It took a tornado to convince city council that new Barrie homes should have hurricane clips.
Council approved a motion Monday, without discussion, that proposes the province change Ontario’s Building Code (OBC) to require the use of straps, clips or other mechanisms to better connect the roof, wall and foundation of homes.
Coun. Natalie Harris, who sponsored the motion, has said the addition of straps or clips would cost $100-$500 per home.
But she’s unsure how long the process of changing the OBC will take.
“Seeing as this has been a change that experts have been trying to make to the Ontario Building Code for many years, I don’t have a proper timeframe in mind…yet,” she said. “I feel the conversations…will give us more of an idea as to how long this change may take. We are recommending several changes to the building code, hurricane straps being the main one.”
The July 15 tornado touched down in southeast Barrie, with maximum wind speeds reaching 210 kilometres per hour - damaging hundreds of homes and some small businesses in the Mapleview Drive East/Prince William Way area. It compromised the structural integrity of buildings; some of them lost their roofs.
Hurricane strapping or clips connect and strengthen wood-framed roofs and houses, with the most common ones made of galvanized steel or stainless steel. They are designed to help protect structures from severe weather.
Harris rode out the tornado in a house which lost its roof.
Her motion asks that city staff partner with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction to propose, to the Ontario government, specific measures to modernize the OBC with respect to severe wind protection for new homes - including using straps, clips, etc.
“Next steps include a meeting with the experts from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, which will happen soon, to discuss our strategy…with the province and stakeholders,” Harris said.
Most houses are built with no specific consideration of wind loading, say city building staff. There are no predetermined load paths identified in this type of construction to deal with lateral loads and uplift loads, which are both caused by the effects of wind loading.
More stringent building requirements cannot be legally enforced until modifications are made to the Ontario Building Code to mandate different construction techniques.
Barrie city council does not have the authority to change the OBC, which defines minimum construction standards for this province. The OBC is created and must be amended by the province, but council can ask for charges.
Harris’ motion also asks that in order to encourage installation of approved severe wind resilience features, city staff investigate the feasibility of introducing a rebate program for homeowners that did not experience damage resulting from tornado damage on July 15, 2021 and financial incentives for those whose homes were damaged, and report back to councillors.
Staff would work in collaboration with other agencies to develop an awareness campaign to inform Barrie residents about the risk of destructive tornadoes, options to assess risk of damage to their home and identify risk reduction and best practices, and again report back to councillors.
