Building Group Definitions
1. Accessory Structure – Group A, B, C, D, E or Agricultural
An Accessory Structure is a structure or building that is normally incidental, subordinate,
secondary or ancillary to the main use, structure or building and is exclusively devoted to
that main use, structure or building and located on the same property.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Accessory Structures may include but are not limited to the following: storage building,
warehouse, garage, pool, shed, mechanical building, workshop, gazebo.
2. Agricultural Use – Farm Building
Farm building means a building or part thereof which does not contain a residential
occupancy, and which is associated with, and located on, land devoted to the practice of
farming, and used essentially for the housing of equipment or livestock, or the production,
storage or processing of agricultural and horticultural produce or feeds.
a) Low Human Occupancy (as it applies to farm buildings) means an occupancy having
an occupant load of not more than one person per 40 m2 (431 ft2) of floor area during
normal use.
b) Occupant Load means the number of persons for which a building or part thereof is
designed.
Examples of farm buildings as defined in Article 1.1.3.2 include but are not
limited to: produce, storage and packing facilities, livestock and poultry housing,
milking centres, manure storage facilities, grain bins, silos, feed preparation
centres, farm workshops, greenhouses, farm retail centres, and horse riding,
exercise and training facilities. Farm buildings may be classed as low or high
human occupancy depending on the occupant load
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Building Group Definitions
Examples of farm buildings likely to be classed as low human occupancy as
defined in Article 1.2.1.2 of the National Farm Building code of Canada 1995, are
livestock and poultry housing, manure and machinery storage facilities and horse
exercise and training facilities where no bleachers or view area are provided.
Examples of farm buildings likely to be classed as other than low human
occupancy include farm retail centres for feeds, horticultural and livestock
produce, auction barns and show areas where bleachers or other public facilities
are provided. Farm work centres where the numbers of workers frequently
exceeds the limit for low human occupancy will also be in this category. It is
possible to have areas of both high and low human occupancy in the same
building, provided that the structural safety and fire separation requirements for
high human occupancy are met in the part thus designated.
3. Assembly Building – Group A A building that is defined as Assembly means the
occupancy or the use of a (Group A) building, or part thereof, is for a gathering of persons
for civic, political, travel, religious, social, educational, recreational or like purpose, or for
the consumption of food or drink.
Examples of (Group A, Divisions 1-4) Assembly buildings include but are not
limited to the following:
Amusement park structures (not classified elsewhere), Arenas, Art galleries, Auditoria,
Bleachers, Bowling Alleys, Child care facilities, Churches and similar places of worship,
Clubs (non-residential), Community halls, Courtrooms, Dance halls, Exhibition halls (other
than classified in Group E), Grandstands, Gymnasia, Lecture halls, Libraries, Licensed
beverage establishments, Motion picture theatres, Museums, Opera houses, Passenger
stations and depots, Recreational piers, Restaurants, Reviewing stands, Rinks, Schools
and Colleges (non-residential), Stadia, Swimming pools (indoor), Television studios
admitting an audience, Theatres (including experimental theatres), Undertaking
premises.
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Building Group Definitions
4. Business & Personal Services – Group D
Business and Personal Services Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a (Group D)
building or part thereof, for the transaction of business or the rendering or receiving of
professional or personal services.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Banks, Barber and Hairdressing Shops, Beauty Parlors, Dental Offices, Dry Cleaning
Establishments (Self-Service, not using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners),
Laundries (Self-Service), Medical Offices, Offices, Police Stations - without detention
quarters, Radio Stations, Small Tool and Appliance Rental and Service establishments.
5. Care or Detention – Group B
Care and Detention Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a (Group B, Division 1-building
or part thereof by persons who:
a) receive supervisory care (Division 1).
b) receive special care and treatment (Division 2), or
c) are dependent on others to release security devices to permit egress (Division 3),
A. Detention Occupancy (Group B, Division 1) means an occupancy in which
persons are under restraint or are incapable of self preservation because of
security measures not under their control.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Jails, Penitentiaries, Police stations with detention quarters, Prisons, Psychiatric
hospitals with detention quarters, Reformatories with detention quarters.
