1)The words and terms in italics in this
Code have the following meanings:
Access to exitmeans that part of a means of egress within a floor area that provides access to an exit serving the floor area.
Adfreezingmeans the adhesion of soil to a foundation unit resulting from the freezing of soil water.
(Also referred to as “frost grip.”)
Air barrier systemmeans the assembly
installed to provide a continuous barrier to the movement of air.
Air-supported structuremeans a structure
consisting of a pliable membrane which achieves and maintains its
shape and support by internal air pressure.
Alarm signalmeans an audible signal
transmitted throughout a zone or zones or throughout a building to advise occupants that a fire emergency
exists.
Alert signalmeans an audible signal
to advise designated persons of a fire emergency.
Alterationmeans a change or extension
to any matter or thing or to any occupancy regulated by this Code.
Appliancemeans a device to convert
fuel into energy and includes all components, controls, wiring and
piping required to be part of the device by the applicable standard
referred to in this Code.
Assembly occupancymeans the occupancy or the use of a building, or part thereof, by a gathering of persons for civic,
political, travel, religious, social, educational, recreational or
like purposes, or for the consumption of food or drink.
Attic or roof spacemeans the space
between the roof and the ceiling of the top storey or between a dwarf wall and a sloping roof.
Authority having jurisdictionmeans
the governmental body responsible for the enforcement of any part
of this Code or the official or agency designated by that body to
exercise such a function.
Barrier-freemeans that a building and its facilities can be approached,
entered, and used by persons with physical or sensory disabilities.
Basementmeans a storey or storeys of a building located below the first storey.
Bearing surfacemeans the contact surface
between a foundation unit and the soil or rock upon which
it bears.
Boilermeans an appliance intended to supply hot water or steam for space
heating, processing or power purposes.
Breechingmeans a flue pipe or chamber for receiving flue gases from one or more flue connections
and for discharging these gases through a single flue connection.
Buildingmeans any structure used or
intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
Building areameans the greatest horizontal
area of a building above grade within the outside surface of exterior walls or within
the outside surface of exterior walls and the centre line of firewalls.
Building height(in storeys) means the number of storeys contained between the roof and the floor of the first storey.
Care or detention occupancymeans the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof by persons who require special care or treatment
because of cognitive or physical limitations or by persons who are
restrained from, or are incapable of, self-preservation because of
security measures not under their control.
Cavity wallmeans a construction of
masonry units laid with a cavity between the wythes. The wythes are
tied together with metal ties or bonding units, and are relied on
to act together in resisting lateral loads.
Chimneymeans a primarily vertical shaft
enclosing at least one flue for conducting flue gases to the outdoors.
Chimney linermeans a conduit containing
a chimney flue used
as a lining of a masonry or concrete chimney.
Closuremeans a device or assembly for
closing an opening through a fire separation or an exterior wall, such as a door, a shutter, wired glass or glass
block, and includes all components such as hardware, closing devices,
frames and anchors.
Combustiblemeans that a material fails
to meet the acceptance criteria of CAN/ULC-S114, “Test for Determination
of Non-Combustibility in Building Materials.”
Combustible constructionmeans that
type of construction that does not meet the requirements for noncombustible construction.
Combustible liquidmeans a liquid having
a flash point at or above 37.8°C and below 93.3°C.
Conditioned spacemeans any space within
a building the temperature of which is
controlled to limit variation in response to the exterior ambient
temperature by the provision, either directly or indirectly, of heating
or cooling over substantial portions of the year.
Constructormeans a person who contracts
with an owner or their authorized agent to
undertake a project, and includes an owner who contracts with more than one person for the work on a project
or undertakes the work on a project or any part thereof.
Contained use areameans a supervised
area containing one or more rooms in which occupant movement is restricted
to a single room by security measures not under the control of the
occupant.
Dead loadmeans the weight of all permanent
structural and non-structural components of a building.
Deep foundationmeans a foundation unit that provides support for
a building by transferring loads either
by end-bearing to soil or rock at considerable depth below the building, or by adhesion or friction, or both, in the soil or rock in which it is placed. Piles are the most common type of deep foundation.
Designermeans the person responsible
for the design.
Direct-vented(as applying to a fuel-fired
space- or water-heating appliance) means
an appliance and its venting system in
which all the combustion air is supplied directly from the outdoors
and the products of combustion are vented directly to the outdoors
via independent, totally enclosed passageways connected directly to
the appliance.
