Tall Wall Guidelines

To meet the changes to wind and snow load criteria in the 2006 Alberta Building Code, the Alberta Housing Industry Technical Committee (AHITC) retained Bearden Engineering Consultants Ltd. in Red Deer to develop and certify generic designs and construction details for residential tall walls. After a series of reviews by various industry stakeholders and professionals; Bearden Engineering Consultants Ltd. has addressed all known questions, comments and concerns in the Guidelines for the Construction of Residential Tall Walls, and has created a revised edition (January 2009) that is available at CHBA - Alberta's online store.

Based on these revised Guidelines, AHITC has requested that Alberta Municipal Affairs issue a Standata that would authorize the use of this new guideline for the design and construction of residential tall walls throughout Alberta. The Standata will be issued within the next few weeks.

BUILD 2009 Theme Night Volunteer

CHBA - Alberta's annual conference, BUILD - Being a United Industry in Leadership and Development, is seeking volunteers to help with the September event. We are looking for a dynamic, energetic, outgoing person to help plan Theme Night BUILD's costume party and kick off. If you are interested in applying for the Theme Night Coordinator volunteer position, please fill out the attached form and email it conference@chbaalberta.ca or fax it to 780-426-0128 by February 6.

Gold Seal Certified Construction Safety Coordinator

The Gold Seal Certificate is valued by the construction industry in recognition of the professionalism of Safety Coordinators. Gold Seal Certification offers a real degree of assurance to the industry and employers that the individual has attained a nationally recognized level of competence based on three essential criteria: Education, Experience and Examination. Individuals who have a minimum of three years education and experience, and have obtained their NCSO designation are eligible to write their Gold Seal Exam in 2009. Completed application forms must be sent to your local construction safety association’s office minimum six weeks prior to the exam date. Upcoming exam dates are April 17 and October 9. For an application form and more information click here.

Standata on Safety Codes Act Orders

A recent decision by the Court of Queen’s Bench (Tirion Properties Ltd. v. Safety Codes Council, 2008 ABQB 549) has raised questions among safety codes officers and owners about the scope and application of orders under the Safety Codes Act. To better understand the precedent set by this court decision, Alberta Municipal Affairs and the Safety Codes Council have provided the following key messages of the court’s decision, which can be downloaded here.

Laebon Homes Goes Solar

CHBA - Alberta was very proud to participate in the recent grand opening of Laebon Homes net-zero energy, solar-powered home in Red Deer. The home is packed with energy-saving and energy-producing features such as structural insulated panels (SIP), photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, hydronic in-floor heating, geo-thermal wells, grey-water recycling and utilizes low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials in its construction. It is one of only a dozen EQuilibrium™ homes having been built across Canada as part of a CMHC sustainable-housing demonstration initiative, and like the other participating EQuilibrium™ homes will keep the house open for public tours for a minimum of six months and support CMHC‘s monitoring of the performance of the house under real-world conditions. The 1450 sq ft one-and-a-half storey detached home is located at 3 Landry Close in southeastern Red Deer. For more information on this home and the EQuilibrium™ housing initiative click here.

Standata on Determination of Grade

The rules provided by the Alberta Building Code for the determination of grade along the plane of the building face are very prescriptive. This is necessary since the establishment of grade allows for the determination of building height. Although dealt with comprehensively by the Code, little is said concerning the requirements for grade to be maintained as it extends away from the exterior wall. Alberta Municipal Affairs has created a Standata that covers these requirements, which can be downloaded here.

2009 WCB Figures

CHBA - Alberta recently received the following figures and statistics from the Workers Compensation Board:
• Average 2009 premium rate will be $1.32 (same as 2008).
• 2009 maximum insurable earnings will be $72,600 (up from $68,500 in '08).
• Of the 403 different industries, 252 (63%) will see an industry premium rate decrease, 129 (32%) will see an increase, and 22 (5%) will see no change in 2009.
• The residential general contractors (Industry Code 40405) 2009 rate will be $1.75 (down from $1.76 in 2008).
• In 2009, 1217 employers will receive a Poor Performance Surcharge; with 126 at the maximum 200% surcharge and 72 employers between a 100% to 200% surcharge.

Farewell to Kelly Hurford

CHBA - Alberta's Director of Skilled Labour Development, Kelly Hurford, has decided to part ways with CHBA - Alberta. Kelly was an integral part of the organization for the past year. Her contributions and positive attitude were greatly appreciated by all those who worked with her. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Retraction

An article in our last newsletter “Habitat for Humanity goes Built Green” we mistakenly mentioned that Ecofinity has agreed to provide Built Green training when EnerVision is the only Service Organization for Built Green training in Alberta. We apologize to our readers for this error and congratulate Ecofinity for their generous contribution of modeling and blower door testing for Habitat’s housing at no charge.