Brant Condominium Corporation Association www.mybcca.ca info@mybcca.ca To Educate and Advocate Board of Directors Meeting May 3, 2017 MINUTES 1. Meeting roll call and declaration the meeting is in session: 1:02 p.m. Present: Erle George, Maurice Cheveldayoff (Chevy), Richard Carpenter, Michelle Droogendyk, John Gilson, Marv Larsen, Roger Luton, Heather MacKellar, Frank McPherson Guests: Dwayne Armstrong, Brantford, Chief Fire Prevention Officer Russ Thompson, Brantford, Director of Building Services Garry Anderson, Brantford, Manager of Property Standards and Bylaws Lucy Hives, Brantford, Manager, Current Planning Willem Bouma, Brant County Councillor Carmen McLean, Owner, Magnum Property Management Gerry Rominger, Dayside Windows Maria Finoro, MF Property Management (Guelph), CCI, Grand River Chapter President Joanne Richards, R3 Integrators, CCI Grand River Chapter Board (Media) Pam Smuts, Trade Mark Industrial, CCI Grand River Chapter Board (Secretary) Wayne & Ginny Ireland, BCC# 17 Nancy Tasker, BCC #49 Donna and Terry Shuert, BCC #49 Alice Wilcox, BCC #53 Jacquie Dekeyser, BSCC #71 Ellen Grupstra, BCC #93 Richard Groen, BSCC #78 Ian MacKellar, BSCC #102 Jocelain Hitchcox, BSCC #104 David Kaminski, Cambridge 2. The meeting turned over to Chevy to lead the discussion regarding basement egress.
3. Egress situation: Concern: how do you get out of the basement bedroom without a door or suitable window? BCCA wants to put together a document that will be endorsed by City, County and Fire officials to be presented to Bill Mauro the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing requesting a change in the Building Code Act (BCA) and the Ontario Building Code. 4. Presentation by John Gilson: It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 illegal basement bedrooms in this area where egress is impossible Most existing basement windows will not meet code for egress even if a pour-in-place window is cut out and a new window installed in the same space. It would be necessary to enlarge the opening in the wall. The current code specifications for egress: 3.8 square feet with no one dimension less than 15, easy one-step fully-opened style, sufficiently large window well outside the window and open space to move away from the building A new window that opens easily can be installed to replace an existing basement window but will not meet code (size) for egress because most window manufacturers put the new window inside the existing framework One condo corporation has the following statement appear on ALL status certificates that are issued for units within that complex. o Purchasers are advised that the unit basements were not designed or constructed as areas for sleeping and did not meet the requirements for Building and Fire Codes for bedrooms. The corporation has no record of this unit being altered to legally permit bedrooms or sleeping areas in the basement. BCCA recommends that the City of Brantford and the County of Brant make it mandatory for builders of condos to install at least one egress basement window or ensure that the condo unit satisfies all fire and building codes for a basement bedroom. Response from Brant County Councillor Willem Bouma: o Prepare a recommendation/petition to be presented to Bill Mauro, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and have it accompanied by letter of support from City and County. Do a presentation to those two local Councils. (As a volunteer firefighter, Mr. Bouma was trained to stay out of basements in a fire situation due to many safety concerns about access and egress.)
Response from Director of Building Services for the City of Brantford, Russ Thompson: o Basement bedrooms are a concern. Most condo building plans show an office in the basement and City officials have to believe it will be used as an office. Inspections occur before occupancy so there is no indication of any different use. o Concern: buildings are being built to Ontario Building Code. Municipalities cannot make a more restrictive code. The only prospect for change is at the provincial level. Since a new Ontario Building Code is being prepared, addressing this issue of basement egress may already be in the works. Response from Manager of Property Standards and Bylaws, City of Brantford Garry Anderson: o Yes, this is a scary situation. Property Standards department personnel enforce property standards on a reactive basis i.e. upon receipt of a complaint. When a complaint is received, there is still the issue of permission to enter. Right to enter a property requires the informed consent of someone 18 or older. o Student housing is often a concern. To capitalize on the need for housing for university students, many homeowners have made changes that violate the Property Standards Bylaw. If found, the owner and interested parties (eg: bank, mortgage holder) are notified. Pressure by a bank or mortgage holder might force the owner to make changes to meet the Building Code. The City cannot make a more restrictive Property Standards clause. Response from City of Brantford Manager of Current Planning, Lucy Hives: o This is related to the Building Code. Current Planning s role is to check the exterior aspects of a development (site plan) but egress has to be addressed through the Ontario Building Code. Response from City of Brantford Chief Fire Prevention Officer, Dwayne Armstrong: o It is great that BCCA is taking on this issue. The fire code is relatively silent on the issue of exit from bedroom windows. If a basement bedroom were to be found, the Fire Department would tell the owner to take out a permit to make the basement bedroom legal and able to meet Ontario Building Code. Response from David Outa, Cowan Insurance (as read by Chevy from David s prepared statement): o The unit needs to be a legal unit for insurance to apply. The owner needs to abide by the law. Failure to abide by the law would lead to claims being denied and policy being void.
