Debate over single-stair apartment buildings flares in Burnaby

The concept of building small apartment buildings with a single staircase is being met with renewed debate, this time in Burnaby.

Earlier this year, the province announced building code changes that removed the requirement to have two stairwells in multi-unit buildings of up to six storeys.

The province argues that allowing single stairwells will allow for more units in buildings and that modern safety regulations have eliminated the need for two stairwells.

2:00 B.C. government institutes one staircase rule for buildings under 6 storeys

But designer and housing advocate Bryn Davidson says he’s been told a municipal planner in Burnaby that the city won’t accept single-stairwell designs, due to safety concerns from the local fire department.

“One of the things we struggle with is the fact that every city has different rules, and so if on top of that, if they all have different zoning rules if they’re also going to interpret the building code differently, then how do we even do anything, like if a city can say we’re not going to allow this part of the building code but the city next door does, it just becomes a structured mess,” Davidson told Global News.

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Firefighters in Burnaby aren’t alone in their concerns. Surrey firefighters recently raised safety questions about the change, and the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Association and the Fire Chiefs’ Association of B.C. have released a joint statement warning the new code could pose a “significant risk to life safety.”

The statement says building layered protections, including building egress and smoke alarms, remain the “fundamental building block to life safety.”

And the groups say the B.C. government made its changes outside of Canada’s national code development process, while the International Codes Council rejected a similar proposed change in May.

Davidson, who is co-owner and lead designer of Lanefab Design Build, said those concerns have been dealt with in cities around the world.

“What’s being proposed isn’t more dangerous, has been done in Seattle since the ’70s without a problem, has been done all around the world,” he said.

“I think they need to engage in the conversation with something more than just fears and talk through the evidence.”

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Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, said it appears Burnaby is trying to do its due diligence while the building code guidelines undergo review.

He said there are still important questions to answer about how safety issues will be handled under the new guidelines.

“Its about the operation of the building just as much as it’s about the construction of the building. How and who will be responsible?” Yan said.

“Because will the province, while approving these projects, also be the ones inspecting these projects?”

The City of Vancouver, which has its own building bylaw, is looking at emulating the new provincial changes.