Roofing in French Creek

Table C-2 of the BC Building Code lists Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and nothing between them. French Creek sits in that gap, and the two rows do not match: 91 mm against 96 mm for one-day design rain, and a 1-in-50 hourly wind pressure of 0.50 kPa against 0.53 kPa.

We work from the nearest listed community, and on a shoreline lot we build to the higher code row.

The wind on an exposed shoreline lot will test your rake edges and ridge closures right at the difference between those two code rows.

French Creek is unincorporated, so the Regional District of Nanaimo building department has jurisdiction rather than a municipal one. The RDN publishes a plain list of work that does not require a building permit, and roofing repairs or replacements appear on it, provided no structural changes are made.

Alterations, additions or repairs to an existing building or structure, interior structural renovations, and installing solar panels each require a permit in their own right.

Replacing sheathing like for like counts as repair. Altered rafters, a new opening or a changed roof line all need a permit. And if you are putting solar on at the same time, that brings the permit question back either way.

Electoral Area G runs from the waterfront back inland, and the difference across a few hundred metres is larger than the difference between the two code rows. A lot facing open water takes driving rain and wind on one elevation right through the winter, and the leeward slope of the same roof can look a decade younger than the seaward one.

Higher wind exposure changes how we specify the roof details, not the price. We put heavier edge fastening on exposed roof faces, fit closures at every panel termination, and run eave protection further up the slope than the code requires. Article 9.26.5.1 exempts regions with 3,500 or fewer degree-days, and the two listed communities either side of French Creek both sit at 3,200.