Report from Our Sub-Councils: Q3 2022

November 6, 2022 admin Sub-councils

Our sub-councils continue to discuss the issues of importance to Alberta’s safety codes system. Here’s the Sub-Council Report for Q3, 2022.

Fire Sub-Council

Moved to support issuance of the Occupant Load STANDATA as presented. This STANDATA will likely be published after publication of the next editions of the NFC(AE) and NBC(AE).

Building and Fire Sub-Councils

Moved to forward the draft Shipping Containers STANDATA to the Provincial Fire Administrator for consideration, and to forward the draft to the Plumbing, Gas, and Electrical Sub-Councils for consideration and support. This draft STANDATA focuses on situations when the building and fire codes would apply to shipping containers being used for purposes other than transportation. Issuing this as a joint STANDATA with other disciplines could also allow for broader reach and reinforce that codes apply and permits are needed for mechanical installations in repurposed shipping containers.

Plumbing Sub-Council

Moved to recommend removal of the permit exemption for water treatment devices (14(2)(e) in the Permit Regulation). Since the introduction of this permit exemption, the NPC has changed to reference these devices and require they be certified.
All STANDATA in the plumbing discipline were reviewed for continued relevance and alignment with the NPC 2020.
Discussion continued about the current permit exemption for water and sewer installations.

Pressure Equipment Sub-Council

Moved to support adoption of administrative amendments to the Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation. These amendments remove duplicate documentation requirements for design submissions in alignment with the new online submission process, and update the definition of professional engineer to that found in the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act.
Moved to recommend including a flowchart in the Fuel Gas Piping in Plants STANDATA (gas discipline). This flowchart would assist users in determining whether gas codes or pressure equipment codes apply to fuel gas piping in plants.
A working group is moving forward with review of the current edition of CSA N285.0, which relates to pressure-retaining systems in nuclear power plants, even though Small Modular Reactor technology is not yet incorporated into this standard.

Barrier Free Sub-Council

Moved to forward the Segregated Paths of Travel to Accessible Parking Stalls, Height of Operational Controls, and Mandatory Cooling of Elder Communities documents to the Building Sub-Council for review and potential code change request.
Work continued to prepare other potential code change topics for submission to the Building Sub-Council, including assistive listening devices, door closers, and accessible housing issues.

Passenger Ropeways Sub-Council

An update was given on the status of a draft safety alert about drive upgrades on passenger ropeways, which was reviewed in detail.

Gas Sub-Council

Received a presentation about hydrogen, including specifics about how it can replace natural gas as a process and consumer fuel, storage, and challenges.
Discussion continued on the potential to expand the scope of an existing variance STANDATA for stationary gas engines at oil and gas sites to include agricultural irrigation purposes.