Commercial building permits

The links provided will help you organize your documents for submission.

• Commercial new projects, additions and multi family checklist
• NECB project summary
• Professional schedules package
• Guide to electrical patient care areas
• Electrical patient care declaration
• Alternative solution checklist for submissions
• Full standata fire alarm and fire suppression system verification and test
• Fire suppression system test form
• Fire alarm system verification form
• Racking systems guideline
• Non-grease laden vapours declaration

Date: November 26, 2019

Tents must conform to the National Building Code (AE) and the National Fire Code (AE). The list below provides the common code requirements applying to tents. Additional requirements may apply depending on occupancy and use. All applicable legislation and conditions of the Safety Codes Act shall apply when installing a tent.

Permit Requirements

1. An Occupancy Permit is required prior to erecting any tent structure intended for non-residential purposes greater than 10 m2 (107 2ft ) unless permission in writing is granted from the City of Airdrie Building Inspections department.
2. Building Permits are required for:
• A tent, or group of tents, collectively covering more than 60 m2 (645 2ft) in area
• A tent located less than 3m from any other structure
• A tent used for commercial purposes or containing commercial cooking equipment.
3. Building Permits are not required for:
   Tent Structures located on a residential property for residential purposes or an event tent (or group of tents) that collectively cover less than 60 m2 and are more than 3.0m from any structure and does not contain commercial cooking equipment.

Submission Requirements

• A Site plan showing the location of the tent and the distances from all other structures.
• Description of the tent size, intended use and length of time the tent will be erected for use.
• Every tent, tarpaulins and decorative materials used in connection with a tent shall conform to the CAN/ULC-S109 “Standard for Flame Tests of Flame Resistance Fabrics and Films”. Provide verification of the materials with the permit application.
• Manufacturer’s or engineering installation requirements.

Tent Requirements

• The ground enclosed by a tent and not less than 3m of ground outside the structure shall be cleared of all flammable material and vegetation that will spread fire.
• Anchorage of a tent under 300 m2 (3229 2ft) shall be as per manufactures recommendations. Anchorage of a tent that exceeds 300 m2 shall have its anchorage designed by a professional engineer.
• Multiple tents shall be considered as one tent when they are placed with no separation between them in determining area for maximum tent size and area for anchorage.
• Two exits are required for every tent that is 150 m2 or more in size unless otherwise required by code.
• Portable fire extinguishers shall be provided in all tents so that the travel distance does not exceed 75 ft between extinguishers unless otherwise required by code.
• An approved ventilation system is required if there is cooking that produces grease/oily vapours inside the tent.
• Combustible materials such as hay, straw and shavings are not permitted within a tent unless approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
• No smoking or open-flames will be permitted in a tent unless approved by the authority having jurisdiction.

Electrical & Gas Requirements

• Electrical lights must be provided if the occupancy is greater than 60 people.
• Emergency exit signs are required if the occupancy is greater than 150 people.
• All electrical system and equipment in a tent including electrical fuses and switches shall be inaccessible to the public.
• Cables on the ground in areas used by the public in a tent shall be placed in trenches or protected by covers to prevent damage from traffic.
• Electrical permits are required for all electrical installations.
• Gas Permits are required for installations of gas heaters used to heat a tent.
  (Note: Construction heaters will not be allowed for use in tents of public occupancy).

Tent Tables and Seating Requirements

• The spacing between rows of tables must be not less than 1,400 mm where seating is on both sides of the tables (chairs are back to back), and the spacing is to be 1,000 mm where seating is only on one side of the table.
• Every aisle shall have a clear width of not less than 1,100 mm.
• A dead end aisle shall not be longer than 6 m.
• Aisles shall be located so that there are not more than seven seats between a seat and the nearest aisle (maximum of 15 seats between aisles).
• There shall be a minimum of 400 mm between the back of a row of seats and the front of the row behind.
• When the occupant load is greater than 200 people, seats shall be fastened together in groups no fewer than eight seats.
• The distance to exit doors by means of an aisle(s) shall not be more than 30 m if the tent is unsprinklered and an assembly occupancy.

