Practical Considerations of Ontario’s Tarion Builder Bulletin 19: Acoustical Reviews for New Condominium Buildings
Abstract
Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Act Plan, all new condominium projects must be registered with the Tarion Warranty Corporation under the Builder Bulletin 19 (B19) program. The program is intended to ensure the building design and construction meet required standards to protect both the buyer and Tarion as the warranty holder. Apart from the legal requirements of meeting Ontario Building Code, Tarion B19 further requires that the design and construction meet good architectural and engineering practice in specific risk areas outlined by Tarion.
Acoustics are included in the B19 risk areas with sound transmission and mechanical sound/vibration being major areas of concern. Successfully implementing these acoustical requirements for condominium projects involves careful coordination with the entire design team and the builder. Even with recent updates to the B19 documents that highlight acoustics as a separate risk area, these items still remain an afterthought for many architects, developers and builders.
In this paper, we discuss some of the challenges raised by the B19 process for the acoustical consultant during the design process including ambiguity in the design requirements and acoustical approvals. Common areas of concern identified during the design reviews and typical solutions for resolving issues which satisfy both the owner and the acoustical consultant are also presented.
Additionally, the B19 process involves field reviews and proof of performance tests to confirm the design requirements have been adhered to. We present prevalent issues which are identified during field review site visits, the consequences of these deficiencies in as-built configurations, and proven remedial approaches where non-compliance is found.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Author Licensing Addendum
This Licensing Addendum ("Addendum") is entered into between the undersigned Author(s) and Canadian Acoustics journal published by the Canadian Acoustical Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Publisher"). The Author(s) and the Publisher agree as follows:
-
Retained Rights: The Author(s) retain(s) the following rights:
- The right to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the Work on the Author's personal website or the website of the Author's institution.
- The right to use the Work in the Author's teaching activities and presentations.
- The right to include the Work in a compilation for the Author's personal use, not for sale.
-
Grant of License: The Author(s) grant(s) to the Publisher a worldwide exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, and display the Work in Canadian Acoustics and any other formats and media deemed appropriate by the Publisher.
-
Attribution: The Publisher agrees to include proper attribution to the Author(s) in all publications and reproductions of the Work.
-
No Conflict: This Addendum is intended to be in harmony with, and not in conflict with, the terms and conditions of the original agreement entered into between the Author(s) and the Publisher.
-
Copyright Clause: Copyright on articles is held by the Author(s). The corresponding Author has the right to grant on behalf of all Authors and does grant on behalf of all Authors, a worldwide exclusive license to the Publisher and its licensees in perpetuity, in all forms, formats, and media (whether known now or created in the future), including but not limited to the rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, display, store, translate, create adaptations, reprints, include within collections, and create summaries, extracts, and/or abstracts of the Contribution.