PEI building instructor praises Ottawa’s move to make National Building Code free

Kudos to Brian McIsaac from Holland College, PEI, for being to the first to send us this news…

Here is an announcement in the 2018 fall economic update by finance minister Bill Morneau.

https://www.budget.gc.ca/fes-eea/2018/docs/statement-enonce/fes-eea-2018-eng.pdf

Making the National Building Codes Freely Available to All Canadians

Building construction is an important part of Canada’s economy, employing nearly 1.4 million Canadians. Building construction codes used throughout Canada are based on the National Building Codes, developed with the support of the National Research Council of Canada, to provide guidance for building products, design and construction.

For small businesses—which account for approximately 99 per cent of Canada’s construction industry—the cost of purchasing building codes, and the lack of harmonization between provincial/territorial codes and national codes, make it harder to succeed and grow. The Government is proposing to provide $67.5 million over five years to the National Research Council of Canada, with $13.5 million ongoing, to make access to the National Building Codes free, and to provide sufficient resources for the federal government to address provincial, territorial, and other stakeholder code development priorities in a more timely way.

Building codes are Canadians’ assurance that their health, safety and general welfare have been fully considered whenever their homes, places of work and other buildings are built or renovated, including the
accessibility needs of people with disabilities. Harmonized and freely available building codes will also ensure that all municipalities can readily access and use the latest codes as they become available.

Having one set of rules that covers both the design of, and products that go into the construction of, buildings reduces regulatory burden and removes barriers to internal trade. Consistently applied, harmonized building codes also make it easier for designers, product manufacturers, distributors and contractors to conduct business
more efficiently across the country.

The Government will continue to work with provinces and territories towards the timely adoption of the national codes in a way that ensures that the needs of provinces, territories and Canadians are met.

I think this is exciting news, as the cost was prohibitive. Some of the students had to purchase two copies of code during their block training because the code was being updated every 3 years for them.

Brian McIsaac