Building Act Clock Starts Ticking

Some sections of the new Building Act that significantly affect local governments came into force on December 15.

Section 5 of the Act deprives of their legal force any local government building requirements, in whatever local bylaw the requirement may reside, to the extent that they relate to a matter that is subject to a requirement of a provincial building regulation in respect of “building activities” or that is prescribed by regulation as a “restricted matter”. Building activities are defined in the Act as the construction of a new building or the alteration, repair or demolition of existing buildings. Section 43 of the Act makes section 5 applicable two years after it comes into force, that is, on December 15, 2017. (Section 5, like the B.C. Building Code itself, doesn’t apply to the City of Vancouver.)

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