2023 National Building Code (Alberta Edition)
Classifications of buildings and the types of occupancies allowed within buildings.

Classification of Buildings

Buildings are classified (e.g. Group D, E, A, B, F, etc.) by the building designer tallow specific types of occupancies (e.g. offices, restaurants, gyms, etc.) however not all building classifications will allow all types of occupancies. For example if your building has been classified as a “Group D Business Personal Services Occupancy” you are not allowed to occupy the building with more restrictive occupancies. (e.g. Group E, A, F, etc.).

Exception
The building code does allow exceptions for more restrictive occupancies to be contained with a less restrictive classification of building. This is allowed where the combined area of all more restrictive occupancy is not more than 10% of the floor area of the storey in which it is located. The other exception to this rule is that these 10% occupancies cannot include Group F Division 1 or 2 occupancies (industrial occupancies).

Changing the Classification of a Building

It is possible for a building owner to have a building re-classified and changed to a more restrictive occupancy however a registered professional (engineer or architect) would be required treview the existing building and provide in writing to the City Building Inspections Department the changes needed to occur to bring the building up tcode. Once the approval has been given the owner would be required to make the changes tallow reclassification of the building.

Problems that may occur with changing the Classification of a Building

1. Separations Between Suites - The demising walls between the bays have not been designed for the correct fire resistance rating. (e.g. Group A occupancies required a 2 hour separation from other types of occupancies).
2. Lack of Parking – If the building was originally designed for a specific type of use or intensity and then after this intensity changes a lack of parking is one of the first problems that appears. It is important that the intended uses for the building will meet the Building Code requirements regarding classification and the classification will in turn meet the parking requirements for the classification.

You need to know the limitations of the building when selling or leasing bays

1. Building Code – What types of occupancies has the building been designed for?
2. Land Use Bylaw – What land use district (i.e. zone) are you in and what are the permitted or discretionary uses?
3. Is there enough parking allowed on this site for this type of occupancy?

Major occupancy means the principal occupancy for which a building or part thereof is used or instended to be used, and shall be deemed tinclude the subsidiary occupancies that are an integral part of the principal occupancy. The major occupancy classifications used in the code are as follows:

• A Assembly occupancies: means the occupancy or the use of a building, or part thereof, by a gathering of persons for civic, political, travel, religious, social, educational, recreational or like purposes, or for the consumption of food or drink.
• A1 Assembly occupancies intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts
• A2 Assembly occupancies not elsewhere classified in Group A
• A3 Assembly occupancies of the arena type
• A4 Assembly occupancies in which the occupants are gathered in the open air
• B1 Detention occupancies: means the occupancy by persons who are restrained from or are Incapable of evacuating to a safe location without the assistance of another person because of security measures not under their control.
• B2 Treatment occupancies: means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof for the Provision of treatment, and where overnight accommodation is available to facilitate the treatment.
  

  Treatment means the provision of medical or other health-related intervention to persons, where the administration or lack of administration of these interventions may render them in capable of evacuating to a safe location without the assistance of another person.

• B3 Care occupancies: means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof where care is provided tresidents. 
  Care means the provision of services other than treatment by or through care facility Management tresidents who require these services because of cognitive, physical or behavioural limitations.
• C Residential occupancies: means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof by persons for whom sleeping accommodation is provided but who are not harboured or detained to receive medical care or treatment or are not involuntarily detained.
• D Business and personal services occupancies: means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof for the transaction of business or the rendering or receiving of professional or personal services.
• E Mercantile occupancies: means the occupancy or use of a building or part thereof for the displaying or selling of retail goods, wares or merchandise.
• F1 High-hazard industrial occupancies: means an industrial occupancy containing sufficient quantities of highly combustible and flammable or explosive materials which, because of their inherent characteristics, constitute a special fire hazard.
• F2 Medium-hazard industrial occupancies: means an industrial occupancy in which the combustible content is more than 50 kg/m2 or 1 200 MJ/m 2 of floor area and not classified as a high?hazard industrial occupancy.
• F3 Low-hazard industrial occupancies: means an industrial occupancy in which the combustible content is not more than 50 kg/m2 or 1 200 MJ/m2 of floor area.

