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Report from the Technical Service Committee – Door component substitution blues

The Technical Services Committee meeting remains the hottest draw at the Fenestration Canada Spring Conference, packing in about 50 people at this years’ event. According to chair, Robert Jutras of CLEB, the committee heard that the Fenestration Installation Technician program is ready to test and certify window and door installers. Some work remains on the test and the committee is seeking more trainers, but some groups around the country can offer it. Attention now turns to generating market demand for the program by engaging dealers, home warranty providers, insurance companies, homeowners directly and/or government construction regulators.

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association is working with the Canadian Standards Association to simplify the North American Fenestration Standard. Jutras reported that the first version of the document attracted over 400 comments from U.S. Window and Door Manufacturers Association members. Those were dealt with and a revised document sent to ballot, which was successful, but attracted another 200 comments. This version of NAFS has now been in development for over three years. Presently, NAFS 11 is the version referenced in codes and the NAFS 17 may make it into the 2020 codes, but the simplified version will not be ready in time.

A440.S1 (Canadian supplement to NAFS), A440.2 (energy performance) and A440.4 (window, door and skylight installation) have all been republished and harmonized with NAFS 17. The biggest changes were to A440.4, including a simplified system for determining if you need under-sill flashing in a location, and a process for installing mounting flanges over insulating board. “That change was required by a change in construction, basically,” Jutras says. “It’s a new way of building houses.” The other big change in A440.4 is a requirement that the under-sill must be flashed on any mulled window.

A440.6 is a new standard addressing high exposure windows, including high rises, Part 3, 4 and 5 buildings and Part 9 buildings that are built on cliffs or similar locations with a lot of wind-driven rain. It’s supposed to be ready by March., so it won’t go into the 2020 code but may make 2025. The big difference with A440.6 is that it will cover every kind of fenestration and building that is not covered in A440.4, including window wall.

Jean-Francois Kogovsek reported on efforts to collect feedback from industry consultants and labs on the AAMA 111 technical bulletin, which governs allowable substitutions of door components when certifying doors for NAFS. Kogovsek was tasked by the committee last year to survey certifiers and find out who was using the procedure. He got no responses. “This is troubling to me,” Jutras says. “It’s as if the industry that should be using that document is not and I don’t really understand why. This is a national document with a lot of input from a lot of people.” Jutras hopes to get feedback on the document in order to update it. He thinks it could be helpful to have everyone on the same page when it comes to certifying doors.

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Fenestration Canada