Preface

- safety
- health
- accessibility for persons with disabilities
- fire and structural protection of buildings
- energy and water efficiency
The Building By-law establishes standards for building materials, products and
assemblies. Some standards are explicitly provided in the Building By-law while
others are incorporated by reference to existing standards for materials,
products and assemblies which are developed and published by specialist
organizations.
Organization of the Building By-law
A consistent organization system has been used in the Building By-law. The
By-law is divided into Divisions which are designated by alphabetical
letters. Divisions are divided into numbered Parts; each Part is divided
into Sections; Sections are divided into Subsections; and Subsections are
divided into Articles. Articles are divided into Sentences, which are
delineated by numbers in brackets. Sentences may be further broken down into
Clauses and Subclauses, delineated respectively by letters and roman
numerals in brackets. This organization system is illustrated as follows:
BDivision
3Part
3.5.Section
3.5.2.Subsection
3.5.2.1.Article
3.5.2.1.(2)Sentence
3.5.2.1.(2)(a)Clause
3.5.2.1.(2)(a)(i)Subclause
Divisions of the By-law are identified either:
- by the letters A, B or C preceding the Part (ex. B.3.5.2.1.(2)(a)(i)),
or
- by specifying the Division after the code reference (ex. 3.5.2.1.(2)(a)(i) of Division B)
Use of the term “Reserved”
The term “reserved” is used in the Building By-law in place of
provisions from the National Codes which have not been adopted in the
By-law. Term “reserved” is used so that the numbering structure
of the Building By-law aligns with the model National Code of Canada 2010
and the model National Plumbing Code of Canada 2010, for ease of comparison
and possible future harmonization.
Change Indication
Every effort has been made to identify technical changes or additions
relative to the 2006 edition of the British Columbia Building and Plumbing
Codes. In the printed version, these changes or additions are enclosed by
angle brackets wherever practical. The online version of British Columbia
Building and Plumbing Codes (www.bccodes.ca) contains additional
functionality with regards to identifying changes from the previous edition.
No change indication is provided for renumbered or deleted
provisions.
Unique to Vancouver Indication
All text in the By-law that is unique to Vancouver is enclosed with { }
brackets wherever practical. This identifier was utilized to provide the
user of the By-law with a means by which to differentiate the Vancouver
provisions of this By-law from those of the 2012 British Columbia Building
and Plumbing Codes. Where the provisions of Vancouver have required the
deletion of the 2012 British Columbia Building and Plumbing Code text, and
no Vancouver text has replaced the deleted text, the word
“Deleted” has been used to alert the user that a deletion has
been made and that there is a difference from the 2012 British Columbia
Building and Plumbing Codes text.
Intent and Application Statements
The intent statements pertaining to the National Building and Plumbing
Codes, which also pertain to the Building By-law, are available, free of
charge, on the national codes website at
www.nationalcodes.nrc.gc.ca. As those substantive parts of the Building By-law which are not unique to Vancouver are identical
to the National model Codes, users may consult the national website to
access intent statements.
The application statements for the 2010 National Building, Fire and
Plumbing Codes have not been updated as the Canadian Commission on Building
and Fire Codes discontinued their publication. In view of these developments
at the national level, the Building By-law does not include application
statements.
Metric Conversion
All values in the Building By-law are given in metric units. A conversion
table of imperial equivalents for the most common units used in building
design and construction is located at the end of the By-law.
Acknowledgements and Copyright
Copyright 2012 Province of British Columbia (portions)
Copyright 2012 National Research Council (portions)
All rights reserved. This Publication contains material that is
copyrighted by the National Research Council of Canada and reproduced herein
under a license agreement. This Publication also contains material that is
copyrighted by the Province of British Columbia. No part of that material
may be reproduced without written permission from the Province of British
Columbia and the National Research Council. For more information, please
contact the Intellectual Property Program for British Columbia.
- Intellectual Property Program
- PO Box 9412 Stn Prov Govt
- Victoria, BC V8W 9V1
- Website: www.cio.gov.bc.ca
- Email: ipp@mail.qp.gov.bc.ca
- Phone: (250) 356-1339
Requests for permission to reproduce the unique to Vancouver provisions of
the By-law must be sent to:
- Code Development Specialist
- Office of the Chief Building Official
- Planning and Development Services
- 453 West 12th Avenue
- Vancouver, BC
- V5Y 1V4
The provincial government welcomes comments and suggestions for
improvements to the Building Code and Plumbing Code. Comments and
suggestions can be sent to:
- Building and Safety Standards Branch
- Office of Housing and Construction Standards
- 614 Humboldt Street
- PO Box 9844 Stn Prov Govt
- Victoria BC V8W 9T2
- Email: building.safety@gov.bc.ca
Persons interested in the development of the National Codes, the model
document for the British Columbia Building Code and Plumbing Code and for
the Building By-law can contact:
- The Secretary
- Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes
- Institute for Research in Construction
- National Research Council of Canada
- Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6
- Website:
www.nationalcodes.nrc.gc.ca