Dwelling unitmeans a suite operated as a housekeeping unit, used or intended to
be used as a domicile by one or more persons and usually containing
cooking, eating, living, sleeping and sanitary facilities.
Excavationmeans the space created by
the removal of soil, rock or fill for the purposes of construction.
Exhaust ductmeans a duct through which
air is conveyed from a room or space to the outdoors.
Exitmeans that part of a means of egress, including doorways, that
leads from the floor area it serves to
a separate building, an open public thoroughfare,
or an exterior open space protected from fire exposure from the building and having access to an open public
thoroughfare. (See Appendix A.)
Exit levelmeans the level of an exit stairway at which an exterior exit door or exit passageway leads
to the exterior.
Exit storey(as applying to Subsection 3.2.6. of Division B) means a storey having an exterior exit door.
Exposing building facemeans that part
of the exterior wall of a building that
faces one direction and is located between ground level and the ceiling
of its top storey or, where a building is divided into fire compartments, the exterior wall of a fire compartment that faces one direction.
Factory-built chimneymeans a chimney consisting entirely of factory-made parts,
each designed to be assembled with the other without requiring fabrication
on site.
Farm buildingmeans a building or part thereof that does not contain a residential occupancy and that is associated
with and located on land devoted to the practice of farming, and used
essentially for the housing of equipment or livestock, or the production,
storage or processing of agricultural and horticultural produce or
feeds. (See Appendix A.)
Fillmeans soil, rock, rubble, industrial waste such as
slag, organic material or a combination of these that is transported
and placed on the natural surface of soil or rock or organic terrain. It may or may not be compacted.
Fire compartmentmeans an enclosed space
in a building that is separated from all
other parts of the building by enclosing
construction providing a fire separation having a required fire-resistance rating.
Fire dampermeans a closure consisting of a damper that is installed in an air
distribution system or a wall or floor assembly and that is normally
held open but designed to close automatically in the event of a fire
in order to maintain the integrity of the fire
separation.
Fire detectormeans a device that detects
a fire condition and automatically initiates an electrical signal
to actuate an alert signal or alarm signal and includes heat detectors and smoke detectors.
Fire load(as applying to an occupancy) means the combustible contents of a room or floor area expressed
in terms of the average weight of combustible materials per unit area, from which the potential heat liberation
may be calculated based on the calorific value of the materials, and
includes the furnishings, finished floor, wall and ceiling finishes,
trim and temporary and movable partitions.
Fire-protection ratingmeans the time
in minutes or hours that a closure will withstand
the passage of flame when exposed to fire under specified conditions
of test and performance criteria, or as otherwise prescribed in this
Code.
Fire-resistance ratingmeans the time
in minutes or hours that a material or assembly of materials will
withstand the passage of flame and the transmission of heat when exposed
to fire under specified conditions of test and performance criteria,
or as determined by extension or interpretation of information derived
therefrom as prescribed in this Code. (See Appendix Note D-1.2.1.(2) of Division B.)
Fire-retardant-treated woodmeans wood
or a wood product that has had its surface-burning characteristics,
such as flame spread, rate of fuel contribution and density of smoke
developed, reduced by impregnation with fire-retardant chemicals.
Fire separationmeans a construction
assembly that acts as a barrier against the spread of fire. (See Appendix A.)
Fire stop flapmeans a device intended
for use in horizontal assemblies required to have a fire-resistance rating and incorporating protective
ceiling membranes, which operates to close off a duct opening through
the membrane in the event of a fire.
Firewallmeans a type of fire separation of noncombustible construction that subdivides a building or separates adjoining buildings to resist the spread of fire and that has a fire-resistance rating as prescribed in this
Code and has structural stability to remain intact under fire conditions
for the required fire-rated time.
First storeymeans the uppermost storey having its floor level not more than 2 m above grade.
Flame-spread ratingmeans an index or
classification indicating the extent of spread-of-flame on the surface
of a material or an assembly of materials as determined in a standard
fire test as prescribed in this Code.
Flammable liquidmeans a liquid having
a flash point below 37.8°C and having a vapour pressure not more than 275.8 kPa (absolute) at 37.8°C as determined by ASTM D 323, “Vapor
Pressure of Petroleum Products (Reid Method).”
Flash pointmeans the minimum temperature
at which a liquid within a container gives off vapour in sufficient
concentration to form an ignitable mixture with air near the surface
of the liquid.
