June 20th, 2024

At Council on June 11th, City staff were directed to prepare the necessary Building Bylaw changes to implement changes to address water, wind and administrative requirements related to roofing installation, and facilitate better green roofs (vegetated roof assemblies) with updated standards. The proposals provide an incremental improvement to roofing installations, with standards for vegetated roof assemblies (such as green roofs) in response to developers’ adoption of these to meet their rainwater management requirements. 

The focus of this report is Part 3 buildings, and the proposals do not modify the prescriptive roofing requirements for Part 9 buildings. The Building Bylaw does not prescribe a solution for rainwater management, recognizing the complexity of site- and building-specific factors, and instead defines performance-based objectives. A developer may then choose to employ any number of strategies, including green roofs, to meet these rainwater management criteria. The number of new green roofs is expected to grow with Council’s expansion of rainwater management requirements as of January 1st, 2024.  

Hindrances to green roof adoption may nevertheless still exist in some developments, due to competition for roof-top space, cost, structural engineering implications, insurance availability, owner experience and perceptions, and maintenance requirements. In parallel with this Council Report, staff in Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability are leading the development of a Green Roof Best Practices Guide to assist local industry, promote increased adoption and help improve lifecycle quality assurance. 

More information can be found in the report by City staff. 

January 30th, 2024

The City is seeking feedback on proposed roofing-related amendments to both the Standards of Maintenance Bylaw and Building Bylaw. The proposed changes were developed in collaboration with the Roofing Contractors Association of BC, and encompass vegetated (green) roofs, waterproofing and water-shedding requirements, wind resistance, roof penetrations and documentation to be submitted with permits. Also proposed are updates to terminology, reference standards and explanatory notes. More details on the proposed changes can be found at vancouver.ca/rainwater under “Proposed roofing related amendments”.

If there is any feedback on the proposed changes, please email Heather at hpark@udi.org by end of day February 23rd.