Adaptable seating enables persons in wheelchairs to transfer to a fixed seat without the obstruction of an armrest. Exits include doors or doorways leading directly into an exit stair or directly to the outside. In the case of an exit leading to a separate building, exits also include vestibules, walkways, bridges and balconies. Farm buildings as defined in Article 1.4.1.2. include but are not limited to produce storage and packing facilities, livestock and poultry housing, milking centres, manure storage facilities, grain bins, silos, feed preparation centres, farm workshops, greenhouses, farm retail centres, and horse riding, exercise and training facilities. Farm buildings may be classed as low or high human occupancy depending on the occupant load.
Examples of farm buildings likely to be classed as low human occupancy as defined in Article 1.2.1.2. of the National Farm Building Code of Canada are livestock and poultry housing, manure and machinery storage facilities and horse exercise and training facilities where no bleachers or viewing area are provided.
Examples of other buildings that would be classed as other than low human occupancy include farm retail centres for feeds, horticultural and livestock produce, auction barns and show areas where bleachers or other public facilities are provided. Farm work centres where the number of workers frequently exceeds the limit for low human occupancy will also be in this category.
It is possible to have areas of both high and low human occupancy in the same building provided that the structural safety and fire separation requirements for high human occupancy are met in the part thus designated. A fire separation may or may not have a fire-resistance rating. This definition facilitates acknowledgement and acceptance of the significance of such a building through creditable means. “Plumbing” is defined in the Building Code Act, 1992. Each of the three systems (drainage, venting, water) appearing in the definition are further defined in Article 1.4.1.2., with the end result that a plumbing system encompasses all three elements.
Other piping systems as listed below are excluded from plumbing system since the definition of water system limits the system to the point of juncture with outlets, fixtures, etc. Similarly, a drainage system starts at the fixture or plumbing appliance it drains.
A plumbing system does not include,
(a)
a system of piping,
(i)
for space heating in which water is used as a medium to transfer heat,
(ii)
in which liquids or vapours are circulated for the purpose of cooling or refrigeration,
(iii)
through which air is passed for the purpose of controlling the temperature, humidity or motion of air passing through the system,
(iv)
that conveys water for the purpose of providing water or nutrients to the soil,
(v)
that conveys water for the purpose of landscaping or for the care of animals, birds or fish,
(vi)
that transmits force by means of water or by means of a liquid other than water in which water is used for cooling,
(vii)
that conveys liquids for the purpose of melting ice or snow, or
(viii)
that uses water in the conveyance of flammable gas or fuel; or
(b)
a well, a well pump installed for the purpose of conveying water from a well, a pressure tank and pump if the tank and pump are combined as a unit, the piping between any well pump and the well, the piping between a well pump and a pressure tank that is installed separate from the pump and the connection of the piping to such pressure tank, and when there is no well pump, any piping connected to the well for a distance of three feet from the outside of the well. A covered mall is considered to be a public corridor and, as such, is subject to the same requirements as a public corridor. This definition addresses smaller heritage buildings that are to be made available to the public for viewing as examples of an architectural period or periods in the past, depicting how our forebears lived, worked or played, and what artifacts, objects or clothing were in use at that time. These buildings are not considered museums as such, and therefore would not be subject to the more stringent requirements of assembly occupancies for that use. Typical examples of service rooms include boiler rooms, furnace rooms, incinerator rooms, garbage handling rooms, and rooms to accommodate air-conditioning or heating appliances, pumps, compressors and electrical equipment. Rooms such as elevator machine rooms and common laundry rooms are not considered as service rooms. Tenancy in the context of the term “suite” applies to both rental and ownership tenure. In a condominium arrangement, for example, dwelling units are considered separate suites even though they are individually owned. In order to be of complementary use, a series of rooms that constitute a suite are in reasonably close proximity to each other and have access to each other either directly by means of a common doorway or indirectly by a corridor, vestibule or other similar arrangement.
The term “suite” does not apply to rooms such as service rooms, common laundry rooms and common recreational rooms that are not leased or under a separate tenure in the context of the Code. Similarly, the term suite is not normally applied in the context of buildings such as schools and hospitals, since the entire building is under a single tenure. A rented room in a long-term care home could be considered as a suite if the room was under a separate tenure. A hospital bedroom on the other hand is not considered to be under a separate tenure, since the patient has little control of that space, even though he pays the hospital a per diem rate for the privilege of using the hospital facilities, which include the sleeping areas.
For certain requirements in the Code, the expression “room or suite” is used (e.g. travel distance). This means that the requirement applies within the rooms of suites as well as to the suite itself and to rooms that may be located outside the suite. In other places the expression “suite, and rooms not located within a suite” is used (e.g. for the installation of smoke and heat detectors). This means that the requirement applies to individual suites as defined, but not to each room within the suite. The rooms “not within a suite” would include common laundry rooms, common recreational rooms and service rooms, that are not considered as tenant occupied space. A secondary suite is a self-contained dwelling unit that is part of a building containing not more than two dwelling units (including the secondary suite) and any common spaces such as common storage, common service rooms, common laundry facilities or common areas used for egress.
Secondary suites are typically created within a new or existing single dwelling unit—commonly called a “house”—either constructed as an addition to an existing house or incorporated during the construction of a new house. A secondary suite may have more than one storey and may be on the same level as the otherl dwelling unit of the house or be above or below it.
Examples of buildings where secondary suites are permitted include individual detached houses, or where the secondary suite is located in a portion of a building, semi-detached houses (half of a double) and freehold row houses.
Where a building has multiple occupancies, the secondary suite can only be created in a portion of the building that is of residential occupancy. Apartment buildings have more than two dwelling units and are therefore not permitted to have secondary suites.
Neither dwelling unit in a house can be strata-titled or otherwise subdivided from the remainder of the house under provincial or territorial legislation. This means that both dwelling units are registered under the same title.
Secondary suites are also referred to as “accessory suites” or “secondary units”.