Floor areameans the space on any storey of a building between exterior walls and required firewalls, including the space occupied by interior walls and partitions, but not including exits, vertical service spaces, and their
enclosing assemblies.
Fluemeans an enclosed passageway for
conveying flue gases.
Flue collarmeans the portion of a fuel-fired appliance designed for the attachment of the flue pipe or breeching.
Flue pipemeans the pipe connecting
the flue collar of an appliance to a chimney.
Forced-air furnacemeans a furnace equipped with a fan that provides the
primary means for the circulation of air.
Foundationmeans a system or arrangement
of foundation units through which the
loads from a building are transferred to
supporting soil or rock.
Foundation unitmeans one of the structural
members of the foundation of a building such as a footing, raft or pile.
Frost actionmeans the phenomenon that
occurs when water in soil is subjected to freezing
which, because of the water/ice phase change or ice lens growth, results
in a total volume increase or the build-up of expansive forces under
confined conditions or both, and the subsequent thawing that leads
to loss of soil strength and increased compressibility.
Furnacemeans a space-heating appliance using warm air as the heating medium
and usually having provision for the attachment of ducts.
Gas ventmeans that portion of a venting
system designed to convey vent gases to the outdoors from the vent connector of a gas-fired appliance or directly from the appliance when a vent connector is not used.
Grade(as applying to the determination
of building height) means the lowest
of the average levels of finished ground adjoining each exterior wall
of a building, except that localized depressions
such as for vehicle or pedestrian entrances need not be considered
in the determination of average levels of finished ground. (See First storey.)
Groundwatermeans a free standing body
of water in the ground.
Groundwater level(groundwater table)
means the top surface of a free standing body of water in the ground.
Guardmeans a protective barrier around
openings in floors or at the open sides of stairs, landings, balconies, mezzanines, galleries, raised walkways or other locations to prevent accidental falls from
one level to another. Such a barrier may or may not have openings
through it.
Heat detectormeans a fire detector designed to operate at a predetermined
temperature or rate of temperature rise.
Heavy timber constructionmeans that
type of combustible construction in
which a degree of fire safety is attained by placing limitations on
the sizes of wood structural members and on the thickness and composition
of wood floors and roofs and by the avoidance of concealed spaces
under floors and roofs.
High-hazard industrial occupancy(Group
F, Division 1) means an industrial occupancy containing sufficient quantities of highly combustible and flammable or explosive materials which, because
of their inherent characteristics, constitute a special fire hazard.
Horizontal exitmeans an exit from one building to another
by means of a doorway, vestibule, walkway, bridge or balcony.
Horizontal service spacemeans a space
such as an attic, duct, ceiling, roof or crawl space oriented essentially
in a horizontal plane, concealed and generally inaccessible, through
which building service facilities such
as pipes, ducts and wiring may pass.
Impeded egress zonemeans a supervised
area in which occupants have free movement but require the release,
by security personnel, of security doors at the boundary before they
are able to leave the area, but does not include a contained use area.
Industrial occupancymeans the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof for the assembling, fabricating, manufacturing,
processing, repairing or storing of goods and materials.
Interconnected floor spacemeans superimposed floor areas or parts of floor
areas in which floor assemblies that are required to be fire separations are penetrated by openings
that are not provided with closures.
Limiting distancemeans the distance
from an exposing building face to a
property line, the centre line of a street, lane or public thoroughfare, or to an imaginary line between 2 buildings or fire compartments on the same property, measured at right angles to the exposing building face.
Live loadmeans a variable load due
to the intended use and occupancy that
is to be assumed in the design of the structural members of a building. It includes loads due to cranes and
the pressure of liquids in containers.
Loadbearing(as applying to a building element) means subjected to or designed
to carry loads in addition to its own dead load, excepting a wall element subjected only to wind or earthquake loads
in addition to its own dead load.
Low-hazard industrial occupancy(Group
F, Division 3) means an industrial occupancy in which the combustible content is not more than 50 kg/m
2 or 1 200 MJ/m
2 of floor area.
