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BY FRED MARLETT, P.ENG., M.ENG.
APEGGA Representative
Gas Technical Council
The Gas Technical Council of the Safety Codes Council met
four times in 2000 and five times in 2001. Issues dealt with
that may be of interest to the APEGGA general membership included
the following:
1. The gas discipline of the Safety Services Branch of Alberta
Municipal Affairs is responsible for the development and interpretation
of the gas codes, standards and respective regulations under
the Safety Codes Act. Municipal Affairs works in partnership
with the Safety Codes Council to develop and provide relevant
information to the construction industry. Safety Services
and the Safety Codes Council (www.safetycodes.ab.ca)
develop Alberta Gas Code STANDATA jointly. Some are issued
under the authority of the Code or the Safety Codes Act as
provincewide variances or interpretations. Others are information
bulletins that provide recalls, safety notices and general
advice on related matters. The Safety Services website http://www3.gov.ab.ca/ma/ss
provides access to acts, regulations and STANDATA. New STANDATA
are added on a regular basis. For clarification, assistance
or further information on gas discipline matters contact:
Carey LaRose
Administrator/Chief Inspector
Plumbing and Gas
Edmonton phone: (780) 415-0483; fax (780) 427-8686; e-mail:
Carey.Larose@gov.ab.ca
2. Adopted by the province of Alberta effective July 1, 2001,
pursuant to the Safety Codes Act, the Gas Code Regulation
(AR 67/2001) governs gas equipment and gas systems as per
Article 3(1) as follows:
3(1) No person may manufacture, install, sell or offer for
sale any equipment related to gas systems for use in Alberta
unless it has been
(a) tested and certified by a certification organization
accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, or
(b) inspected and accepted by a certification organization
accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, and the
equipment bears evidence of having been accepted in the
manner authorized by the certification organization.
(2) If a code, standard or body of rules declared in force
under the Act, with respect to gas systems, refers to approved
equipment, that equipment must meet the requirements of
this section.
The Safety Codes Act, Revised Statues of Alberta 2000, Chapter
S-1 (Effective Jan. 1, 2002) provides the following interpretation
of the terms "gas" and "gas system" via
Article 1(1) as follows:
1(1) In this Act,
(o) "gas" means any gas or compressed gas or
any mixture or dilution of gases and includes any combustible
or flammable fluid, but does not include any gas, mixture
or dilution of gases or combustible or flammable fluid
excluded by the regulations from the definition of gas;
(p) "gas system" means any equipment or installation
used or intended to be used in or in conjunction with
the processing, transmission, storage, distribution, supply
or use of gas, but does not include any thing excluded
by the regulations from the definition of gas system;
Furthermore, associated responsibilities of designers, owners,
manufacturers, and contractors/installers are presented in
Part 1 Responsibilities as follows:
5 The owner of any thing, process or activity to which
this Act applies shall ensure that it meets the requirements
of this Act, that the thing is maintained as required by the
regulations and that when the process or activity is undertaken
it is done in a safe manner.
6 A person who creates, alters, has care and control
of or owns a design or offers a design for use by others shall
ensure that the design complies with this Act and that it
is submitted for review or registered if required by this
Act, and if the design is deregistered, the person shall provide
notice of its deregistration in accordance with the regulations.
7 A person who manufactures any thing or undertakes
a process or activity to which this Act applies shall ensure
that the thing, the process or the activity complies with
this Act.
8 A contractor who undertakes construction, operation
or maintenance of or builds or installs any thing to which
this Act applies shall ensure that this Act is complied with.
3. The following gas codes, along with the Alberta amendments,
have been adopted by the Gas Code Regulation (AR 67/2001):
- CSA-B149.1-00, Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code
This new CSA International 2000 series gas code provides
the minimum requirements for the installation of natural
gas and propane appliances and equipment downstream from
the termination of the utility installation (e.g., gas meter)
for natural gas or from the distributor's propane tank.
The new B149.1-00 covers both natural gas and propane installations,
amalgamating Parts 1 - 7 from the previous B149.1 M95 and
B149.2 M95 gas codes. Where a clause is specific to one
fuel the wording identifies it, "For Natural Gas Only",
or "For Propane Only".
- CSA-B149.2-00, Propane Storage and Handling Code
This new CSA International 2000 series gas code has been
revised and provides the requirements for the storage, handling,
transportation and transfer of propane.
- CSA-B149.5-00, Installation Code for Propane Fuel Systems
and Tanks on Highway Vehicles
This new CSA International 2000 series gas code applies
to the installation of propane fuel system components and
tanks on highway vehicles that have been converted from
gasoline to propane.
Both the B149.1-00 and B149.2-00 codes contain Clause 3.2
Approval of Appliances, Accessories, Components, Equipment,
and Material, which references the following code:
- CSA-B149.3-00, Code for the Field Approval of Fuel-Related
Components on Appliances and Equipment
This code contains the requirements, which include valve
train diagrams, for fuel-related components and accessories
and their assembly on an appliance utilizing gas, downstream
of the manual shut-off valve specified in Clause 5.18.2
of the CSA B149.1-00 gas code.
The new CSA International series 2000 gas codes may be purchased
directly from the CSA International office in Edmonton, NAIT,
SAIT, the Propane Gas Association of Canada office in Calgary,
and some major bookstores. The Gas Code Regulation (AR 67/2001)
may be purchased from the Queen's Printer for Alberta; shop
on-line at its website, http://www.gov.ab.ca/qp.
4. Ongoing concern has been expressed at GTC meetings with
respect to operating and maintenance procedures, especially
as related to responsibilities of designers, owners, manufacturers,
and contractors/installers as presented in the Safety Codes
Act. To illustrate, in order to have a rooftop gas appliance
maintained, rooftop access must be provided as per B149.1-00
Clause 3.14.5 but amended for Alberta by the Gas Code Regulation
(AR 67/2001) as follows:
(7) Clause 3.14.5 of the Code is struck out and the following
is substituted:
3.14.5 An appliance shall not be installed on a roof of
a building exceeding 13 ft (4 m) in height from grade to
roof elevation unless direct access is provided in accordance
with the Alberta Building Code 1997.
When access through a roof assembly is required by the Alberta
Building Code 1997 to facilitate the servicing of heating,
ventilating, and/or air conditioning equipment, the access
is to be provided by an interior stairway, as elaborated upon
in a Director's Interpretation STANDATA issued by Building
Standards in April 1999 under number 97-DI-012, emphasizing
Article 3.6.4.7. and Article 3.2.5.3.
To further illustrate, with respect to access to the high
installation of unit heaters, horizontal furnaces, infrared
heaters, etc., Clause 3.14 Accessibility of B149.1-00 states
the following:
3.14.1
An appliance shall be installed so that it is accessible
for servicing.
3.14.7
An appliance installed at a distance of 10 ft (3 m) or more
from the floor, as measured from the lowest point of the
appliance, shall be provided with either
(a) a permanent accessible service platform that permits
access to all parts of the appliance requiring service;
or
(b) other approved means of service access.
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