Fire Protection (Part 3 of the NBC and the Appendix D)
Fire Protection (Part 3 of the NBC and the Appendix D) - Transcript
Slide 1
My name is Dominic Esposito. I am a Technical Advisor at the National Research Council.
This presentation will cover topics related to larger buildings, buildings that fall under Part 3 of Division B of the National Building Code (NBC), and also introduce some changes to Appendix D and Division A, Part 1 related to large buildings.
Slide 2
This presentation is part of a series of 13 presentations on the 2015 editions of Codes Canada.
Before I begin with the technical content of this presentation, I will speak briefly about the code development system.
It is important to note that the model Codes, which are developed by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, must be adopted by provincial/territorial authorities to become law.
This may mean that Code requirements enacted by legislation within your province or territory might differ from what is presented here. Please check with your local authority.
Slide 3
It is also important to point out that the National Codes are not a federal regulation.
This means it is not NRC or Codes Canada that decides what goes into the Codes but you!
Codes Canada facilitates an open, transparent, consensus-based process to come up with improvements.
Over 400 committee members volunteer their time to decide on changes to the next Codes.
All committees are balanced between regulators, industry and public interest so that no single category can outvote the other two.
This process is shown on the slide:
- It typically starts with someone requesting a Code change.
- It continues with technical committees developing proposed changes.
- It involves a public review and the final approval by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes.
It's a simple process and it depends on your input.
Please go to the Codes Canada website and find out how you can:
- submit code change requests,
- participate in committees, or
- comment on proposed changes during our public reviews.
Slide 4
And before we start, here are some clarifications on the presentations themselves:
The presentations cover only the changes from 2010/2011 to 2015 Codes and not how to use or interpret the Codes in general.
The presentations contain only the significant changes - the details are in the handbook. Each presentation contains a reference to the relevant pages in the handbook.
The presentations stay strictly within the scope of the National Codes and do not cover provincial or territorial variations.
Slide 5
In this presentation, we will go through some key changes in Division B, Part 3 and Appendix D as well as Division A, Part 1 that are not included in the other presentations.
Six topics will be covered. Changes were made to:
- permitted combustible components in buildings,
- protection of foamed plastics,
- smoke tightness,
- component additive method,
- self-storage service buildings, and
- buildings on sloping sites.
Handbook pages 3-8 and 19-22
Slide 6
There was confusion related to the requirements for the use of combustible cladding and combustible components in exterior wall assemblies of buildings required to be of noncombustible construction, which may have lead to a misapplication of requirements.
To better understand the hazards and risks associated with combustible components, you need to understand what you're protecting from, which was clarified in the Code.
Fire exposure is from within the building, not from outside. We are trying to prevent what is shown in the photo on the right: a fire spreading from the floor area through the exterior wall and up to other storeys. In Canada we are good neighbours and we try to avoid fire exposure from our buildings to other buildings. This is also the case for spatial separation requirements where we are trying to mitigate fire spread to an adjacent building.
So there are changes to combustible cladding requirements and combustible components in buildings required to be of noncombustible construction.
Slide 7
In the photo on the right, we see two types of insulation. In the photo, combustible insulation is on the left and foamed plastic insulation is on the right.
Foamed plastic is more hazardous in a fire then combustible insulation.
For example, did you ever try to burn a foam cup? What happens? The cup burns fast and releases some toxic fumes.
Combustible insulation will burn when exposed to fire but is not considered as severe as the burning of foamed plastic insulation.
Similar to what we just looked at for combustible components, there was confusion related to combustible insulation and foamed plastic insulation as these requirements were all in the same location. This created confusion with some Code users based on the fact that the provisions were not relating to the insulation material in the same way.
What we are trying to avoid is fire exposure from within the building, not from outside.
The Code was clarified with respect to the protection of foamed plastic versus the protection of combustible insulation.
Slide 8
Ever see one of these?
This photo shows a walk-in cooler and freezer with factory-assembled panels.
This is a walk-in cooler or freezer and can be seen in the back of any restaurant. Even if you have not worked in the food services industry, you probably have been in one of these anyway, in say COSTCO.
