Look at all that glass! No expense spared, and no thought to the energy bill either. Good luck getting an architect to pay for their pipe dreams.

Have you ever noticed all the glass at the Civic Centre? Two storeys high, full length of the building.

The Architect has error and omissions insurance. With the little bit of info here, I would say the UNBC is right in going after the Architect since he is the first in the line of fire since they have the contract with the University. There will likely be others who will be "hit" along the way.

These days most Architects hire "building code consultants" who will be in a direct cascading line if such a firm was used and it is a problem associated with building code. Not to be overlooked is the elevator supplier, who should know about such matters since it is a specialty.

No to be overlooked are municipal building inspectors who are involved and should have caught such matters as well at a very early stage if it is code related, albeit that this is provincial property.

Finally, the University itself may not be a absolved of responsibility either since Universities typically have facility and construction managers on staff who ought to be very knowledgeable about such matters.

On top of that, any building that is sprinklered is frequently exempt from some of the stricter compartmentalization requirements of building codes. Not having been in the building yet, I am not sure of exactly what is at issue. However, it may be related to the separation of the “interconnected” space of the atrium which goes through all floors, and elevator doors which are insufficient to act as “closure”. Typically such elevators have to be separated from the remainder of the floor area via a lobby. The Plaza 400 “atrium” which runs through all floors of the building is an example of such requirements.

There is no one on staff at the University who knows the building code to that level, that is why they hire someone who does.

The funny thing about this new building, is that it is so over budget that they are not going to purchase blinds at this time for all the office windows. So if you look at some of the offices from the outside you will see bedsheets and other things hanging in the windows so people can use their offices.

For the information of several of the above posters, the elevators in question were not the responsability of Municiple inspectors. As stated in the story it was the Safety Authority inspector who wrote the elevators up. The Safety Authority is a quasi crown corp or whatever you want to call it. It is made up of the old provincial, Electrical, Gas, Boiler, Elevator, RR and Ski Lift Inpection authorities. If I am not mistaken a
certified engineer should have his seal affixed to the plans. If it was built according to his plans, would he not be responsible? Elevator codes are there for all to see and if they were applied wrongly by the engineer or the installing contractor, the inspector will most certainly let them know, as was apparently the case in this instance. In this day and age nobody is willing to take responsibility for their actions. it's always somebody else's fault.

Maybe UNBC can initiate a university credit course for installing elevators. Was it installed by the lowest bidder?

Get Mike Holmes on this right away!!

Camoose. You are right in that the motive component of the elevators, the functioning of it as a transportation system is the responsibility of the Safety Branch and elevator inspectors working under their authority.

I was going by the words which followed that part. It states:
“According to the report, there were substantial changes needed for the structure of the elevators INCLUDING PARTIALLY ENCLOSING THE EXPOSED SHAFTS WHICH OPEN INTO THE ATRIUM. Those changes, combined with a couple of others, added another $30 - 50 thousand dollars to the building’s cost.
It was that I was responding to. That component has nothing to do with the operation of the elevator. Elevators are not a means of exit and should not be operating when a fire alarm sounds unless they are designed to do that under the control of a fire department, which is the case in extreme high rise buildings. Thus, elevators typically are not required to operate under fire conditions.
If it is the motive characteristics of the elevators which did not pass inspection, that is the responsibility of the subtrade installing and supplying the elevator. Of course, the Architects get hit first since they are likely the prime contractor.
There are elevators in all parts of Canada and the word which are exposed on the interior and exterior of buildings.

http://photos.nondot.org/2003-12-18-Germany/12-30-03/normal/07%20-%20Glass%20Elevator.jpg

a glass elevator at another university http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sarratt/tour

and another http://flickr.com/photos/santanuvasant/324203812

must keep up with the Joneses :-)

I cannot even believe its being discussed.
On the elevators all over this town are signs that read " Do NOT use in case of fire"
End of that discussion huh ............

One more try ..... (I am a glutton for punishment)

As everyone knows, heat rises. An elevator shaft, the same as a stairwell, penetrates all floors in a high rise. Shafts which penetrate through floors are, in a fires situation, a source of smoke form one floor escaping to floors of another floor due to the flue effect. Smoke, not fire, is the major killer in building fires. Thus openings in shafts need to have fire-rated closers on them.

Stairwells are protected with "fire rated" doors with automatic closers. Elevators doors have no such protection. Thus there are strict specifications of how elevator shafts are protected so that they do not act as flues during a fire. It sounds to me from the article that the protection did not meet building codes, since the words state:

“there were substantial changes needed for the structure of the elevators INCLUDING PARTIALLY ENCLOSING THE EXPOSED SHAFTS which open into the atrium”.

I was going to buy stock in Otis elevator. But it keeps going up and down.

As I said before with this University, they got the Elevator, we got the Shaft.