WHEREAS many communities in Canada are home to older wood frame multi-family dwellings; AND WHEREAS these buildings provide a large inventory of affordable housing in our communities; AND WHEREAS many of these buildings were constructed prior to the mandatory implementation of fire suppressing sprinkling systems: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities work with senior levels of government in an effort to have infrastructure funding made available to building owners, including care facilities, so that these buildings can be retrofitted with sprinkling systems; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this be accomplished with minimal impact to the residents.
Ministry of Natural Gas Development Minister Responsible for Housing The BC Building Code does not require that existing buildings conform retroactively to new Code requirements, such as requiring sprinkler systems. If a residential building is converted to a care home or other use, the most recent requirements of the BC Building Code will apply. The Province of British Columbia supports the consistent application of the BC Building Code as the minimum level of acceptable safety throughout British Columbia.
Minister of Industry The National Building Code NBC was updated in 2010 to require that any new or renovated care facility be equipped with sprinklers. In 2012, the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes CCBFC directed its technical committees to study the merits of introducing sprinkler systems into the NBC for residential homes as well. It should be noted that this would only apply to new or renovated facilities, as the national codes are not intended to be applied retroactively. The CCBFC expects to receive this costbenefit analysis report within the next few months. However, as indicated, provinces and territories maintain the prerogative to adopt and enforce national model codes as they see fit, in recognition of their unique building construction needs.