Walk-in coolers or freezers made out of factory-assembled panels were not readily addressed by the Code and contain foamed plastic insulation. New requirements for walk-in coolers and freezers made of factory-assembled panels for all buildings, including Part 9 buildings, were introduced in the Code.
Slide 9
Did you know that 80% of deaths in fires are related to smoke inhalation?
“Fire” is not a defined term in the Code but the conventional definition infers that fire is related to heat and smoke.
The Code has the terms “fire separation” and “fire-resistance rating” and there has been confusion regarding these terms and smoke tightness.
The key takeaway here is that the NBC was unclear whether the smoke hazard must be addressed and because it was not defined, there were varying interpretations and enforcement with respect to closures in fire separations.
This was confirmed via a survey that was sent to various authorities having jurisdiction throughout the country to determine whether or not everyone would have the same understanding of the required protection for specific applications. To no surprise, the responses received confirmed that there was a need to clarify where smoke tightness should be required.
Slide 10
Let's take a closer look at the problem. The image on the screen shows a whole bunch of ducts and let's pretend that the wall they are going through is a fire separation and let's say that the rectangular duct goes through the wall and does not transition to a circular portion.
Fire dampers would be located within the duct in the plane of a fire separation. Fire dampers acted as a guillotine by closing up the openings. are also required in a transfer opening in the plane of the fire separation. This is not new. What is new is smoke tightness requirements related to dampers.
Conventional fire dampers typically include a fusible link that melts and releases the fire damper kind of like a guillotine and its operation is related to heat so smoke will be able to go through the duct to other areas of the building for a period of time. Think about burning toast, a smoke alarm is very sensitive to the smoke and it will go off before your whole kitchen catches on fire.
In addition, the Code did not have any leakage requirements for fire dampers.
Slide 11
New requirements were introduced:
- to prevent smoke from reaching areas used as a path of egress in certain locations,
- for leakage-rated door assemblies in certain locations.
The image on the right is a damper that would be located within a duct in the plane of a fire separation or in a transfer opening in the plane of the fire separation.
For smoke tightness, there are new requirements for smoke dampers or combination fire and smoke dampers that apply only to specific areas where a duct or air-transfer opening penetrates a fire separation that:
- separates a public corridor,
- contains an egress door (where travel distance is measured from the egress door),
- serves an assembly, care, treatment, detention or residential occupancy, or
- delimits a barrier-free path of travel (protection of the barrier-free path of travel) or a floor area (in care and treatment occupancies).
Requirements for the installation, inspection and testing of fire dampers, smoke dampers and combination fire/smoke dampers now include a reference to the NFPA 80 standard.
Slide 12
What is the component additive method (CAM)? CAM is used to assign the fire performance of a specific combination of building materials. Without CAM, a designer would need to use a fire-tested assembly that typically uses proprietary materials or would need to have fire testing done. CAM has generic materials which could be used to determine the fire-resistance rating of assemblies.
CAM is like a sandwich where each part of the sandwich contributes to your overall culinary experience. Relating this to a wall assembly, each part of the wall assembly contributes to the overall fire-resistance rating of the assembly. CAM assigns a time to each component of the assembly.
What was the problem? CAM was not updated for a while and some construction materials/applications that are commonly used were not included. The challenge is that application of CAM is limited to the building materials identified in the NBC. It is not possible to draw conclusions, based on CAM, on potential combination of building materials other than the ones found in the various tables of the NBC.
As such, CAM was modernized.
Phase I introduced minor changes related to the nomenclature applied throughout Appendix D where CAM resides. For example, the term “gypsum board” was introduced in replacement of “gypsum wallboard” where wallboard created confusion among some Code users.
Slide 13
In Phase II, the revision was limited to the Section dealing with wood and steel-framed walls, floors and roofs (Section D-2.3.). The tables were expanded to include new building materials and new combinations of building materials including:
- loadbearing applications,
- non-loadbearing applications,
- wood-framed assemblies, and
- steel-framed assemblies.
Also, values were clarified and expanded options were added for:
- resilient metal channels,
- floor topping,
- insulation materials, and
- structural members.
The application of the component additive method itself was clarified, which made the method clearer.
All the values that were retained for this exercise were validated through fire tests conducted on wood-framed and steel-framed assemblies.
