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Implementation of the City of Vancouver Building Bylaw – which will ban doorknobs and usher in some of the toughest energy requirements in Canada – has been postponed from March 2014 until July 1 2014, according to Mark Hartman, Vancouver’s green building manager.
“Only building permits submitted after June 30 will be required to comply with the new building bylaw, which includes updates to windows, insulation, heating systems, and accessibility,” Hartman wrote this week in an email to members of the building industry.
The bylaw, which covers one- and two-family dwellings, bans the use of doorknobs in new homes and substantial renovations in favour of levered handles and also requires that all doorways be wider to accommodate wheelchairs.
Energy requirements include an upgrade to window performance, an increase in insulation levels, greater air tightness and the mandatory installation of a 240-volt electrical vehicle outlet in each carport or garage.
Hartman said the new bylaw is part of the City of Vancouver’s strategy to become the “greenest city in the world by 2020.” He didn’t explain why the bylaw deadline has been extended.
However, a building consultant on the city’s bylaw advisory committee, said the delay was due to “intense lobbying by building product manufacturers, particularly in the window and door industry.”
The Western Investor