Change in Canada’s national building code—Overview of new requirements and of projects supporting the change

Abstract

The proposed 2015 edition of the National Building Code of Canada sees a major change in sound insulation requirements. Instead of prescribing requirements for the separating assembly only (in terms of STC values), the Code now sets requirements for the sound insulation performance of the complete system (in terms of Apparent Sound Transmission Class (ASTC) values), including flanking sound transmission. The National Research Council Canada is actively supporting the change in the Code by conducting various projects with industry associations from different construction sectors, in order to provide tools, guidance, and the necessary data for compliance. This presentation provides an overview of the new requirements and of the different paths to compliance. Furthermore, various projects conducted at the National Research Council Canada to support the Code change are presented, including tools and guidance to help practitioners. Detailed descriptions of two of the projects are given in two complementary presentations.