National Building Code of Canada 2010
The National Building Code of Canada 2010, together with the National Plumbing Code of Canada 2010, the National Fire Code of Canada 2010, and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2011, is an objective-based National Model Code that can be adopted by provincial and territorial governments.
In Canada, provincial and territorial governments have the authority to enact legislation that regulates building design and construction within their jurisdictions. This legislation may include the adoption of the National Building Code without change or with modifications to suit local needs, and the enactment of other laws and regulations regarding building design and construction, including the requirements for professional involvement.
The National Building Code is a model code that helps promote consistency among provincial and territorial building codes.
Alberta Building Code 2014
By agreement with the National Research Council of Canada, Alberta is committed to using the National Building Code of Canada as its base document with changes and modifications to suit Alberta needs in regulating the design, construction, alteration, change of use and demolition of buildings.
The Alberta Building Code 2014 was established by the Building Technical Council, a technical council of the Safety Codes Council, after consultation with municipal authorities, provincial government departments, associations, other affected parties and Code users. The Code is published for Alberta by the National Research Council of Canada.
This edition of the Alberta Building Code succeeds the 2006 edition.
The Alberta Building Code sets out technical provisions for the design and construction of new buildings. It also applies to the alteration, change of use and demolition of existing buildings.
The Alberta Building Code establishes requirements to address the following five objectives, which are fully described in Division A of the Code:
• safety
• health
• accessibility for persons with disabilities
• fire and structural protection of buildings
• environment
Code provisions do not necessarily address all the characteristics of buildings that might be considered to have a bearing on the Code’s objectives. Through the extensive consensus process at the national and provincial levels, the code-user community has decided which characteristics should be regulated through the Alberta Building Code 2014.
The Alberta Building Code is not a textbook on building design or construction. The design of a technically sound building depends upon many factors beyond simple compliance with building regulations. Such factors include the availability of knowledgeable practitioners who have received appropriate education, training and experience and who have some degree of familiarity with the principles of good building practice and experience using textbooks, reference manuals and technical guides.
The Alberta Building Code 2014 does not list acceptable proprietary building products. It establishes the criteria that building materials, products and assemblies must meet. Some of these criteria are explicitly stated in the Alberta Building Code while others are incorporated by reference to material or product standards published by standards development organizations. Only those portions of the standards related to the objectives of this Code are mandatory parts of the Alberta Building Code 2014.
