Standing Committee on Earthquake Design

Terms of Reference

The Standing Committee on Earthquake Design (SC-ED) prepares recommendations for requirements in the National Model Construction Code Documents related to earthquake engineering. This includes coordinating the implications of those provisions with the earthquake requirements of standards development organization technical committees referenced in the National Building Code of Canada (NBC).

These provisions are typically located in the following documents:

• Part 4 of Division B of the NBC
• the Structural Commentaries User's Guide on the NBC
• the National Farm Building Code of Canada (NFBC).

The SC-ED:

• prepares recommendations to the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) regarding the technical content of documents within its terms of reference
• is responsible for developing objective-based versions of the requirements within its terms of reference
• advises the CCBFC regarding changes to the scope and application of the NBC and the NFBC and to the SC-ED matrix,
• advises the CCBFC concerning the need for documents ancillary to the NBC and the NFBC and for progeny documents for subjects not within the current scope of the NBC or the NFBC
• advises the CCBFC concerning the need for standards to be referenced by the NBC or the NFBC and identifies needed changes to those standards
• advises the CCBFC on the need for code-related research.

Only requirements that fit within the scope, and at least one of the objectives, of the NBC and other documents as approved by the CCBFC can be considered.

The SC-ED provides advice to, and receives advice from, other committees.

The SC-ED may establish task groups and working groups to assist it in maintaining the existing contents of the codes as well as in developing new subject areas within the committee's terms of reference.