S-3, r. 2 - Regulation respecting safety in public buildings

Section 1 Disposition versions

2012-09-01

1. For the purposes of this Regulation, unless the context otherwise indicates or unless otherwise mentioned, wherever the word “building” appears, it must be changed to read “public building” and the following words or expressions have the meaning hereinafter given to them:

(1)  “access to the exit”: that part of a means of egress in the interior of a floor area which gives access to an exit clearing the floor area;

(2)  (paragraph revoked);

(3)  “floor area”: the total area on any floor or storey of a building between exterior walls and firewalls, measured from the inside finish of the walls which form its boundaries, less the area of exits and vertical shafts which pierce the storey.

For the purposes of the first paragraph and of subsection 9, a mezzanine is considered a storey if:

(a)  its area exceeds 40% of that of the premises or storey where it is situated; or

(b)  its area exceeds 10% of that of the premises or storey where it is situated and it is used as a partitioned floor area. A mezzanine is considered to be used as a partitioned floor area if, at any point in that area, the space of the premises or of the storey where it is situated has no open view from 1,070 mm from the mezzanine floor. However, open bookshelves in a library are not considered obstacles to an open view where the height of the shelves does not exceed 2.1 m or 3/4 of the height between the mezzanine floor and the ceiling above it;

(4)  “approved”: approved by the inspector or by any agency designated by the Government;

(5)  “noncombustible construction”: type of construction built with noncombustible materials for structural members, including floors and assemblies.

The combustible materials shall be limited to those mentioned in Schedule D;

(6)  “public corridor”: a corridor that provides access to an exit either from rooms, groups of rooms or dwelling units occupied by different lessees or owners, or from patients’ bedrooms;

(6.1)  “fire-resistance rating”: the time in hours or fraction thereof that a material or assembly of materials will resist fire or withstand the passage of flame and the transmission of heat, determined by tests carried out by a recognized organization or in accordance with Chapter 2 of the Supplement to the National Building Code of Canada 1985, No. 23178, issued by the National Research Council of Canada;

(7)  “travel distance to an exit”: the unobstructed distance from any point of a floor area to the closest exit. Should the floor area be subdivided into rooms or suites separated from the rest of the floor area by a fire separation having a fire-resistance rating of at least 3/4 of an hour, the travel distance is measured from the egress doorways of those rooms or suites to the closest exit;

(7.1)  “family-type school”: a school operated by a natural person in a single-family dwelling used as his residence and in which he accommodates less than 15 students at a time;

(7.2)  “family-type building”: a family-type school, day care centre or hotel not more than 3 storeys high;

(8)  “hospital or special care institution”: an establishment occupied by:

(a)  sick persons;

(b)  persons who, because of their mental or physical condition, require continuous nursing care or treatment in the amount mentioned in Schedule E;

(c)  the blind, the deaf, persons in wheelchairs, persons who wear prostheses or orthopaedic appliances on their lower limbs and any other persons who, in a significant and persistant manner, need help to move about;

(8.1)  “family-type day care centre”: a day care centre operated in a building not more than 2 storeys high by a natural person in a single-family dwelling used as his residence and in which he receives or accommodates more than 9 children without exceeding 12, not more than 4 of whom may be under 18 months of age;

(9)  “building height”: the number of storeys contained between the roof and the ground floor. When more than one level of mezzanine is provided in a storey, each level additional to the first shall be considered as a storey;

(9.1)  “family-type hotel”: a hotel operated by a natural person in a single-family dwelling used as his residence, in which there are not more than 6 bedrooms and in which he accommodates less than 15 boarders;

(10)  “flame spread rating”: value indicating the fire spread rating on the surface of any building material or element, determined from the average results of at least 3 tests done in accordance with the requirements of the following tests:

(a)  ASTM E 84-70, Standard Method of Test for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Material;

(b)  ULC S 102-1972, Standard Test Method for Fire Hazard Classification of Building Materials;

(c)  UL 723 (1971), Test Method for Fire Hazard Classification of Building Materials;

(d)  NFPA 255-1972, Method of Test of Surface Burning Characteristics of Buildings Materials;

(11)  “inspector”: inspectors appointed in accordance with the Public Buildings Safety Act (chapter S-3);

(12)  “exit”: a means of egress or a part of a means of egress leading directly from a floor area to another floor area, to a public thoroughfare or an approved open space;

(13)  “horizontal exit”: that part of a means of egress leading from a floor area to another floor area, at substantially the same level, by means of a bridge, a balcony, a vestibule or a doorway. Such floor areas may either be located in different buildings or located in the same building and separated from each other by a wall with a minimum fire resistance of 2 hours;

(14)  “assembly occupancy”: a place used by a gathering of persons for civic, political, travel, religious, social, educational or recreational purposes;

(15)  “sleeping accommodation”: an accommodation building, hospital or special care institution, a rooming-house with 10 rooms or more and an apartment house having more than 2 storeys and more than 8 apartments;

(16)  “accommodation building”: an hotel, orphanage, convent, college, holiday camp, retreat house, day-care centre, asylum, not including a hospital or special care institution;

(17)  “noncombustible material”: an elementary building material tested and found to comply with recognized standards relating thereto, to wit, the CSA Code, B54.1, latest edition;

(18)  “means of egress (means of escape)”: a doorway, a hallway, a lobby, a stair, a ramp or other facility or combination thereof including an open space for the escape of persons from a building, a floor area or a room to a public thoroughfare or an approved open space. A means of egress includes the access to the exit and the exit;

(19)  “fire wall”: a separation built of non-combustible materials dividing the building or separating contiguous buildings;

(20)  (paragraph revoked);

(21)  “high occupant load”: an occupancy where the number of persons occupying a room or a floor area is such that the floor area per person (floor area divided by the number of persons) is 1.2 m2 or less;

(22)  “recognized organization”: organization recognized by the inspector;

(23)  “plenum chamber”: a compartment or air chamber with which are connected several ducts of a system to provide air circulation;

(24)  “ground floor or first storey”: the storey whose floor is the closest to the ground contiguous to the main entrance and whose ceiling is at least 6 feet above such ground;

(25)  “fire separation”: assembly of materials forming a building element which is used as a barrier against the spread of fire;

(26)  “fixed seats”: seats attached to the floor or platform and provided with backs;

(27)  “hazardous substance”: a substance which, because of its physical or chemical nature or because of the form in which it exists, may explode or become ignited easily.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. S-3, r. 4, s. 1; O.C. 88-91, s. 1; O.C. 466-95, s. 1.