Wind & Snow Loads in/near Halifax, Nova Scotia 5

[YukonOne]

Anyone have any idea what Wind and Snow loads in the Halifax area are or where I can get the information? The specific area is Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

As always many thanks

 

[doct9960]

See Schedule "B" in here...

http://www.gov.ns.ca/JUST/regulations/regs/bcregs.htm

and check the 2005 National Building Code of Canada

 

[YukonOne]

I've checked out schedule B - just what I'm looking for. However, I'm confused by the terms, specifically Ss, Sr in the Ground snow load catagory and the 1/10 & 1/50 under hourly wind pressures.

Anybody know what those are?

Thanks again.

 

[doct9960]

YukonOne,

Ss is the ground snow load with a 1-in-30 probability of exceedence per year.
Sr is the associated rain load.
1/10 & 1/50 are levels of probability (i.e. 1 in 10) of being exceeded in a year. 10 & 50 are the return periods in years.

You better grab a hold of the 2005 NBC to fully undertand the Canadian building code. BTW, there's also a forum on NBC...forum771, but there's not much activity in there.

 

[DSTeng]

YukonOne,

I suggest that you read the NBCC 2005, as well as the NBCC 1995, as there are different load combinations as well as different probability-of-exceedence criteria between the two codes (i.e. 1/30 snow is no longer applicable).

NBCC 2005 came into force thoughout Canada recently.

 

[youngstructural]

Please be careful DSTeng;

It is incorrect to say that NBCC 2005 came into force throughout Canada: the NBCC is a model code, and must be adopted by the province in order to become law. The code was approved as a complete MODEL recently. In some provinces, this does effectively mean that it is in force, although it would technicially still require adoption. However, a number of provinces have choosen not to adopt the NBCC, and instead use it in it's truest form (ie: as a model) and create their own building code from this model code.

Ontario and BC come to mind as provinces which publish their own fully re-written code based on NBCC, and Quebec as one which adopts the NBCC with amendments. Other provinces will have their own way of doing things, and as construction is a provincial jurisdiction, following the NBCC in a province which re-works the code is in effect breaking the law. I know Ontario has stated that they would pursue an engineer for negligence if anything were to happen due to following the model code rather than the OBC (Ontario Building Code). The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing of Ontario takes this issue very seriously indeed, and even threatened to ignore the NBCC 2005 due to changes which they did not like/agree with. As far as I know the fight was settled without too much fur flying, however it does reinforce who's in charge in the provinces.

I would be very interested to hear any news regarding what did happen in the end between the MAH, the OBC Technical Committee and the NBCC people. Also, if you know how other provinces work the adoption of their Codes, please post the details!

Regards,

YS

B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...

 

[DSTeng]

youngstructural,

Your synopsis of the use of the NBCC as a model code is correct. I should have specifically mentioned that Nova Scotia adopted NBCC 2005. See the below link for a summary of the code adpotions by each province.

http://www.nationalcodes.ca/ncd_model-code_e.shtml

As for the OBC, the "re-write" of the model code is quite similar to the 2005 NBCC with regard to Part 4 (Structural Design). OBC came into force sometime in Mar/Apr 2007 (I can't remember the exact date). There is a provision in the code that allows use of the previous OBC if a "substantial" amount of design was performed under the requirements of the old OBC.

Regards,
DSTeng