Subsection 1.3.3. of Division A specifies that Part 5 applies to all buildings except those within the scope of Part 2, Part 9 or the scope of the National Farm Building Code of Canada 1995. Because of their intended use, many buildings need only provide a limited degree of separation from the outdoor environment, the ground, or between interior spaces. The provisions in Part 5 are written to allow exemptions for these buildings.
Part 5 applies to building elements that separate dissimilar environments and to site conditions that may affect environmental loading on the building envelope.
The provisions address
- the design and construction, or selection, of building components, such as windows and doors,
- the design and construction of building assemblies, such as walls, floors and roofs,
- the design and construction of the interfaces between the above-mentioned elements, and
- the design or selection, and installation, of site materials, components and assemblies, such as backfill and drainage, and grading.
Part 5 applies not only to building elements that separate indoor space from outdoor space, but also to those elements that separate indoor space from the ground and that separate adjacent indoor spaces having significantly different environments.
Indoor spaces that require separation include interior conditioned spaces adjacent to indoor unconditioned spaces, and adjacent interior conditioned spaces that are intended to provide different environments. An extreme example of the last would be a wall that separates an indoor ice rink from a swimming pool.
Some building elements are exposed to exterior environmental loads but do not separate dissimilar environments. Solid guards on exterior walkways are one example. Such elements are subject to the application of Part 5.