Amendments to the Building Bylaw relating to Building Envelope Professionals

POLICY REPORT

Date: December 8, 2000
Author/Local:J. Robertson/7522

RTS No. 01800

CC File No. 113

Council: December 12, 2000

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Chief Building Official, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services

SUBJECT

Amendments to the Building By-law relating to Building Envelope Professionals

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT provisions in the Building By-law relating to Building Envelope Professionals be amended in the manner set out in this report.

B. THAT the Director of Legal Services be requested to bring forward the amending by-law for enactment.

If Recommendation A is approved, the by-law amendments will be presented for enactment at today’s meeting of Council.

C. THAT Council authorize the Mayor to send a letter to APEGBC and the AIBC in support of their efforts to have the Provincial Government amend existing legislation to provide for the joint accreditation of Building Envelope Professionals by the two professional associations.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

Under the Vancouver Charter, Council may enact by-laws regulating the construction of buildings in Vancouver.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval of amendments to the Building By-law relating to Building Envelope Professionals.

BACKGROUND

Beginning in early 1996, when the impact of the multiple failures of the cladding systems of wood frame condominiums became apparent, the City implemented some immediate remedial measures. Among other things, the City required that ongoing inspections of the building envelope be performed by a qualified building envelope specialist acceptable to the City Building Inspector. At this time, the City maintained a list of acceptable building envelope specialists, there being no relevant program at the time for the training and certification of prospective building envelope specialists. It was anticipated that a certification program would be established in the future by the design professions to address this need.

Staff worked in close collaboration with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (“AIBC”) and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (“APEGBC”) to develop a certification process. This resulted in the establishment of the Joint Building Envelope Qualifications Committee of the AIBC and APEGBC which was authorized to award the designation “Building Envelope Professional” to candidates who had successfully completed a Building Envelope Professional course and whose qualifications and experience were accepted by a panel appointed by the Committee.

On June 17, 1999, Council approved a number of changes to the Building By-law including provisions to require that building envelope design and inspection be carried out by persons listed as Building Envelope Professionals. The By-law defined Building Envelope Professionals as:

Building Envelope Professional means a member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia or the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia who has completed a recognized program in building envelope studies and has met all of the requirements for listing as a Building Envelope Professional with the Institute or Association.

Subsequently, a member of APEGBC commenced an action in the B.C. Supreme Court to set aside the decision of the Joint Building Envelope Qualifications Committee to deny him accreditation as a Building Envelope Professional. In the Court case, the jurisdiction of APEGBC to participate with the AIBC to accredit Building Envelope Professionals through the Joint Committee was challenged. The decision in the case was rendered last month. Although the Court acknowledged that the notion of the accreditation of Building Envelope Professionals was an “excellent one”, it concluded that the Engineers and Geoscientists Act precluded APEGBC from regulating its members through the existing Joint Building Envelope Qualifications Committee. The effect of the decision was to bring an end to the Committee and to set aside all of the decisions it had made concerning accreditation.

After the Court rendered this decision last month, staff met with representatives of APEGBC and the AIBC who indicated that the two organizations will be asking the Provincial Government to make legislative changes to provide the necessary statutory foundation for the Joint Building Qualifications Committee. Until that occurs, however, the Building By-law must be amended to reflect the recent Court decision. Accordingly, it is recommended that the definition of “Building Envelope Professional”, which is currently tied to accreditation by the Joint Building Envelope Qualifications Committee, be amended to refer solely to membership in the AIBC or APEGBC. If this amendment is made, reliance will be placed on the members of the two professions to comply with their codes of ethics which require that they only undertake assignments for which they are qualified by training or experience, and on the two professional associations to hold members professionally accountable for their work.

It is also recommended that Council support APEGBC and the AIBC as they seek the necessary statutory amendments to support their joint accreditation of Building Envelope Professionals, and authorize the Mayor to write to the two professional bodies expressing that support.

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TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Chief Building Official, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services
SUBJECT	Amendments to the Building By-law relating to Building Envelope Professionals