Manitoba Cooperator
Barn building code changes under fire after blaze
Hog Watch Manitoba is concerned that proposed building code changes will decrease fire safety; the province and pork industry don’t agree
Photo: Thinkstock
Published: June 23, 2017
Manitoba’s pork producers say building code changes recognize what barns are, rather than treating them as factories occupied by humans.
Manitoba Pork is standing by the province’s proposed building code changes, even as advocacy group Hog Watch Manitoba argues they might increase the risk of hog barn fires.
In January 2017, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced plans to repeal the Farm Building Code and instead roll farm structures into the provincial building code.
The changes would create a “low-human occupancy” class, decrease firewall requirements in high-humidity environments where the building materials are likely to be be damaged and reduce “additional regulatory requirements for items like full fire alarm systems.”