The City of Calgary Building Maintenance Bylaw

Randy Reid Aldo Brussoni

Supervisor – Building Inspections Safety Codes Officer- Building

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Agenda

• Brief History – Stakeholder Engagement

• Objectives of Bylaw

•  Implementation approach

• FAQs

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Stakeholder engagement and collaboration •  Stakeholder working group included building owners,

managers, and industry service providers •  Met monthly to discuss and resolve issues •  Purpose: to find a solution that achieves City safety

objectives and aligns with industry practice

Why a Building Maintenance Bylaw?

November 2011 wind storm

Why a Building Maintenance Bylaw?

Downtown Calgary, 6 Avenue SW - 2014

Objectives of the bylaw • Enhanced public safety and awareness of the importance of ongoing,

proactive building maintenance • Fill the gap between the SCA/ABC and the expectations to maintain a

building • Be proactive and strive to prevent hazardous conditions or incidents

Identifying industry practices: • One objective of the stakeholder working group meetings • Consultation with City colleagues • Building off existing practices without imposing anything entirely new • Other documents used:

•  BOMA – A guide for Building Owners & Managers •  ASTM – Standard Guide for Property Condition

Assessments E2018-08 •  NRC – Protocols for Building Condition Assessment

Filling a gap

Construction completion

Building permit and inspection

Assures Building Code compliance

Building operation - normal conditions

No Code duty to maintain

Civil liability - onus on building owners to

maintain

New: Building Maintenance Bylaw

(BEVA)

Hazardous condition exists/ incident occurs

Safety Codes Officers can investigate

Action may be taken under the Safety Codes Act (SCA)

Reactive Proactive

Hazardous Conditions or Incidents

Safety Codes Act, Part 1, Responsibilities

Owners, care and control The owner of any thing, process or activity to which this Act applies shall ensure that it meets the requirements of this Act, that the thing is maintained as required by the regulations and that when the process or activity is undertaken it is done in a safe manner.

Hazardous condition exists/ incident occurs

Action may be taken under the Safety Codes Act (SCA)

Safety Codes Officers can investigate

Hazardous Conditions or Incidents In the event of “Hazardous Conditions”:

-  Investigation of the “condition(s)” -  Prime goal is a collaborative result -  Mitigate any unsafe condition -  May include independent professional

review -  Possible requirement for corrective

action via SCO Notice, warning, ticket, Safety Codes Act Order

Hazardous condition exists/ incident occurs

Action may be taken under the Safety Codes Act (SCA)

Safety Codes Officers can investigate

Hazardous Conditions or Incidents In the event of an “Incident”:

-  Immediate requirement to secure from further risk to public safety or property damage

-  Investigation of the incident -  Collection of evidence and/or witness

statements -  May include independent professional

review -  Requirement for corrective action via

SCO Notice, warning, ticket, Safety Codes Act Order

-  Possible prosecution under the Safety Codes Act

Hazardous condition exists/ incident occurs

Action may be taken under the Safety Codes Act (SCA)

Safety Codes Officers can investigate

Scope

Bylaw scope: based on risk •  Five or more storeys •  10 or more years old •  Visual assessment of roof and

walls must be completed every five years (BEVA)

•  Duty to comply phased in

Duties under the bylaw

17-01-24 Presentation 12

Building owners will have a duty to: •  Keep building envelope in good repair •  Have Building Exterior Visual Assessment

(BEVA) performed •  Provide BEVA to City on request •  Report and remedy hazardous conditions

Implementation

Phased in approach to prevent stress on resources

2018 45 year old buildings and older as of Jan. 1, 2016 2019 25 – 45 year old buildings as of Jan. 1, 2016 2020 15 – 25 year old buildings as of Jan. 1, 2016 2021 10 – 15 year old buildings as of Jan. 1, 2016 After the initial Assessment is completed, each building should always have on hand, an assessment less than 5 years old. ALL BEVAs are to be retained and transferred to new owners when buildings are sold.

Implementation

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•  200 in first year (2017) •  Notified by letter – BEVA required •  Staff will work with owners to help

them comply

Affected buildings

•  Audit target of 20% •  Selection criteria:

•  Older, taller buildings •  History of issues •  Random sampling

Audit process

•  Safety Codes Officers trained as Bylaw Officers will make written request for documents

•  City staff will review and follow up as necessary

Building Exterior Visual Assessment

review

Completing a Building Exterior Visual Assessment

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Elements on roof and walls to be visually assessed using a ranking system Building owner is responsible for taking appropriate follow up action.

