BC Building Science was established in 1996 as one of the first dedicated building envelope consulting firms. Principals, Chad Cranswick and Andrew Creighton have been part of the firm since these early days – having met at the BCIT, Building Science program in 1994. With two of the most experienced company principals, BC Building Science has earned a reputation for providing efficient practical and appropriate engineering solutions.
BCBS spent much of our early years providing consulting services during the ‘leaky condo crisis’ of the late 1990s / early 2000s.
These experiences, where owners were faced with large, significant repair costs for buildings as young as 3 to 5 years in age, helped shape our determination to develop and implement more durable building enclosure design principles. This early knowledge also allows us to provide pragmatic/cost-effective strategies where it makes sense – by knowing and seeing how hundreds of different buildings have performed over the years.
Interestingly, the resolution to the epidemic of building envelope failure was the rediscovery and enhancement of basic water shedding and water drainage principles.
We say ‘rediscovery’ of water shedding principles because rainscreen principles (only mandatory since 1999 in Vancouver) with cladding design dates to early Canadian Building Digest research papers from the 1960s (such as CBD-40. Rain Penetration and its Control originally published April 1963). Unfortunately, without being mandated by Code, these practices were sparingly used.
BCBS has had the opportunity to investigate and repair buildings constructed in the early 1970s where rainscreen, drainage-cavity principles were used. These cladding systems were still very functional at 40 plus years of service, despite their age – proving that sound, simple design principles are often best.
One aspect of building envelope renovation work is the constant and continued need for structural design and consulting services to ensure that the damaged structures are suitably restored to an appropriate level of structural safety.
In some cases, this may mean the simple replacement of decayed or defective structural elements to original building standards. In other cases, new structural elements may be added as part of a design improvement process – such as adding roof overhangs or canopies to improve water shedding capacities.
In all cases, BCBS provides in-house structural design and review services. This team is led by one of our other senior engineers, Alfredo Jo. Alfredo has been providing building envelope and structural design services locally since 2003 and a practicing structural engineer since 1993.
Another key milestone in the continued advancement of building asset maintenance is the requirement for strata corporations to have a detailed depreciation report completed. A depreciate report (also known as a ‘reserve fund study’) documents the common property assets and their condition and then projects major repairs or renewals over a 30-year timeframe. From these projections, sample cash-flow forecasts are prepared to aid the Strata in understanding how they might either save for these future projections or understand what future special levies might be needed. Our team integrates the same pragmatic, practical approach to depreciation report preparation as we do with all our design and consulting services.
The province of BC is at the leading edge of improving energy-efficiency performance and addressing the challenges of climate change. A significant step in this direction was the implementation of the Energy Step Code into building code regulations.
To ensure we are prepared to meet these climate change challenges, we have partnered with one of the top energy performance professionals, Farshid Bagheri. With the combination of experienced and pragmatic moisture management design and leading edge, energy-engineering insights, our team can provide the total array of energy-efficiency engineering and consulting services for any project. This includes both design and commissioning services – verifying that the installed systems meet design requirements.
To address the significant moisture-management problems in the lower coastal climate region of British Columbia, a strong base of knowledge and technology was established. As BCBS was one of the leading firms during this time, our knowledge was sought out all along the west coast. This includes projects in Washington State and California dating back to the early 2000s.
This area of service has expanded to multiple new construction tower projects and wood-frame apartment building envelope renovations, now led by one of our senior engineers, Sam LaRoche.
As part of our continued efforts to support our growing client needs, a recent expansion of our team is to establish an office on Vancouver Island. This new, exciting expansion will be led by one of our senior engineers, Matthew Dudzinski – who is experienced and skilled in both structural and building enclosure design – making him an ideal candidate for both new construction and existing building clients.
As a PE in Washington State, Matt is also responsible for all design services on our existing building renovation portfolio to our Washington State clients.
Bryan Stewart was amazing and here right until the end of the project, very happy with his hard work and commitment. Definitely recommend!!
Just met Sam. We were so confused about how to work on our project and he got it sorted. Thanks so much Sam
The Daventry Strata Council’s was extremely satisfied with BCBS and their management team overseeing the reroofing program of our townhouse project in South Surrey. Jordana Collison managed the overall process from beginning to end in a very professional, responsive and friendly manner. Her guidance to our Strata Council and to our owners was extremely well carried out. BCBS provided realistic budgeting cost estimates based on recommendations of a variety of material options. Jordana made presentations of these options and cost estimates to our owners prior to the tendering.
