SEARCH NEWS
HOUSING: Industry said 18 new fire safety measures will increase building cost
        (AlbertaIndex, May 28, Wednesday) --- The Alberta chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) has issued a statement praising Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk for his response to the recommendations of a study on home fires by the government-appointed High Intensity Residential Fires (HIRF) Working Group.
        The association’s President, Vince Laberge, also notified home buyers that the 18 recommendations accepted by the government will lead to higher building costs, but he could not say by how much at this stage.

Of the 22 recommendations made by the working group, the province has accepted 18. The government said it will take immediate action on five of the recommendations:

•    Increase public education efforts to give Albertans information to prevent fires;
•    Improve the fire code to help prevent arson and to promote construction site safety;
•    Improve the building code so homes built 1.2 metres from the property line are safer from high-intensity fires through measures such as requiring fire-resistant gypsum wallboard under vinyl siding;
•    Improve requirements for new multi-family buildings that would already require sprinkler systems, by requiring additional sprinklers for balconies, attics and crawl spaces; and
•    Make new homes with attached garages safer by requiring fire detectors and gypsum wallboard in the garages.

Two recommendations were referred for further study and two were rejected.

The first rejected item proposed supporting the creation of a new federal office for a national fire advisor and the second recommended amending legislation to mandate specific municipal planning procedures. The overall objectives of these two recommendations will instead be supported through existing channels.

The study came about following last year’s large-scale residential fires in Edmonton’s MacEwan neighbourhood. The working group was established to review the facts surrounding high-intensity residential fires and make recommendations to reduce their occurrence and severity.

The working group included representatives from the Alberta government; municipal emergency services, including the Edmonton and Calgary fire departments, the Safety Codes Council, and municipal safety codes officers.

Mr Danyluk said the top priorities in government’s response are to save lives and property.

“Homes are safe, and these changes make them safer. When there’s a fire, these changes buy time - for people to get out of their homes, and for firefighters to respond,” he said.

In response, Mr Laberge said: “We commend Minister Danyluk and his team for analyzing the HIRF report carefully and allowing the residential construction industry and other stakeholders to be involved in the consultation process.

“Our industry now wants to make sure that any proposed changes to the Alberta Building Code are addressed in the proper process with solid technical research while enhancing safety without unnecessarily compromising housing affordability.”

The association, which has more than 1,450 members from the residential construction industry in the province, said it supports the National Building Code process in which changes to the code are studied in a comprehensive way and backed by thorough technological research and practical input from industry.

“Builders, trades, renovators and suppliers become concerned when the National Building Code process isn’t followed or when shortcuts are taken,” it said.

CHBA said its Alberta members work with building codes every day and know that industry needs to be involved when code changes are being considered to ensure that they are practical.

The association said the proposed changes are expected to increase costs to new home buyers. It’s important to find out whether they will actually improve the safety of new homes without causing other problems.

Mr Laberge said: “CHBA – Alberta is the voice of the residential construction industry in the province and we will continue to work to make the industry better.”

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!
Reddit!Del.icio.us!Google!Netscape!StumbleUpon!Newsvine!Furl!Yahoo!