o It is a challenge for insurers to ensure all basements are legal, The insurer counts on owners being honest. o If inspected and irregularities found, policy may be cancelled. o If a claim is registered and an inspection occurs and irregularities are found, the policy may be null and void. o If the responsibility lies with a condo board to ensure units are legal, any denial of insurance coverage by an insurer could lead to a claim against the directors for negligence. General Questions and Comments: o The issue of egress should include all basements (houses, townhouse condos) regardless of use (bedroom, office, tv room). o If an owner wants to change a window for ease of opening and egress, there is no need for a permit from the City but condo unit owners must have permission from the condo Board since the foundation wall is a common element. In addition to the cost of replacing the window, the owner will likely have to cover the cost of a Section 98 being registered on the unit. The owner will be assuming responsibility for all future problems that might arise from the change that was made to the common element (i.e. the foundation wall and the new window). o The window well must be enlarged. o The egress window must be in the basement but not necessarily in the bedroom. o How many single family homes in Brantford would have this issue? This is hard to estimate. Most two storey homes are less likely to put bedrooms in the basement. o Maria Finoro: If all condo units have a window that meets code for egress, it may change the condo population. These units might be more appealing to families and that could impact parking and the need for other features and services (play area). o Q: What could I put in a basement other than sprinklers to add to the safety aspect? A: Dwayne Armstrong: There are interconnected smoke alarms available (both wired-in and wireless). The earlier an occupant is aware of a situation, the more likely he/she will safely exit. The leading cause of fire is generally human activity. People worry about having to get beyond the furnace to leave a basement but furnaces are rarely the cause of fires. o Q: What about bars on windows? A: An egress window cannot have bars unless they have an automatic release. o If the basement has an exterior door there are no egress concerns. A sprinkler system may be another option.
o Q: What means does an owner have to get to the provincial level on the egress window and how can owners support BCCA s efforts in this area? A: Be in touch with the province (the Ministry of Municipal Affairs), be a BCCA member. BCCA will consider creating a template for a letter of support and putting the letter on the website for people to copy and send. o Gerry Rominger (Dayside Windows): A window that meets code for egress is a critical part of basement safety but there are other aspects to egress. We must also consider the window style, the durability of the structure and mechanics of the window for ease of removal, the size of the window well, whether or not there is a deck above, whether or not there is an easily removable hatch in the deck, how much open space there is to get away from the building. Egress is a complex subject. Thank you to attendees. The petition will be coming! 5. At this point the meeting was turned over to Erle George. 6. Chevy introduced Maria Finoro, the new President of Grand River Chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute (CCI GRC), Pam Smuts, Secretary of GRC, Joanne Richards (Director) and David Kaminski (Director). Chevy is also a Director for this new chapter. Maria Finoro made the following comments: It became apparent that the CCI Golden Horseshoe Chapter covered a very large area with many diverse interests and needs. CCI is all about education and service providers. Having seen the work of BCCA (and the interest in BCCA by condo owners) the new Grand River Chapter personnel want to work with BCCA to promote and address the needs and interests of condo owners in other areas of the GRC. There has been and will be a lot of learning with the new incoming Condo Act. CCI Grand River Chapter has a new website coming soon. CCI will feature an article in a future Condo magazine regarding basement egress based on today s presentation 7. Minutes of April meeting approved. Moved: Michelle, Seconded: Frank. 8. Banking: $979.99 9. Membership: 39 paid memberships, more are expected. 10. No court cases.
11. Additions to the agenda: AGM: o Topic: Armand Conant with Shipley Righton LLP has been asked to discuss how the New Condo Act will impact condo owners, boards and Property Managers o Date: Wednesday, August 30. Erle has booked the Grand Ballroom at the Best Western, Holiday Drive, Brantford. o Time: Registration at 6:30, Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. o Motion to approve: John Gilson, seconded: Chevy BCCA s 10 th Anniversary: o Incorporate the anniversary in flyers, promotional material BCCA Minutes: o The minutes will continue to be available to anyone who wants them. The Service Directory will continue to be available only to those who have individually or whose condo corporations have paid the BCCA membership fee ($15 annually). o The minutes, once approved at the following month s meeting, will be put on the BCCA website. o The minutes will also be sent to City and County Councillors. Motion: John Gilson, seconded: Frank McPherson. o Audience input re website: Well done! regarding the speakers who come to the meetings and the input they give. 12. ALERT: Being quickly aware of a possible fire is critical to getting out safely. As Chief Fire Prevention Officer Dwayne Armstrong told us today, there are both hard-wired AND wireless INTERCONNECTED smoke alarms available. Some are both smoke and CO detectors. 13. The meeting was adjourned at 2:51p.m. 2017 Meeting Dates: June 7, July 5, August 7, September 6, October 4, November 1, December 6 Guests are welcome to attend BCCA meetings (now being held in the Community Room at the Brant Mutual office at 20 Holiday Drive, lower level, access from rear parking lot) across the road from the Brantford Best Western. Those wishing to attend a meeting are asked to contact Erle George (226-387- 3352 or erle@karengeorge.com) prior to the meeting to ensure that adequate space is available.