Hackathons / Construction & building codes
Code Path
Help builders get alternative solutions through review on the first try, and help code officers review them the same way from town to town.
The problem
When a design departs from Alberta's prescriptive building code, the designer submits an alternative solution. A safety codes officer can then issue a variance that approves it.
Most trouble starts at the permit application, with incomplete submissions and missing documents. Division C 2.3 sets out seven required elements. Applicants tend to focus on the technical case and miss the administrative ones.
One municipality can approve an alternative solution that another refuses. A town of 800 may have a single officer, and the province now reviews each variance issued.
Ideas to build
- A pre-submission checker that flags which of the seven required elements are missing.
- A tool that maps a proposed deviation to the function and objective statements of the Division B article it touches.
- A way for smaller jurisdictions to see how other towns handled similar variances.