A report from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) recommends the development of a new national standard on wind resilience to mitigate damage resulting from natural disasters to residential and small building property.
The report proposes measures for four major categories: roofs; walls and upper and lower storey connections; anchoring of the building to the foundation; and additional construction details such as garage doors.
According to the press release, high winds contributed in part to most natural catastrophes recorded by the Insurance Bureau of Canada between 1983 and 2016.
“Protecting residential structures will be aided by measures that have the biggest impact on structural safety,” said Paul Kovacs, executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction in the press release. “For example, roofs are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of high wind. Keeping roofs sound and well-connected to walls helps reduce structural failure and property damage, like that associated with intrusion of water.”
“Standardization is an important tool to protect Canadian communities from extreme weather,” added Chantal Guay, CEO of the Standards Council of Canada.
“New guidance in this area is a much-needed enhancement to the infrastructure and building safety toolbox.”
The organisations suggest these measures could form the basis of a new National Standard of Canada, which governments could incorporate into regulation, which could be integrated into the National Building Code or to which builders could adhere voluntarily.