The following are examples of the major occupancy classifications:

• Group A, Division 1
• Motion picture theatres
• Opera houses
• Television studios admitting a viewing audience
• Theatres, including experimental theatres
• Group A, Division 2
• Art galleries
• Auditoria
• Bowling alleys
• Churches and similar places of worship
• Clubs, non-residential
• Community halls
• Courtrooms
• Dance halls
• Daycare facilities
• Exhibition halls (other than classified in Group E)
• Gymnasia
• Lecture halls
• Libraries
• Licensed beverage establishments
• Museums
• Passenger stations and depots
• Recreational piers
• Restaurants
• Schools and colleges, non-residential
• Undertaking premises
• Group A, Division 3
• Arenas
• Indoor swimming pools, with or without spectator seating
• Rinks
• Group A, Division 4
  
• Amusement park structures (not elsewhere classified)
• Bleachers
• Grandstands
• Reviewing stands
• Stadia
• Group B, Division 1
• Jails
• Penitentiaries
• Police stations with detention quarters
• Prisons
• Psychiatric hospitals with detention quarters
• Reformatories with detention quarters
• Group B, Division 2
• Care facilities with treatment
• Convalescent /recovery/rehabilitation centres with treatment
• Hospices with treatment
• Hospitals
• Infirmaries
• Nursing homes with treatment
• Psychiatric hospitals without detention quarters
• Respite centres with treatment
• Group B, Division 3
• Assisted/supportive living facilities
• Care facilities without treatment
• Children’s custodial homes
• Convalescent/recovery/rehabilitation centres without treatment
• Group homes
• Hospices without treatment
• Nursing homes without treatment
• Reformatories without detention quarters
• Respite centres without treatment
• Group C
• Apartments
• Boarding houses
• Clubs, residential
• Colleges, residentialConvents
• Dormitories
• Family day homes/group family child care homes
• Hotels
• Houses
• Lodging houses
• Monasteries
• Motels
• Schools, residential
• Group D
• Banks
• Barber and hairdressing shops
• Beauty parlours
• Dental offices
• Dry cleaning establishments, self-service, not using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners
• Laundries, self-service
• Medical offices
• Offices
• Police stations without detention quarters
• Radio stations
• Small tool and appliance rental and service establishments
• Group E
• Department stores
• Exhibition halls
• Markets
• Shops
• Stores
• Supermarkets
• Group F, Division 1
• Bulk plants for flammable liquids
• Bulk storage warehouses for hazardous substances
• Cereal mills
• Chemical manufacturing or processing plants
• Distilleries
• Dry cleaning plants
• Feed mills
• Flour mills
• Grain elevators
• Lacquer factories
• Mattress factories
• Paint, varnish and pyroxylin product factories
• Rubber processing plants
• Spray painting operations
• Waste paper processing plants
• Group F, Division 2
  
• Aircraft hangars
• Box factories
• Candy plants
• Cold storage plants
• Dry cleaning establishments not using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners
• Electrical substations
• Factories
• Freight depots
• Helicopter landing areas on roofs
• Laboratories
• Laundries, except self-service
• Mattress factories
• Planing mills
• Printing plants Repair garages Salesrooms
• Service stations
• Storage rooms
• Television studios not admitting a viewing audience
• Warehouses
• Wholesale rooms
• Woodworking factories
• Workshops
• Group F, Division 3
• Creameries
• Factories
• Laboratories Power plants Salesrooms
• Sample display rooms
• Storage garages, including open air parking garages
• Storage rooms
• Warehouses
• Workshops