Six-storey wood frame building bill ‘premature:’ Ontario housing minister

A bill that proposes to allow six-storey wood frame buildings in Ontario has been referred to a legislative committee, but the province’s municipal affairs and housing minister suggests that in its current form, the proposed law does not address the safety of homeowners.

“At the end of the day, the bill doesn’t address something that’s important to firefighters and homeowners-safety,” Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Linda Jeffrey said Nov. 7 during a session at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

“This bill could pose significant safety issues for both residents and our emergency responders, so it does require further debate.”

She was commenting on Bill 13, a private member’s bill introduced last February by Vic Fedeli, the Progressive Conservative member of provincial parliament  for Nipissing.

If passed into law, Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Building Code Act, 1992 with Respect to the Height of Wood Frame Buildings, would stipulate that the Ontario Building Code not prohibit buildings that are six storeys or less in height from being of wood frame construction. Currently, Ontario only allows wood frame buildings of up to four storeys in height.

The British Columbia building code was changed in 2009 to allow six-storey wood frame buildings. Published reports indicate that in May 2011, the first six-storey all-wood building approved in B.C. was consumed by fire while under construction.

In Ontario, Bill 13 proposes to allow the Ontario Building Code to impose requirements on buildings of wood frame construction and could prohibit “specified classes of buildings from being of wood frame construction.”

The bill was referred Nov. 7 to referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

Jeffrey said she did support the principle of Bill 13 but she alluded to an ongoing public review of proposed changes to the 2010 National Model Construction Codes. That review was started in October by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, which is part of the National Research Council.

NRC has invited industry stakeholders to submit input on proposed technical changes to the National Building Code of Canada 2010, the National Fire Code of Canada 2010, the  National Plumbing Code of Canada 2010 and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2011. NRC will not accept comments after Dec. 13.

Among other things, changes have been proposed to mid-rise combustible construction, component additive method for determining fire resistance, hot works hazard reduction, laboratory hazards and dangerous goods storage, as well as stairs, ramps and handrails.

NRC plans to publish final changes in the 2015 editions of the National Model Construction Codes.

At Queen’s Park Nov. 7, Jeffery noted her ministry expects an NRC report on the use of wood in mid-rise buildings to be available early next year.

“I believe the bill is premature,” she said of Bill 13. “We need to make sure we don’t leave first responders vulnerable to risks that could easily be mitigated. I’m prepared to wait until the findings of the NRC are released.”

But Fedeli noted the submission period for input on changes to Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes ends in December.

“We can move forward with this on January 1, 2014,” he said. “The forestry industry needs this support.”

The proposal to increase the maximum allowable height of wood frame buildings to six storeys was the subject of a report to Toronto City Council two years ago.

“The Fire Chief suggests that all exit stairs and elevator shafts should be constructed with at least a two hour fire resistance rating,” according to the April, 2011 report, by Toronto chief building official Ann Borooah.

“This would give occupants a more secure escape path and give firefighters a platform to fight the fire from and a more secure exit path. Recognizing the more stringent fire sprinkler provisions, the submission also notes that the sprinklering provisions should be expanded further to include all small rooms (e.g., bathrooms).”