Proposed changes to 2015 National Energy Code undergo final public review
January 31, 2020 | By Kavita Sabharwal-Chomiuk
The Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes has extended an invitation to anyone interested in taking part in a public review of the last set of proposed changes to the 2015 National Codes. These include the National Building Code, National Fire Code, National Plumbing Code and National Energy Code for Buildings. The review will run on the Codes Canada website from Jan. 13 to March 13, 2020.
The purpose of the public review is to provide users of the model codes and stakeholders with a detailed look at the changes being considered and to provide comments as to whether proposed changes should proceed as proposed, or be edited, revised or withdrawn.
The 2020 winter public review updates documents referenced in the national model codes and proposes changes that introduce technical requirements for large farm buildings into the National Building and Fire Codes. It also proposes changes to improve the accessibility of buildings, clarifies the requirements for protection of penetrations through fire separations and updates seismic hazard values and design parameters in the National Building Code.
Building envelope and lighting requirements, HVAC and service water heating equipment performance requirements are all among the proposed updates to the National Energy Code for Buildings and National Building Code Section 9.36., while tiered performance requirements are introduced.
Explanations of the proposed changes, as well as instructions on how to submit comments, can be found on the website. Following the public review, the responsible standing committee will consider each comment in its recommendations on the proposed changes. The final changes are subject to approval by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes and will be published by the National Research Council of Canada in the 2020 editions of the Codes Canada publications.
In addition, the Codes are now free in electronic format. For more information, visit the National Research Council’s virtual store.