Slide 14
Have you ever seen the show Storage Wars? For those of you who have never seen the show, it is a show where abandoned storage lockers are put up for auction and then the people who bid on and buy the lockers get into all sorts of shenanigans. Some of the storage lockers in the show are typically the same as what is shown in the photo.
Did you know that there are 3,300 self-service storage buildings in Canada totaling 65 million square feet of renting space? Each year, between 10 to 20 new facilities are built adding another 1 million square feet of renting space. This industry is huge!
Currently, there are no specific requirements in the NBC other than one Article referencing multi-tenant self-storage warehouses. Also, Ontario and Alberta had their own approach and there was a need to harmonize requirements.
So a new Subsection was added, which provides a relaxation of Code requirements as without this Subsection, the Code would be conventionally applied but it is not that straightforward, for example, regarding occupancy classification. The new requirements for self-storage buildings are limited to 1-storey buildings with external access. This was considered Phase I.
The new requirements state that these buildings are to be classified as Group F, Division 2 occupancies, the building area could include one building or a group of buildings and there are separate spatial separation requirements.
Future phases will review single-storey with internal access and multi-storey buildings.
Slide 15
Applying the typical provisions of the Code are challenging when it comes to buildings on sloping sites. In the diagram on the left, how many storeys high is the building? Depending on which side you look at the building from, the building height would appear different. It appears from one side that it is a single storey building and from the backside it looks like a 3-storey building.
However, under the NBC, the building would be a 3-storey building. The implication of the general application of the NBC can be seen on the building section on the right. By general application of the NBC, the building would be considered a 6-storey building! This could lead to the addition of other requirements which may be onerous to implement and would not be consistent with the spirit of the Code.
The Code had provisions for buildings on sloping sites but the provisions were limited to buildings with a Group C occupancy (residential occupancy, up to 3 storeys in building height), as shown on the screen.
Provisions for buildings on sloping sites were developed in the past and based on the following:
- considered to be comparable to row houses, which at the time were required to be separated by a continuous 1-hour rated fire separation,
- limited to Group C occupancies as these were the occupancy type of row houses and the primary type of building that initiated the original Code change, and
- limited to 3 storeys in building height, which was the height limit of Group C buildings of combustible construction at the time.
The unobstructed path of travel was added to address any access risks increased as a result of the stepped increase in building height.
Slide 16
An historical analysis of the development of this provision identified a lack of quantifiable risk factors associated with an increase in building height, and identified compensatory measures to address risk on a comparative basis by using a combination of existing provisions in the NBC.
The new provision expands the application of the provision:
- building height from 3 to 4 storeys in building height, and
- occupancy type to include Group A and D major occupancies.
Slide 17
Although we covered several topics in this presentation, six to be exact, I want to leave you with the following:
- the Code considers fire exposure from within the building,
- new requirements for smoke tightness were added for key areas, and
- the component additive method, or CAM, was updated.
Slide 18
I have covered a lot of information in today's presentation. The handbook is a useful resource if you want to review the topics from this presentation in more detail.
It covers the majority of technical changes that were implemented in the 2015 National Building Code, National Fire Code, National Plumbing Code and National Energy Code for Buildings.
The handbook can be purchased on NRC's virtual store as a downloadable PDF or as a hard copy.
Slide 19
Contact Information
Thank you for your interest in this presentation.
| Alternative title | Fire Protection (Part 3 of the National Building Code of Canada: 2015 and the Appendix D) |
|---|---|
| Download | |
| DOI | Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.4224/40002093 |
| Author | Search for: 1; Search for: 1 |
| Speaker | Search for: Esposito, Dominic1 |
| Affiliation |
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| Format | Video, Learning Object |
| Edition | Version 0.1 |
| Subject | Codes & guides; construction; building; fire protection; NRCCode |
| Publication date | 2015 |
| Publisher | National Research Council of Canada |
| Related publication | |
| Language | English |
| Export citation | Export as RIS |
| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
| Record identifier | 922d235a-2852-4756-adf7-1af3b7b3f0a4 |
| Record created | 2021-05-04 |
| Record modified | 2023-05-03 |
- Date modified: