[Strawbale] Building department inspection requirements

[Chris Green]

Tim Martens wrote:
> <snip> Now.... back to the building department. They are not sure how to approach the inspections on such a building since "straw bale isn't in the Ontario building code, and since it isn't a recognized construction method by the city of North Bay".
>
> I was told that the Straw Bale coalition didn't provide them with any good information. This surprises me.
>
> Does anyone know what the inspection logistics are for a simple straw bale building? Are they that different from conventional inspections? Isn't there a standard guidline written up somewhere that applies to any straw bale building?
>   
That's a good question. And timely, I think.
There probably isn't a standard guideline, but to get an interim one, 
perhaps North Bay's inspectors could contact the inspectors in 
Tuscon,AZ, or one of the other cities which have adopted SB 
construction, for a how-to on this.

It might be time to ask the International Building Codes Council folks 
to write a generalized guideline like this, one that takes into account 
the fact there are local environmental differences in SB construction. 
It's their job to develop building codes, after all.
http://www.iccsafe.org/news/about/
They are quite aware of green building and straw building. Their 
Building Safety Journal had a nice article by Bruce King in the May-June 
2004 issue on SB construction, which you can download as a pdf file here:
http://www.iccsafe.org/news/green/0504BSJ38.pdf

The upside to having a guideline like this is that, since it can alert 
builders on what the inspectors will be looking for, we can be  more 
mindful of which details to pay critical attention to.


Cheers,

Chris Green.