Vancouver Building Bylaw Consultation

The City of Vancouver invites you to share your opinion on proposed changes to the Vancouver Building By-law. As part of its development process, the city is consulting with the public and industry stakeholders regarding the draft bylaw requirements which will form part of the 2013 Building Bylaw. Major areas that are being addressed include incorporating changes made in the National Building Code of Canada 2010, new measures for environmental protection and resource conservation, and greater flexibility of use of ground floor tenant spaces. The notable National Building Code changes concern the introduction of the new B3 “Residential Care” occupancy, some National Fire Code items related to design of space, spatial separation requirements, and updating and consolidating of window , door and skylight standards. The environmental measures relate to the conservation of water, indoor air quality and outdoor air quality. One of the changes proposed by the city is the prohibition of wood-burning fireplaces and stoves in new construction because of the degradation of air quality and the consequential adverse health effects caused by wood smoke generated in a dense urban environment. The third and final round of public consultation closes on Friday, January 25, 2013.  You are encouraged to review the proposed changes and offer comments via the city’s web site: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/CBOFFICIAL/vbbl/2012/index.htm.