The single-ply skinny on EPDM

With evolving building codes, changing weather patterns, and emerging sustainability needs, demands on commercial roofing installations are ever-changing. The same is true for the debates centring on which materials and assemblies prove most reliable.

+ Read More

Changes to Ontario’s Workplace insurance

This February, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) released Pricing Fairness: A Deliverable Framework for Fairly Allocating WSIB Insurance Costs. Once this proposed framework takes effect, employers in Ontario—including design/construction firms—will face a significantly altered landscape for workplace insurance, including the premiums they will pay. Employers will need to assess their current approach to absence management strategies as premiums paid become even more sensitive to claim costs.

+ Read More

Licensed electrical contractors safely install underground wiring

Redoing part of a project because it does not meet the appropriate code can be frustrating thanks to cost overruns and project delays. In Ontario, many outside of the electrical trade are not aware a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC)—a business licensed by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) to do electrical work for hire—is responsible for the safe installation of conduits/ducts for the purpose of housing electrical wiring

+ Read More

Updating MasterFormat

Co-published by CSC and CSI, the MasterFormat 2014 Update includes hundreds of revisions from the previous 2012 update. Among the key revisions were changes to agreements contained in Division 00–Procurement and Contracting Requirements to account for evolving contract delivery processes in the construction industry as a whole.

+ Read More

Healthcare lodge honoured with inaugural wood award

Vancouver’s NSDA Architects was presented with the inaugural Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Award earlier this month, as part of the 10th annual Wood WORKS! B.C. Wood Design Awards. The firm was recognized for its innovative use of wood certified to the SFI standard in the new Kordyban Lodge, a Canadian Cancer Society facility located in Prince George, B.C.

+ Read More