Major occupancymeans the principal occupancy for which a building or part thereof is used or intended to be used, and shall be deemed
to include the subsidiary occupancies that
are an integral part of the principal occupancy. The major occupancy classifications
used in this Code are as follows:
| A1 | Assembly occupancies intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts |
| A2 | Assembly occupancies not elsewhere classified in Group A |
| A3 | Assembly occupancies of the arena type |
| A4 | Assembly occupancies in which the occupants are gathered in the open air |
| B1 | Care or detention
occupancies in which persons are under restraint or are incapable
of self-preservation because of security measures not under their
control |
| B2 | Care or detention
occupancies in which persons having cognitive or physical limitations
require special care or treatment |
| C | Residential occupancies |
| D | Business and personal
services occupancies |
| E | Mercantile occupancies |
| F1 | High-hazard industrial
occupancies |
| F2 | Medium-hazard industrial
occupancies |
| F3 | Low-hazard industrial
occupancies |
Means of egressmeans a continuous path
of travel provided for the escape of persons from any point in a building or contained open space to a separate building, an open public thoroughfare, or an
exterior open space protected from fire exposure from the building and having access to an open public
thoroughfare. Means of egress includes exits and access to exits.
Mechanically vented(as applying to
a fuel-fired space- or water-heating appliance) means an appliance and its venting system
in which the products of combustion are entirely exhausted to the
outdoors by a mechanical device, such as a fan, blower or aspirator,
upstream or downstream from the combustion zone of the appliance, via independent, totally enclosed
passageways connected directly to the appliance. (See Appendix A.)
Medium-hazard industrial occupancy(Group
F, Division 2) means an industrial occupancy in which the combustible content is more than 50 kg/m
2 or 1 200 MJ/m
2 of floor area and not classified
as a high-hazard industrial occupancy.
Mercantile occupancymeans the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof for the displaying or selling of retail goods, wares
or merchandise.
Mezzaninemeans an intermediate floor
assembly between the floor and ceiling of any room or storey and includes an interior balcony.
Noncombustiblemeans that a material
meets the acceptance criteria of CAN/ULC-S114, “Test for Determination
of Non-Combustibility in Building Materials.”
Noncombustible constructionmeans that
type of construction in which a degree of fire safety is attained
by the use of noncombustible materials
for structural members and other building assemblies.
Occupancymeans the use or intended
use of a building or part thereof for the
shelter or support of persons, animals or property.
Occupant loadmeans the number of persons
for which a building or part thereof is
designed.
Open air storeymeans a storey in which at least 25% of the total area of its perimeter
walls is open to the outdoors in a manner that will provide cross-ventilation
to the entire storey.
Ownermeans any person, firm or corporation
controlling the property under consideration.
Partitionmeans an interior wall 1 storey or part-storey in
height that is not loadbearing.
Party wallmeans a wall jointly owned
and jointly used by 2 parties under easement agreement or by right
in law, and erected at or upon a line separating 2 parcels of land
each of which is, or is capable of being, a separate real-estate entity.
Perched groundwatermeans a free standing
body of water in the ground extending to a limited depth.
Pilemeans a slender deep foundation unit made of materials such as wood, steel
or concrete or a combination thereof, that is either premanufactured
and placed by driving, jacking, jetting or screwing, or cast-in-place
in a hole formed by driving, excavating or boring. (Cast-in-place
bored piles are often referred to as caissons in Canada.)
Plenummeans a chamber forming part
of an air duct system.
Plumbing systemmeans a drainage system,
a venting system and a water system or parts thereof.
Post-disaster buildingmeans a building that is essential to the provision of
services in the event of a disaster, and includes
- hospitals, emergency treatment facilities and blood banks,
- telephone exchanges,
- power generating stations and electrical substations,
- control centres for air, land and marine transportation,
- public water treatment and storage facilities, and pumping
stations,
- sewage treatment facilities and buildings having critical national defence functions, and
- buildings of the following types,
unless exempted from this designation by the authority having jurisdiction:
- emergency response facilities,
- fire, rescue and police stations and housing for vehicles,
aircraft or boats used for such purposes, and
- communications facilities, including radio and television
stations.
(See Appendix A.)
Private sewage disposal systemmeans
a privately owned plant for the treatment and disposal of sewage (such
as a septic tank with an absorption field).
Protected floor spacemeans that part
of a floor area protected from the effects
of fire and used as part of a means of egress from an interconnected floor space.
Public corridormeans a corridor that
provides access to exit from more than
one suite. (See Appendix A.)
Public waymeans a sidewalk, street, highway, square or other open space to
which the public has access, as of right or by invitation, expressed
or implied.
Rangemeans a cooking appliance equipped with a cooking surface and one or more
ovens.
Repair garagemeans a building or part thereof where facilities are provided for
the repair or servicing of motor vehicles.
