This is the first blog post on here and it’s going to present a whole bunch of information, so bear with me. I promise that this will (probably) be the longest one ever.

First, a little background. I’m an Architectural Technologist and Building Development Technologist (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology ’83 and ’84) and I’ve been in and around the construction industry since I was eighteen. My first real experience with the Alberta Building Code was while attending SAIT, it was the 1977 version. Over the years, I’ve been involved in projects as small as bathroom renovations to mega shopping malls in Edmonton (yes, that one) and Marseilles, France, to the conversion of a 70-acre retired pulp-and-paper mill to an industrial/commercial complex on Vancouver Island. The last ten years has had me working on many projects that have naturally been less Part 9 and more Part 3, with all of the complexities that go along with that. The one thing that has definitely become apparent to me over the years is that the National Building Code of Canada, will all due respect and deference to the National Research Council and the amazing work that’s being done there, is only getting more difficult to interpret and to, therefore, be in confident compliance.

I have lately been working closely with my local municipal Building Safety Codes office to try and smooth out issues that occur when well-meaning business-people attempt to set up or relocate their business operations. They are constantly stepping on building code ‘landmines’, often after they’ve committed to a location and a budget, and they end up in my office, with me being the bearer of almost-always bad news. I have been motivated to try and find a solution to bringing building code issues closer to the beginning of the process, so as to allow these businesses the opportunity to make thoughtful decisions rather than reactive ones. Clearly, if we had a method of finding and delivering relevant information from the building code quickly and comprehensively, in a form that’s easy for the average person to digest, that would go a long way towards being able to make those thoughtful decisions.

Fortunately, I have raised four sons that have a great deal of technical aptitude. One of them has been immersed in data management and, specifically, the design and implementation of AI systems, so he and I set out to merge his knowledge of the system with my knowledge of the construction industry to create this tool that will hopefully make it easier for everyone that works (or should work) with the building code to make good decisions.

The CanCodes tool is intended to be useful to:

• Architects and designers
• Engineers
• Residential and commercial contractors and their subtrades
• Developers
• Business owners and homeowners
• Municipal authorities and inspectors

The tool can be used on a desktop, and it is equally functional on a mobile device, because construction is happening in the field, not in the office.

Important!!! – the CanCodes tool is meant to be used as a support to the National Building Code of Canada (and any provincially-derived variations). IT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT. You, as a user of this support accept that you must verify the results yourself against the actual building code documents. What it will do is narrow the scope of what you need to look for.

This inaugural implementation of CanCodes will include:

• National Building Code of Canada 2020
• NBCC (Alberta Edition) 2023
• NBCC (British Columbia Edition) 2024
• National Fire Code of Canada 2020
• National Fire Code of Canada (Alberta Edition) 2023
• National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020
• National Plumbing Code of Canada 2020

Future additions we hope to include:

• Alberta STANDATA bulletins
• BC Building, Plumbing, and Fire Code bulletins
• Other provincial building code variations
• Functionality to upload private licensed data specific to your organization (eg. CSA, ASHRAE, etc.)

We’re excited to be finally going live with CanCodes.ca, we truly hope that you’ll find it to be an important component of your own toolkit, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.

Sincerely,

Shawn Rose
President
CanCodes.ca