B. Care and Treatment Occupancy (Group B, Division 2) means an occupancy in
which persons receive special care and treatment.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Facilities for developmentally handicapped residents, Homes for the aged,
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Building Group Definitions
Hospitals, Infirmaries, Long term care, Nursing homes, Psychiatric hospitals
without detention quarters, Sanatoria without detention quarters.
C. Care Occupancy (Group B, Division 3) means an occupancy in which persons
receive special or supervisory care because of cognitive or physical limitations, but
does not include a dwelling unit.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Children’s custodial homes, Convalescent homes, Group homes for
developmentally handicapped residents, Residential care facilities.
NOTE: Group B, Division 3 Occupancies are permitted to be classified as
Group C major occupancies provided:
a) the occupants live as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit with
sleeping accommodation for not more than ten persons, and
b) not more than two occupants require assistance in evacuation in case of
an emergency.
6. Demolition:
Demolition is to remove a building or any material part thereof.
7. Designated Structures:
(a)
a retaining wall exceeding 1 000 mm in exposed height adjacent to,
(i) Public property,
(ii) Access to a building, or
(iii) Private property to which the public is admitted,
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Building Group Definitions
(b) a pedestrian bridge appurtenant to a building,
(c) a crane runway,
(d) an exterior storage tank and its supporting structure that is not regulated by the
Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000,
(e) signs regulated by Section 3.15 of Division B that are not structurally supported by a
building,
(f) a solar collector that is mounted on a building and has a face area equal to or
greater than 5 m2,
(g) a structure that supports a wind turbine generator having a rated output of more than
3 kW,
(h) a dish antenna that is mounted on a building and has a face area equal to or greater
than 5 m2,
(i) a communication tower exceeding 16.6 m above ground level,
(j) an outdoor pool that has a water depth greater than 3.5 m at any point,
(k) a public pool, and
(l) a public spa.
8. Residential Building
Residential Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a (Group C) building or part
thereof by persons for whom sleeping accommodation is provided but who are not
harboured or detained to receive medical care or treatment or are not involuntarily
detained.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Apartments, Boarding houses, Camps for housing workers, Clubs (residential),
Colleges (residential), Convents, Dormitories, Group homes, Halfway houses (drug
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Building Group Definitions
and alcohol treatment), Hostels, Hotels, Houses, Lodging houses, Monasteries,
Motels, Open and semi-secure detention for youth, Recreational camps, Rooming
houses, Schools (residential), Shelters for homeless, Shelters for women.
9. Industrial Building: Industrial Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a (Group F,
Divisions 1-3) building or part thereof for the assembling, fabricating, manufacturing,
processing, repairing or storing of goods and materials.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
(Division 1): Bulk plants for flammable liquids, Bulk storage warehouses for
hazardous substances, Cereal mills, Chemical manufacturing or processing plants,
Distilleries, Dry cleaning plants using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners,
Feed mills, Flour mills, Grain elevators, Lacquer factories, Paint, varnish and
pyroxylin product factories, Rubber processing plants, Spray painting operations.
(Division 2): Aircraft hangars, Cold storage plants, Dry cleaning establishments not
using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners, Electrical substations, Freight
depots, Helicopter landing areas on roofs, Laboratories, Laundries (except selfservice – see Group D), Planing mills, Printing plants, Repair garages, Self-service
storage buildings, Service stations, Storage rooms, Television studios not admitting
a viewing audience, Tire storage, Warehouses, Woodworking factories. (Division
3): Creameries, Laboratories, Power plants, Storage garages (including open air
parking garages), Storage rooms, Warehouses.
10. Mercantile Building: Mercantile Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a (Group E)
building or part thereof for the displaying or selling of retail goods, wares or merchandise.
Examples include but are not limited to the following:
Department stores, Exhibition halls, Markets, Restaurants with an occupant load
not more than 30 persons consuming food and drink, Shops, Stores,
Supermarkets.
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