Residential occupancymeans the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof by persons for whom sleeping accommodation is provided
but who are not harboured or detained to receive medical care or treatment
or are not involuntarily detained.
Return ductmeans a duct for conveying
air from a space being heated, ventilated or air-conditioned back
to the heating, ventilating or air-conditioning appliance.
Rockmeans that portion of the earth's
crust that is consolidated, coherent and relatively hard and is a
naturally formed, solidly bonded, mass of mineral matter that cannot
readily be broken by hand.
Service roommeans a room provided in
a building to contain equipment associated
with building services. (See Appendix A.)
Service spacemeans space provided in
a building to facilitate or conceal the
installation of building service facilities
such as chutes, ducts, pipes, shafts or wires.
Shallow foundationmeans a foundation unit that derives its support from soil or rock located close
to the lowest part of the building that
it supports.
Smoke alarmmeans a combined smoke detector and audible alarm device designed
to sound an alarm within the room or suite in
which it is located upon the detection of smoke within that room or suite.
Smoke detectormeans a fire detector designed to operate when the
concentration of airborne combustion products exceeds a predetermined
level.
Soilmeans that portion of the earth's
crust that is fragmentary, or such that some individual particles
of a dried sample may be readily separated by agitation in water;
it includes boulders, cobbles, gravel, sand, silt, clay and organic
matter.
Space heatermeans a space-heating appliance for heating the room or space within
which it is located, without the use of ducts.
Space-heating appliancemeans an appliance intended for the supplying of heat
to a room or space directly, such as a space
heater, fireplace or unit heater, or to rooms or spaces of a building through a heating system such as a central furnace or boiler.
Sprinklered(as applying to a building or part thereof) means that the building or part thereof is equipped with a
system of automatic sprinklers.
Stagemeans a space that is designed
primarily for theatrical performances with provision for quick change
scenery and overhead lighting, including environmental control for
a wide range of lighting and sound effects and that is traditionally,
but not necessarily, separated from the audience by a proscenium wall
and curtain opening.
Storage garagemeans a building or part thereof intended for the storage or parking
of motor vehicles and containing no provision for the repair or servicing
of such vehicles.
(See Appendix A.)
Storeymeans that portion of a building that is situated between the top of
any floor and the top of the floor next above it, and if there is
no floor above it, that portion between the top of such floor and
the ceiling above it.
Stovemeans an appliance intended for cooking and space heating.
Streetmeans any highway, road, boulevard,
square or other improved thoroughfare 9 m or more
in width, that has been dedicated or deeded for public use and is
accessible to fire department vehicles and equipment.
Subsurface investigationmeans the appraisal
of the general subsurface conditions at a building site by analysis of information gained by such methods as geological
surveys, in situ testing, sampling, visual inspection, laboratory
testing of samples of the subsurface materials and groundwater observations and measurements.
Suitemeans a single room or series
of rooms of complementary use, operated under a single tenancy, and
includes dwelling units, individual
guest rooms in motels, hotels, boarding houses, rooming houses and
dormitories as well as individual stores and individual or complementary
rooms for business and personal services occupancies. (See Appendix A.)
Supply ductmeans a duct for conveying
air from a heating, ventilating or air-conditioning appliance to a space to be heated, ventilated or air-conditioned.
Theatremeans a place of public assembly
intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts or
the screening and viewing of motion pictures, and consisting of an
auditorium with permanently fixed seats intended solely for a viewing
audience.
Unit heatermeans a suspended space heater with an integral air-circulating
fan.
Unprotected opening(as applying to exposing building face) means a doorway, window
or opening other than one equipped with a closure having the required fire-protection rating, or any part of a wall forming part of the exposing building face that has a fire-resistance
rating less than that required for the exposing building face.
Unsafe conditionmeans any condition
that could cause undue hazard to the life, limb or health of any person
authorized or expected to be on or about the premises.
Vapour barriermeans the elements installed
to control the diffusion of water vapour.
Vent connector(as applying to heating
or cooling systems) means the part of a venting system that conducts
the flue gases or vent gases from the flue collar of a gas appliance to the chimney or gas vent, and may include a draft control device.
Vertical service spacemeans a shaft
oriented essentially vertically that is provided in a building to facilitate the installation of building services including mechanical, electrical and plumbing
installations and facilities such as elevators, refuse chutes and
linen chutes.
Walkwaymeans a covered or roofed pedestrian
thoroughfare used to connect 2 or more buildings.
This information has been archived because it is outdated and no longer relevant.