Celerity was established on September 22, 2012, led by Brian Fraser, P.Eng., C.P. and Diane Crombie, B. Art., B. Design, to provide exceptional and personalized design, engineering, and building and fire code consulting services to our valued clients in the design and construction community.

Celerity Engineering has a focus on Part 3 Fire Protection, Occupant Safety and Accessibility and Sections 8, 9 and 10 of Part 9 Housing and Small Buildings of the Vancouver Building Bylaw, British Columbia Building Code, and National Building Code of Canada. We are also adept in the application of the many National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards that are referenced in the building code, NFPA's own Fire and Life Safety and building Codes, and the International Building Code.

We know building code. But what you want to know is:

What can we do for you?  

Certified Professional

CITY OF VANCOUVER AND CITY OF SURREY

The City of Vancouver, and the City of Surrey, offer the Certified Professional program as an alternate to the traditional Building Permit Process. A Certified Professional completes the reviews and inspections typically performed by the city building department, and acts as a single contact between the project team and the authority having jurisdiction.

This program can benefit your project through time savings by allowing for staged building permits, where excavation can proceed before the full building permit is issued. The city review phase of a CP project can take just a few weeks, compared to the usual months. The CP process is available for both renovations and new buildings, and we’ve worked through it for tenancies ranging from offices and apartments, to restaurants and museums.

Independent Professional

Projects on Federal lands

An independent professional is retained to fulfill the role of Authority Having Jurisdiction on projects where the Authority Having Jurisdiction does not have a building department to provide design and construction reviews. This is usually the case where projects are being built on federally owned, leasehold lands. We have worked on airport, sea port, and university projects that have required this role.

As Independent Professional, we are responsible for reviewing the building permit submission for compliance, approve the building permit, and recommend construction. Throughout construction, we complete site reviews, and ultimately, recommend the building be accepted for occupancy.

Building Code Alternative Solutions

Performance based design

Where your design does not meet the prescriptive requirements of the Building Code, it can be possible to develop an alternative solution. This is a solution that identifies a performance based design solution that will meet the safety and life protection requirements of the Code. These solutions can be simple, or very complex, involving egress and smoke modelling, depending on the unique situation.

Our clients have used alternative solutions to allow for extended travel distances, to reclassify major occupancies, and to use mass timber in a variety of residential, commercial, and industrial occupancies.

Building Code Review and Reports

Architectural Design Review

Reviewing your architectural design for BC Building Code compliance as part of the building permit process ensures that any issues are addressed early, to minimize impact on design goals and ensure timely processing of your building permit application.

Code compliance reports demonstrate the approach to compliance with codes, standards, and regulations. Code compliance drawings further illustrate this compliance, and include the location of fire separations, travel distances, occupant load, exit capacities and any building code concepts applicable to the project.

Other Services

building code consulting

• Building Permit Processing Assistance

• Demolition Permit Coordination

• Negotiations with Municipal Authorities

• Building Code Appeals Preparation

• Protection of Adjacent Building Reports

• Egress Modelling

• Smoke Modelling

• Building Permit Data Sheets

• Stair Safety and Ergonomics

• Occupant Loads for Licensed Beverage Establishments

• Third Party Review (Independent Professional)

• Litigation Support

• Building Audits

• CAN ULC/S1001 Integrated Testing Coordination

• Third Party Firestopping Review