 9.10.17.10 ALL exposed foam plastics are required to be thermally protected. This will include the rim joists in an unfinished basement.

Please see this the information memo that was distributed to the Canadian Home Builders Association of Northern BC – Advocacy & Government Relations Committee.

 

Mechanical Checklist required for Single Family Dwellings

The BC Building Code contains requirements for the introduction of fresh air into BC residences and the exhaust of stale, moisture-laden air. These requirements protect your health and the structural integrity of your dwelling unit.  Residential dwelling units, such as houses, apartments and secondary suites are required to have a principal ventilation system that exhausts air from bathrooms and kitchens and supplies fresh air to bedrooms and living areas. The principal ventilation system is intended to create a continuous flow of fresh air through the dwelling unit. 

The use of the mechanical ventilation checklist verifies that proper design steps have been taken to ensure the mechanical system has been designed to meet the requirements of BC Building Code and to ensure that the system is exchanging the right amount of air to maintain a balanced system. Exhausting too much air with a high CFM fan can cause depressurization in the house and an additional makeup air system would need to be installed.