NEWS / AWARDS
Committee News
Practice Committee: ACCELERATED ADOPTION OF 2020 NATIONAL CODES IN MANITOBA
April 10, 2023
ACCELERATED ADOPTION OF 2020 NATIONAL CODES IN MANITOBA
The Province of Manitoba is looking to implement 2020 national codes (with a very minimal number of MB amendments) by this fall.
A copy of the press release that had been issued by the province last fall, indicating its intention to undertake an accelerated adoption, had been distributed to all members (but no timeframe had been identified back then).
We understand that provincial bureaucrats are in the final stages of having the Manitoba amendments to 2020 Codes approved (and, that it will be a significantly reduced version of the amendments that had been prepared for the 2015 codes and made available for public review last summer); and that those amendments will be publicly released in the near future.
Members need to know that:
a) Once formally adopted by government, 2020 national codes (with MB amendments) will immediately come into force;
b) MB amendments for the 2020 codes will not be any less restrictive (or progressive) than the draft amendments to the 2015 codes that had been prepared and made available for public review last summer; and
c) Government is committed to providing industry with a window / transition period of at least 6 months, following the release of the MB amendments, before compliance with the 2020 codes will be enforced.
The MAA would like to also inform members of the following:
• It has been supportive of the MB Government moving directly to the 2020 national codes (so that industry need not deal transitioned through the 2015 national codes, to the 2020 national codes within less than a year following);
• Harmonization efforts are underway by the provincial governments, to minimize provincial amendments (driving appropriate changes to code requirements to be vetted and made at the national level instead); and
• Provincial bureaucrats have been made aware that education sessions offered by the province, to assist the profession in transitioning, will be important.
To assist MAA members in preparing for implementation of national codes by this fall:
1. A copy of the publication that had been prepared by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC), which identifies some of the significant technical changes that have been addressed within the 2020 national codes, has been posted on the MAA's website at: /news_details.php?news_id=386
2. Copies of the 2020 National Codes are readily available through the NRC website, at no cost: https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/codes-canada/codes-canada-publications
3. Members will be notified of the release of the Manitoba amendments to the 2020 national codes, as soon as we become aware, and will be provided with the appropriate link to access such documentation.
