Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Chief Building Official, in consultation with the Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

Building By-law Review for Existing Buildings

RECOMMENDATION


GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Under the Vancouver Charter, the City can devise By-laws to regulate the construction of buildings (s.306(a)) and can adopt any code relating to the construction of buildings, with any changes Council considers appropriate (s.306(w)).

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council approval for a work program and funding for staff to review the provisions of the Vancouver Building By-law which are used to determine upgrading requirements for existing buildings.

BACKGROUND

On June 17, 1999, Council approved a number of changes to the Vancouver Building By-law including provisions to deal with the upgrading requirements for existing buildings. At that time, a number of relaxations to existing policy were made including adoption of the Provincial Building Code Table for alternative methods of upgrading designated Heritage buildings. While this method offers some relaxations for the fire safety upgrading of buildings based on mandatory sprinklers, it offers little guidance on requirements for seismic and accessibility upgrades. It was indicated at the time that this would be an interim measure and that there would be a need in the future to review the basis on which upgrading requirements are determined for both heritage and non heritage older buildings.

Earlier this year, the Building Safety Division made a commitment to Council that the provisions in the new Vancouver Building By-law for existing and heritage buildings would be re-evaluated. It was determined that other models which more accurately reflect the cost of life safety upgrades, the reduction in hazards achieved, and the practicality of the requirements in relation to the proposed work needed to be explored. It was not possible to complete this broader model within the time frame which was required to complete the revision to the Building By-law. This report seeks Council approval for funding and a work program to complete this work.

DISCUSSION

The Vancouver provisions for existing buildings have evolved over the years, largely based on appeals precipitating from enforced upgrade requirements of existing buildings. The intent of these provisions is to achieve an acceptable level of fire and life safety in an existing building when it is renovated, or when its use is changed. The triggers for code upgrades of renovated buildings are largely based on the cost of proposed improvements relative to the B.C. Assessment Authority valuation of the building. While this provides a simple mechanism for triggering building code upgrades, recent changes in the B.C.A.A. method of accounting for economic depreciation in building values can result in extensive upgrade requirements for a relatively low value of improvements. This can discourage modest improvements to the building and result in little or no improvements being made to the fire and life safety of certain classes of existing buildings.

This study will produce recommendations for revisions to the Building By-law which are expected to provide more rational requirements for the upgrading of existing buildings based on clearly stated objectives. As such, it is hoped to coordinate these objectives with the fundamental objectives of health, safety and accessibility currently being employed by the National Research Council of Canada in their development of an objective based building code, currently scheduled for issuance by 2003. It is anticipated that the recommendations produced under this study will provide more flexible requirements for the upgrading of existing buildings and more closely relate the level of upgrade to the degree of hazard and the overall level of the proposed improvements. It will also be of particular relevance for heritage buildings including those in the provincially designated heritage areas of Gastown and Chinatown. As the conclusion of this work may have cost implications for building renovations, this study is being coordinated with the Gastown Heritage Management Program.

The findings from this study will be reviewed by industry specialists and with the Vancouver Heritage Commission, Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee and Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee.

The central aim of this study will be to rationalize the seismic upgrading of buildings and integrate this policy with a wider strategy for the mitigation of seismic risk in the City. Recent earthquakes in Turkey, Taiwan and Greece have clearly indicated the extent of devastation which can occur in seismically active areas containing a large number of seismically vulnerable buildings. They also highlight the need for an effective building control system in these areas to prevent existing vulnerabilities from being compounded by the re-occurrence of seismic design and construction deficiencies. In the new year it is anticipated that a comprehensive proposal for strengthening the City’s capability in the area of seismic design, mitigation and evaluation policies will be presented to Council. This will include some significant improvements to the City’s current system for evaluating the adequacy of the structural and seismic design of new and existing buildings and will be made within existing funding allocations from building permit revenues.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Consideration was given to hiring a consultant to undertake this task. However, the technical qualifications and extensive experience available in the Building Safety Division suggests that this study be conducted primarily by City staff. As the Building Safety Division has minimal resources and support staff, assistance will be needed to undertake this project. It is proposed that a fourth year Civil Engineering cooperative student be hired to assist City staff with this project by carrying out a program of research into upgrading requirements of other jurisdictions and related standards under the close direction of senior staff. This will have the additional benefit of providing a valuable work experience to a young engineering

student at the commencement of his career and also assist in forging better links between the City and the engineering profession of the future. The proposed work plan is attached in Appendix A. The estimated cost to complete this work is $30,000, exclusive of staff time and resources. If Council approves this work, funding will be provided as part of the year 2000 Operating Budget.

CONCLUSION

The Chief Building Official recommends that a review of the Building By-law provisions used to determine upgrading requirements for existing buildings be completed. This recommendation is based on the attached work program and includes a budget for additional assistance and resources to complete this work. The work program will be closely coordinated with that of the Gastown Heritage Management Program and its conclusions will help in determining the level of improvements and financial incentives required to conserve the heritage resources in Gastown and Chinatown historic areas as well as heritage and non-heritage buildings in other areas of the city.

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PROPOSED WORK PLAN

    Preliminary research and data collection ---------------------- December 1999
    Student selection -------------------------------------------------- December 1999
    Student starts ------------------------------------------------------ January 01, 2000
    Overview and familiarization, review of existing
    City policies pertaining to upgrading of existing
    and heritage buildings and prepare
    statement of objectives ----------------------------------- January 30, 2000
    Review alternate regulations:

      National Research Council
      B.C. Building Code and Policy Center
      Ontario Building Code

    California Regulations pertaining to seismic upgrades

      International standards and practice

    Prepare strategy options for review ---------------------- March 30, 2000
    Test proposed strategies against existing policies
    carry out cost/benefit analyses to assess
    impact of proposals ---------------------------------------- June 15, 2000
    Disseminate proposed strategies
    for internal and external review --------------------------- June 30, 2000
    Formulate revised strategies
    based on stakeholder response --------------------------- August 30, 2000
    Develop format for proposed By-law changes ---------------- September 30, 2000
    Finalize recommendations for code changes ------------------ October 30, 2000
    Prepare final report to Council----------------------------------- November 30, 2000

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ag991214.htm

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