Recent Changes to the Alberta Building Code

This Tuesday we heard from Rick Patterson, pictured, a managing partner with Weber Patterson Ventures, a builder of custom homes in Alberta. His talk covered some of the recent changes to the Alberta building code, mainly pertaining to single family homes.

The first item was Radon gas abatement. Radon gas is a radioactive breakdown product of Uranium and can be naturally present in the soil. The gas is not normally a health issue, as it escapes into the atmosphere freely, unless it becomes trapped in a closed space where people live, such as a home basement. Radon gas is considered to be the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking, and for non-smokers it is the number one cause. Radon abatement measures are not required for all new homes in Alberta. These include sealing the basement slab to the walls, and sealing any sump and covers to prevent gas from coming into the building. They also include placing a granular layer under the slab with a central pipe to collect and divert any gas that collects up and out on the side of the building. The pipe must be monitored for radon emissions for three months after the finish of construction, and if the gas is detected, a fan and extension of the pipe to carry the gas up to the roof level must be permanently installed. If not, the pipe can be sealed. This requirement will add approximately five hundred dollars to the cost of a new home in Alberta.

The second item he talked about was the new requirement for placement of carbon monoxide monitors in the furnace room, in rooms with fireplaces and in secondary suites.

The third item was changes to the regulations surrounding stairs, handrails and guards. This will now cover attached exterior stairs such as those in attached garages. There are also stricter guidelines for stair heights and the amount of variance allowed from stair to stair in a single staircase. The place where this is often an issue is the bottom step, where the height is often less or more than would now be allowed. One issue he also encounters is the wish of some clients to have certain types of open stair rails that look nice in American homes but are considered unsafe for children here in Canada.

The fourth item was a requirement for more extensive wind loading calculations for roofs, walls, windows and doors to demonstrate the construction will mitigate high wind damage. This is an issue mostly for homes in southern Alberta.

The fifth item was the new requirement for placement of smoke detectors in all bedrooms and the bedroom hallways. These detectors must also have a battery back up that is able to still emit an alarm seven days after the main power has been cut off. All alarms must now have a manual over ride as well so that they are easily turned off, if set off accidentally.

The sixth item was in regards to energy efficiency, and these new requirements are quite complicated. They cover insulation and air tightness, HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system efficiency and hot water heating efficiency. The code now requires that the energy efficiency of walls must be calculated to include the area taken up by the supporting wood studs (which are heat conductors), which means that the insulation used now needs to be better between the supports, or the entire outside of the building needs to be wrapped in an insulating layer. It also means that the whole building envelope, including doors and windows must be considered. All of this involves some petty complicated methods to prove that the building will meet the requirements. His company now uses an insulated concrete form foundation, in addition to triple glazed windows and tightly sealed doors. The exterior walls are sealed and insulation wrapped and have a breathable exterior finish to prevent moisture penetration from rain. A high efficiency furnace and hot water heater are also required. As the new homes are now so tightly sealed, they also install a heat recovery ventilation system to ensure fresh air can reach the interior and stale air can be exhausted.

In closing he also mentioned that the building code will now allow for the construction of up to six story buildings, using combustible (wood) frame construction methods. There are more stringent requirements for sprinklers and the use of fire resistant floors and supports to help mitigate the fire risk for these types of buildings.

There was an interesting question and answer session afterwards, and overall we found his presentation very interesting.