Ranking Condition Action Not applicable Item is not part of this building’s

systems

Acceptable Item is fully functional; properly maintained; no observed safety hazard; in good condition

Follow- up review required at next assessment

Attention required

Item has limited functionality; maintenance is required; minor safety hazard may be present; in fair condition

Further testing or technical review may be required; professional consultation may be necessary; repairs may be required

Unacceptable Item performance is compromised; remediation is required immediately; presents major safety hazard

Hazards must be reported and remedied immediately. Permit and professional consultation required.

BEVA

Building Exterior Visual

Assessment

- Roof

BEVA

Building Exterior Visual

Assessment

- Walls

BUILDING EXTERIOR VISUAL ASSESSMENT

BEVAs The City of Calgary form, “Building Exterior Visual Assessment” (BEVA) is required to be used and to be made available to the Building Maintenance Bylaw Officer within 14 days of a request. The form is to be completed by: “a person with the education, training, skills and experience relating to roofs and/or walls sufficient enough that the assessment may reasonably be relied upon.” The credentials of the assessor is to be supplied on the bottom of each page. Different / multiple assessors may be used for the Roof and/or Wall BEVA The form is designed as a general purpose form that tries to cover most of the materials that may be involved with any building in Calgary. Not all items on the list will be relevant to your building.

FAQs

1)  Who can do or sign for the BEVA? 1)  The credentials of the assessor is to be supplied on the bottom of each

page. 2)  Different assessors may be used for the roof and/or walls to get the best

expertise possible

2) Can DRONES be used to do the exterior wall inspections? Yes, if the owner thinks this is the best way to determine the building’s exterior integrity. *Be aware of regulatory limitations of use within the city

3) Is any destructive testing required? Only if issues are found, further investigation may require a more technical form of investigation to determine risk

4) Who will be doing the audits? A team of Safety Codes Officers experienced in commercial construction and commercial systems and also trained as City of Calgary Bylaw Officers will perform the audits

FAQs

5) Where does the BMB and the Community Standards Bylaw meet? The BMB is limited to buildings 5 storeys and more. Although the Building Standards Bylaw could also cover these buildings, the expertise in high buildings is better handled by Safety Codes Officers.

6) How to determine the number of storeys in a building?

We are using the Tax Assessment database to track number of storeys and the age of construction. The Alberta Building Code stipulates how to determine the number of storeys. Age of construction is set as the time of OCCUPANCY.

7) What are the penalties for not complying?

The penalties will start at $1,000 to $5,000 with a maximum of $10,000. Where an incident occurs and a charge is laid under the Safety Codes Act, fines can be significantly higher – up to $100,000 for a first offence.

FAQs

8) Does The City make money off this bylaw? No, the City doesn’t make money off the Building Maintenance Bylaw. A building owner is independently required to complete the building exterior visual assessment.

From our research, a visual assessment would cost between $1,500 and $20,000, depending on size, age and scope of the building. This is about 1% - 2% of a building owner’s five year maintenance budget. We also worked closely with building owners, operators and industry professionals to find the right balance between safety obligations and preventative maintenance costs.

In the short term, it may add cost to building owners if they have not been completing maintenance assessments so far, but the value added is priceless, especially if there’s a life-threatening situation that is prevented. Additionally, preventative maintenance saves money in the long run.

FAQs

9) Why does it only cover buildings five storeys and above, or 10 years or older? The bylaw is focusing on the buildings that present the highest risk to the public. The higher the building, the more serious is the risk of harm from falling elements or debris. The older a building is, the more likely it is to have experienced deterioration that can lead to elements detaching from buildings. The Alberta Building Code draws a distinction between buildings under and over five storeys, as different and more complex construction techniques and materials are needed for taller buildings.

In other places with similar bylaws, the threshold for building assessments is typically set at five storeys and up. The five-storey threshold also means that implementing the program within existing operational budgets is manageable.

However, there is also authority for the Chief Building Official to require other buildings that don't meet the five storeys or higher, 10 years or older criteria to comply with the bylaw.

Questions??

calgary.ca/buildingmaintenancebylaw

Thank You!