Charlottetown council approves new National Building Code

Charlottetown is moving forward toimplementthe 2015 National Building Code by the end of October.

Council passed a motion Wednesday night to introduce the new code.

Coun.Greg Rivard, the chair of planning and heritage, saiddevelopers have been waiting for thischange.

"With the less than one per cent vacancy rate, we have a bunch ofdevelopers thatare waiting on the new building code to be adopted."

Rivardsaidthe city has close to1,000 apartment unitsto be constructed or approved to be constructed.

He said council was in talks with the province to bring the codeforward at the same time, butsaid the citydid not want to wait.

Changes for developers

"With the amount of units that are approved to be built, and listening to what the developers are saying, that they want this new National Building Code," saidRivard.

"I felt it was urgent, I guess, for the city to move forward."

Rivard said one of the biggest changes for developers will be the opportunity to build an extra floor, increasing buildingheightfrom four storeys to five.

"It also talks about building out of wood over 40 feet. That's key," he said.

"Right now everything that's constructed over the 40 feet, the four floors requires steel. You can do so with wood now, under the new by law."

Transition period

Rivard saidthere will be a four-month transition period from Nov.1, 2018to Feb.28, 2019.

During this time, a building or development permit applicant may choose to have an application governed by either the National Building Code from 2010 or 2015.

The province-wide National BuildingCode officially comes into effect for residential construction on Jan.1,2020.

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