I might have a tiny job in Canada, with a local registrant who will seal it. I'm not going to buy the code on the off chance that I get a very small job.
All I am trying to find out right now is: If I get the job, will I be learning a new seismic design method, or will it be similar to the IBC.
hawkaz;
Having worked with both codes, I can say the the design philosophy in NBCC is based on research done for IBC in southern california. The equations and base shear calculations are different, but the research behind it is the same.
Depending what area you are designing for seismic may not govern.
You'll still need to know the methods enough to prove that, though. Even some very low seismic areas can have some small forces that need to be calculated if you have unfortunate site conditions. Unless you're more comfortable with the code and areas of the country you'll still have to do the math that shows it's a lower force than whatever other lateral forces may govern.
But not for western and eastern canada you can go up to 2.3 g design acceleration (La Malbaie, Quebec) ! It's about 0.69g at montreal (high frequency content ~ higer mode excitation), and 0.94g for vancouver (low frequency content)
Depending of the height of teh building seismic generally control over wind in these areas !
So it really depend on where your project is located .
This is Toronto. I don't expect seismic to even be close to governing- but as TLHS indicated, I will need to prove that and provide the seismic info in my General Structural Notes.
When I left Toronto, Ontario had its own Building Code and last I knew the 2006 Ontario Building Code was in effect... best you try to obtain the code in effect. The OBC was a re-write of the preceeding NBCC... and may be the 2005 edition of the NBCC.
They had a separate document. In Manitoba, we reference the NBCC, but with modifications.
About 20 years ago, there was a minor tremor in Toronto... felt like a heavy vehicle passing if you are on the second floor... this was slightly felt on the 8th.
Should have added that we use Imperial and Metric... about 90% of the work I do uses Imperial Units, exclusively. From my experience, only the Government and the people in Alberta use Metric. Others may have different experiences.
Really? All the industrial I've done recently have been metric except for one. That one only uses imperial because they want to be able to easily maintain their 40+ year old process and piping drawings.
