At the March 14, 2017 council meeting, the AIBC Council dealt with the following items:
President’s Report
- Meetings were held in Toronto (Feb. 6) and Montreal (Mar. 6) to continue the work of the special CALA subcommittee as it develops recommendations to CALA for a process intended to result in a national discussion on the future of the profession. The AIBC has been leading the push for this initiative over the past few years. The final report will be submitted in advance of the next CALA meeting on May 27.
FICOM
- Audited 2016 financial statements were reviewed with staff and auditors Wolrige Mahon.
- A second meeting with the auditors was held without staff to discuss any issues or concerns. The only item brought forward is the short time frame in January to finalize the audit and whether it is possible to start the audit process earlier so that deadlines for council and the annual meeting can be met, or consider hold the annual meeting later in May.
HR Committee
- As a reminder, the mandate of the HR Committee is to “…provide advice to council on matters relating to the CEO performance and compensation, salary benchmarking and other matters related to staff as a whole, and oversight of the policies related to staff”. The recommendations of the HR Committee were reviewed and approved by council. In his third year as AIBC CEO, Mark Vernon continues to provide vision and leadership. The HR Committee is very pleased with his performance.
Council Motions
- Council approved, in principle, Council Rules 7: Advisory Design Panels, triggering a Mar. 1 until Mar. 31 notification period.
- Council approved, in principle, the Professional Liability Insurance Bylaws. A March 1 President’s Message launched the ensuing member consultation phase and included online links to associated material.
- The revised CACB Terms and Conditions for Accreditation for Professional Degree Programs in Architecture were also approved by council. Council was also in support of CALA and the CACB continuing to provide mechanisms to review and update the Terms in areas of faculty registration, automatic certification, program performance criteria and student performance criteria.
- The formation of a Vancouver Chapter of the AIBC, as submitted in the Feb. 17, 2017 chapter petition form, was approved by council along with direction to the CEO to ensure the chapter obligations and responsibilities, as stipulated in Bylaws 8.3-8.6 and in the AIBC Chapter Guidelines, are met.
CEO Report
External Items
Meetings
- Several meetings occurred since the last council meeting:
- Jan. 30 – MLA Lunch for associations where four sitting MLAs presented;
- Feb. 5 – CALA/CACB Future of the Profession session where I was invited to share the perspective of the CEO/ED;
- Feb. 20 – BC Ministry of International Trade with a focus on assisting opportunities in Asia. They were pleased to learn of our work with APEC.
- Mar. 2 – MAVED ADM and ED met with myself and Thomas Lutes where Act renewal next steps were discussed, once a new government is formed this summer.
Council Submissions
- Strategic Plan mid-term status report (Jun.-Dec. 2016), Risk Register status report and Audited Financial Statements were submitted to council. All three items met council expectations.
Internal Items
Renewal Cycle Update
- 96% of registrants paid their fees on time, with the vast majority paying online. Thank you! The remaining 4% were sent registered letters, which precedes removal from the Register. The posting of FAQs online resulted in a significant decrease in enquiries.
Practice Advice/ Member Support
- BC Building Code / Step Code: The provincial government is planning to amend the BC Building Code in Dec. 2017 by introducing the ‘Step Code’. This amendment will allow local governments to require higher levels of energy performance than those of the current BC Building Code, on a voluntary basis. If a local government wishes to require these higher performance levels, they will be required to do so by implementing one or more of the ‘steps’ described in this code amendment. The reason why this amendment is necessary is that the Building Act will remove the ability of local governments to modify technical requirements of the BC Building Code at the end of 2017. The Building Act, and the Step Code amendments are measures to meet the government objective of simplifying building regulation in the BC.
Practice Advisor Maura Gatensby Architect AIBC has been an active participant on behalf of the AIBC on the Energy Efficiency Working Group, the stakeholder group which has shaped the Step Code regulations. With the work of this group complete, the provincial government has created the ‘Step Code Council.’ This body will monitor and advise the provincial government and local governments on the implementation of the Step Code. The AIBC has been named to council, with Maura Gatensby representing the institute. - APEGBC Elevator Guidelines: APEGBC has issued Professional Responsibilities for the Design and Installation of Elevating Devices in New Buildings. This document was developed with the assistance of AIBC staff and AIBC’s Regulatory Coordination Committee, and it has been endorsed by the institute. While primarily a professional practice guideline for engineers, it will be useful to architects in their traditional role as coordinators.
Professional Development
- A Post-Disaster Safety Evaluation of Buildings and Infrastructure Workshop was held Jan. 30, the third time running the workshop and the first time hosting outside of the annual conference. The course was offered simultaneously in two locations, live at the AIBC office (22 in attendance) and remotely at the Emergency Operations Centre, Victoria, BC (28 in attendance). The 8-hour training session on post-disaster safety evaluation procedures (ATC-20) is to develop the necessary skills to properly assess damaged buildings for occupancy and use following a major disaster. At this time there are 59 trained architect volunteers (not everyone who attends workshop signs up to volunteer in event of emergency).
Outreach
- PLI Bylaw Review: Bylaw review consultation and feedback process initiated with an eBlast on Mar. 1. A suite of communications tools for sharing information and gathering feedback includes: new web pages on aibc.ca with background information, an FAQ, and a feedback questionnaire. In addition, five consultation sessions are planned, supplemented by a dedicated email address for questions and a PLI Hotline.
- AIBC Architectural Awards: the 2017 awards program has launched with the call for submissions and jury applications active until Mar. 3 – 47 were received. The awards ceremony will again take place at the close of the annual conference, on the evening of May 10. One change to the program this year will be the introduction of a shortlist, with winners to be announced at the awards ceremony.
- Annual Conference: all session speakers have been determined; registration is anticipated to open Mar. 10 for early bird pricing; and, sponsorships are on track for the annual conference.
- AIBC Brand: in a continuation of efforts to strengthen the AIBC visual identity a rebrand of the eNewsletter and the eBlast suite is underway with an anticipated spring release date.
- Architectural Walking Tour Program: Family Day tours on Feb. 13 were sold out with 41 guests split between two tours. We anticipate 35 guests through two private tours coming in March and April (one school group from Prince of Wales and one group of “Newcomers to Vancouver”).
- Gallery: The AIBC hosted Women in Architecture on Feb. 23 in the gallery and boardroom with approximately 40 attendees.
- Honorary Membership: Unfortunately, no nominations were received this year, despite additional promotion.
Other Business
- Motions were also passed for AIBC council meeting minutes, committee changes, examination results and register amendments.
- Read adopted Jan. 16 council meeting minutes.
Next Meeting
The next regular meeting of AIBC Council is scheduled for May 2, 2017. It will be held at the AIBC office between 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. For those interested in attending an AIBC Council Meeting, please confirm your attendance in advance by email to ttough@aibc.ca.