Alberta created a new working group to improve the province’s construction codes to safely speed up housing development.
The group, which includes members from government, municipalities and the development community, will explore construction code amendments to accelerate the homebuilding process and harness regulatory, municipal and industry expertise to tackle housing development complexities.
Examples of code changes the working group may consider include those for secondary suites and single-stair apartments to make housing easier to build.
The cities of Calgary and Edmonton will be involved, as will the Safety Codes Council, and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) Alberta. The Safety Codes Council will ensure safety codes officers are trained on any new codes, inspections or approval processes. BILD Alberta will give insight into market conditions and development challenges.
On May 1, Alberta updated its provincial building and fire codes to align with national codes and allow for improved energy efficiency in housing and small buildings, while still emphasizing consumer affordability. The new group will build on this work to address other pressures and development challenges.
“Albertans need more housing options as the population grows and it’s why we’ve been working to reduce barriers to housing construction,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver. “This working group is just another way that our government is working with housing partners and municipalities to accelerate homebuilding across the province.”
