ABSTRACT

Before the adoption of the objective-based model code, non-conforming materials and designs were permitted on a project by project basis, either via the building official’s discretion, via some type of approved research program, or because of exceptional circumstances. An example of the

1 INTRODUCTION

Authorities having jurisdiction in Canada are currently in their second code cycle since the introduction of an objective-based national model code. The first National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) to adopt an objective-based format was issued in 2005. The Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes attempts to re-issue an updated version of the major codes (Building, Fire, Plumbing & Electrical) every 5 years. The current national model building code is the 2010 edition, with a 2015 edition on pace to be issued late in 2015 or early 2016. (Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, in press)

The move to an objective-based code did not eliminate the listing of prescriptive solutions for a given building assembly, rather it involved adding alternative regulatory paths to acceptable solutions. By defining the goals of the code via

building official’s discretion is given in the first case study below. An approved research program is most often a case where a municipality and an academic institution cooperate to demonstrate a novel building technique that is funded publicly. Exceptional circumstances are really an extreme case of this; for instance, an Olympic village or World’s Fair site. It is not the purpose of this paper to deal with projects of that magnitude per se, rather the example is given because those projects are also designed, permitted, insured and funded-simply at a scale much higher than small to medium scale residential builds.