FARM BUILDING USER GUIDE - Province Of Manitoba

FARM BUILDING USER GUIDE:UPDATES TO THE MANITOBA BUILDING CODEMay 2017

Table of ContentsSection 1. Introduction . P.1Section 2. Requirements for Farm Buildings of Low Human Occupancy . P.22.1 Construction Requirements . P.22.2 Spatial Separation Requirements . P.52.3 Fire Block Requirements . P.62.4 Fuel Storage Tanks . P.102.5 Fire Separations . P.102.6 Exposed Foam Plastic Insulation. P.112.7 Egress and Exits . P.132.8 Ladders. P.182.9 Building Fire Safety . P.20Section 3. Applications and Further Information . P.213.1 OFC as Permitting Authority . P.21Image References. P.22Appendix A – Manitoba Building Code Excerpts . P.23

INTRODUCTION:On January 25, 2017, new building and fire safety provisions/requirements for farmbuildings came into effect in Manitoba. While previous farm building requirements were in aseparate Manitoba Farm Building Code Regulation, the new provisions are contained in theManitoba Building Code Regulation.The purpose of this user guide is to help building code officials, engineers, architects,contractors, farm owners and others in the design community understand the newrequirements1.To assist in reading the guide, some questions and answers and preliminary concepts aregiven below.1.1 WHICH FACILITIES DO THE NEW REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO?The new requirements apply to farm buildings over 600m 2 of “low human occupancy”.Please note that farm buildings below 600 m2 are not regulated by any building coderequirements in Manitoba. A farm building is defined in the Manitoba Building Code (MBC) as “a building or partthereof that does not contain a residential occupancy and that is associated with andlocated on land devoted to the practice of farming, and used essentially for thehousing of equipment or livestock, or the production, storage or processing ofagricultural and horticultural produce or feeds”, but does not include a building that isclassified as a high-hazard industrial occupancy.Farm buildings may include but, are not limited to, produce storage and packingfacilities, livestock and poultry housing, milking centres, feed preparation centres,farm workshops, greenhouses, farm retail centres, and horse riding, exercise andtraining facilities.Low human occupancy, in respect to farm buildings means “an occupancy with anoccupant load of not more than one person per 40 m 2 during normal use”.Unenclosed and unconditioned2 shelters for animals or storage of fiber and forage and solidmanure storage facilities with roofs are only subject to the structural requirements of theMBC. A farm building that is not of low human occupancy is subject to the requirements ofthe MBC but is still considered a “farm building”.1This User’s Guide sets out practical guidelines for users. It must be used in conjunction with the ManitobaBuilding Code; an excerpt is provided as an appendix to this document. This User’s Guide is not intended as adesign manual.2Unenclosed and unconditioned space any space within a building the temperature of which is not controlledto limit variation in response to the exterior ambient temperature by the provision, either directly or indirectly, ofheating or cooling over substantial portions of the year.1

1.2 HOW DO I KNOW IF MY FARM BUILDING IS A LOW HUMAN OCCUPANCY FARM BUILDING?Take the total building area (in m2) and divide it by 40 m2 to determine how many humanoccupants are permitted to occupy the building during normal use and still have the buildingbe considered a low human occupancy farm building. If that number is exceeded duringnormal building use, then the farm building would be considered as, an “other than lowhuman occupancy farm building” and subject to the regular requirements of the MBC. If thatnumber is not exceeded during normal use, then it is a “farm building of low humanoccupancy” and subject to the special requirements for low human occupancy farmbuildings under Section 3.10 of the MBC.For example, a farm building with an area of 600 m 2 (divided by 40 m2) has a maximumhuman occupancy of 15 to be considered low human occupancy. The designer can alsostate the occupant load the farm building is designed for (e.g. 4-5 persons), but it must benot greater than the calculated occupant load of 15.1.3 WHO IS THE PERMITTING AUTHORITY FOR FARM BUILDINGS?Manitoba Building CodeThe Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) is the permitting authority under the MBC forfarm buildings in Manitoba. This is to ensure a consistent application of requirements acrossManitoba. This applies to both farm buildings of low human occupancy and farm buildingsdeemed to be other than low human occupancy. Questions regarding farm buildingpermitting may be directed to the OFC. For further information, see page 21 of this Guide.Manitoba Electrical CodeManitoba Hydro is responsible for administering the Manitoba Electrical Code and issuingelectrical permits for property outside the City of Winnipeg. For property within the City ofWinnipeg, the City of Winnipeg Planning, Property and Development is responsible forissuing electrical permits.Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management RegulationManitoba Sustainable Development is responsible for issuing permits for manure storagefacilities under the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation. Structuralrequirements of the MBC apply to solid manure storage facilities with roofs.1.4 WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR FARM BUILDINGS OF LOW HUMAN OCCUPANCY?Farm buildings of low human occupancy do not need to comply with the requirements ofPart 3 of the MBC that would normally apply to buildings over 600 m2. Instead they aresubject to specific requirements under Section 3.10 of the MBC. The requirements for farmbuildings of low human occupancy are intended to reflect the lower risk that comes fromthese facilities being occupied by a low number of workers who are familiar with theirenvironment. The requirements of Section 3.10 are also consistent with current farm2

building practices which need to accommodate high humidity environments and the need forrelatively free movement across the facilities. The following is a summary of therequirements for farm buildings of low human occupancy in the MBC.REQUIREMENTS FOR FARM BUILDINGS OF LOW HUMAN OCCUPANCY:2.1 CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTSArticle 3.10.1.2. Floor AreasThis Article requires that each storey of a farm building, other than a greenhouse, must beseparated into fire compartments by vertical fire separations having a fire-resistance ratingof at least 2 h (hours), so that each separated portion has a floor area that is less than themaximum floor area indicated in Table 3.10.1.2. Fire separations limit a fire to a section of afarm building to permit the safe evacuation of the occupants from the building, and to allowfirefighting to commence before the fire spreads to other areas. Farm buildings must also beseparated from occupancies that conform to Part 3 or 9 of the MBC by a 1 h fire separation.One of the fundamental concepts of fire safety in all buildings, including farm buildings, is tocontain the spread of fire throughout a building with a physical barrier, known as a fireseparation. A fire separation can be a wall, ceiling or floor assembly of a building. Numerousfire separations are frequently used in combination to enclose a given space and control firespread within it; this space is termed a “fire compartment”.Table 3.10.1.2.Maximum Floor Areas for Farm Buildings of Low Human OccupancyForming Part of Article 3.10.1.2.Number of StoreysMaximum Floor Area per Storey1234800 m22400 m21600 m2Designers should take into account the required maximum floor areas indicated in Table3.10.1.2. when designing new farm buildings. For example, in a one storey barn, the MBCallows a maximum compartment size of 4,800 m 2. If the building footprint is greater than4,800 m2, the challenge to the designer is to optimize the overall efficiency of the layoutwhile achieving all the safety objectives of compartmentalization.For example, splitting a large free stall dairy barn, 33 m wide x 198 m long (6,534 m2), intotwo compartments (each less than 4,800 m2) to comply with the compartment sizerequirement would involve constructing a fire separation wall near the midpoint of the 198 mlength (Figure 2.1.1). Since the cow alleyways and the central feed alleyway run on the longaxis of the building, this would require five large door openings in the fire separationequipped with closure devices (fire doors). This kind of layout could adversely impactequipment and animal traffic, and air ventilation in the barn.3

Figure 2.1.1. A large free stall dairy barn with fire separation wall at the midpoint.3From a fire separation stand point, it is more effective to construct several free stall barnsthat each measure less than 4,800 m2, each spaced at least 30 m apart and interconnectedwith hallways to house the animals (Figure 2.1.2.). One closure device (fire door) situated inthe middle of each connecting hallway allows the design to meet the requirements formaximum floor area, as well as minimize flow issues associated with cow and equipmenttraffic and air movement.Figure 2.1.2. The fire compartments formed by several fire separations will slow the spread of fire and provide a4better opportunity to fight a fire in this large building complex.3From Reducing the Risk of Fire on Your Farm. 2011. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.p. 174From Reducing the Risk of Fire on Your Farm. 2011. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.p. 184

Wall, floor and ceiling assemblies of buildings can be built in various ways utilizing a varietyof construction materials. The way these assemblies are built affects the time it takes for fireto burn through the assembly and spread from one fire compartment to another. Fireseparations should be continuous to maintain their integrity by having smoke-tight jointswhere they abut on or intersects with floors, roof slabs, or roof decks. Except for openings inthe outside face of a building, openings in fire separations around a fire compartment musthave properly rated closures. Use appropriate fire stopping materials to seal all penetrationsand gaps through fire separation assemblies.A mezzanine is any intermediate floor assembly within a storey, and can range from smallbalconies to sizeable storage areas. A mezzanine is not considered a storey if the area ofthe mezzanine does not exceed 10% of the floor area in which it is located, and if theaggregate area of all the mezzanines occupies less than 10% of the floor area of the farmbuildings in which they are located.5