Gas Fired Appliances
IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) request that Alberta Municipal Affairs rescind the STANDATA; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT the AUMA requests that Alberta Municipal Affairs works with industry and municipalities to arrive at alternative cost effective approaches to heating homes during and after construction.
WHEREAS the CSA B149.1 Natural Gas and propane installation code requires that all gas fired appliances be installed and operated according to the appliance manufacturers certified installation instructions;
WHEREAS the manufacturers of gas heating appliances in Canada amended their installation instructions in 2017 to not allow residential style furnaces to be used to heat buildings that are under construction or being renovated;
WHEREAS the Province of Alberta issued STANDATA G-01-17 regarding “Gas fired Appliances used for Heating Buildings under Construction” in October, 2017 requiring authorities having jurisdiction to restrict the use of residential style furnaces from being used to heat buildings that are under construction or being renovated;
WHEREAS the implementation of this STANDATA will result in authorities having jurisdiction to require the removal of furnaces from homes which have been used for construction heat prior to the primed paint stage of construction;
WHEREAS the use of residential furnaces during construction has been undertaken for many years across Canada with rare instances of problems and this change appears to offer relatively minor public safety benefits; and
WHEREAS this change in process will increase costs to the residential building sector and ultimately to the consumer in home prices.
The Public Safety Division of Alberta Municipal Affairs administers the framework established in the Safety Codes Act, including development of codes and standards adopted in Alberta, providing advice and technical support related to the Act to the public, industry, all municipalities and the Safety Codes Council, monitoring the work of municipalities, corporations and agencies that administer the Act or provide services under the Act, and managing agencies under contract to provide services such as permits and inspections for municipalities that do not administer the Act in their jurisdiction.
STANDATA are developed jointly by Alberta Municipal Affairs and the Safety Codes Council. Some are issued under the authority of a code, standard or the Safety Codes Act as province-wide variances or interpretations. Others are information bulletins that provide general advice on related matters.
In October 2017, the Gas Administrator issued STANDATA G-01-17, which addressed GAS FIRED APPLIANCES USED FOR HEATING BUILDINGS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The document states that all gas fired appliances shall be installed and operated as per the requirements in the CSA B149.1 Natural gas and propane installation code and the appliance manufacturer’s certified installation instructions.
Furnaces manufactured after May 1, 2017 are no longer permitted to be used to heat buildings under construction or being renovated.
This STANDATA has created the problem of finding alternative heat sources during the fall, winter and spring heating seasons. These alternatives are not practical for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
- High costs for sources such as electric heaters which are required in each room of the building;
- Very high levels of humidity created by temporary propane heaters;
- Unsafe conditions created by the lack of fresh air introduced by use of temporary heaters.
The costs associated with this requirement will likely be passed on to the consumer through home prices.
- AUMA does not have a current policy position on this specific issue.