BCBS defined clearly scopes of works as a part of the tendering process. This tendering process met all expectations. BCBS awarded the contract, reviewed all draw requests provided reliable inspections during the construction phase in a very professional manner.
We would also like to thank Andrew Creighton and Steve Krampl for providing reliable progress and quality inspections reports including follow up inspections to ensure that all previously noted items were completed properly.
Daventry is a 36 unit townhouse project with 12 buildings of various configurations. We converted from old cedar shingles that needed to be replaced to new laminated asphalt shingles.
Well done BCBS. Your company and team members did an excellent job.
Much appreciated by all at Daventry
The team at BC Building Science did an excellent job helping our strata council plan and execute our property improvement project.
They provide valued driven proposition and design consideration to their clients and work as a team with the contractors and client in order to meet the project objectives.
As a senior site superintendent at Quantum Montrose, we are receiving professional building envelope consulting from Ali of BC Building Science.
We had a total rainscreening process that BCBS did for our complex. We had Bryan who was the project manager, and we couldn’t of asked for a better man to do the job. He seemed to balance both the council and owners with patience and professionalism. He worked hard to make things go smoothly as possible during our year process of getting our complex complete in a timely manner. If you have Bryan for any project that you have coming up, you will be very fortunate. It was a pleasure working with him.
Brooks is a very attentive, respectful professional who excels at his job. He is highly recommended.
I’ve worked with this company for years and they are exceptional. They work with their clients to find the systems and solutions that will make the projects successful and stand the test of time.
Ali was a pleasure to deal with throughout my project. He professionally and patiently explained all the reasons for the deficiencies he pointed out and possible future issues that could arise if proper steps were not taken to rectify each deficiency. He suggested alternate solutions for issues that arose due to site conditions and changed to the project that were easily followed and that wouldn’t break the budget.
Ali went out of his way to be available for the rigid construction schedule and even came for reviews while in his own time, after working hours to accommodate. I look forward to working with BCBS again in the future and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to use their services.
Our building envelope remediation project was well managed by BC Building Science and we came in under budget!
BCBS worked well with our Strata Council, the Contractor and the Owners, attending meetings, providing frequent written reports. BCBS was responsive to our requests and concerns from start to finish.
Andrew and Sade were available throughout the process to answer questions and concerns from Council. They provided invaluable help with Owner questions and queries. Sade provide regular written status reports to help keep the Ownership informed. BCBS did a good job of managing the Owner concerns and expectations, attending all Owner meetings they were asked to attend and were patient and professional, engaging well with the Owners on every occasion.
I enjoyed working with both Andrew and Sade and I would highly recommend BCBS.
Thank you to the entire BCBS team! Andrew you and the team followed us all the way from pre-construction and design all the way through to the completion of the project. Your team was always professional, attentive to every detail, not only ensuring all the details were executed but also were attentive to our budget. Our building went from being the ugliest on the block to the nicest. Andrew, you were great to deal with, always calm and cool and collected. Thanks for going the extra mile for all our extras and the Legacy Doors! (Best decision ever!) All the work you did is appreciated during what was a very stressful experience . I can’t say enough about how grateful we are to have had you oversee the project. WE LOVE OUR BUILDING! Thank you!
I always enjoy working with Andrew on any project, the minutes and reports are very professional and keep Owners involved throughout the project.
BCBS and Ali our site consultant were professional and easy to work with.
BCBS provided the utmost conscientious service when dealing with my condo leak. This translated into the start of the end to my two-year ordeal. Thanks guys!
With the completion of the project 2 year warranty review, Strata would like to thank the BC Building Science team for being an integral part of this successful project. Effective planning and professionalism was evident throughout the project, from building the scope of work and design concept, issuing and supervising the tender bidding process, managing the construction phase, providing the envelope condition review, and assisting with the warranty review.
Your skills in communicating and meeting with Strata Council, the project committee, and with owners at information and special general meetings were particularly valued.
In particular, Ms. Jordana Collison, our Project Manager with BCBS, gave the project her greatest effort and made us feel that our best interests were being looked after. The building renovation has added a great deal of value to our owners and I believe we can all look forward to many years of enjoyment of our recently renovated homes.
I am on Strata Council of our building which is nearing completion of a complete outer renovation and upgrade. We chose BCBS for our Consulting Engineers and were assigned Jordana Collison as Project Manager. From the outset, we immediately felt comfortable working with her and recognized her professionalism and desire to provide us with a positive outcome. Her patience in working with Council during the planning phase was very much appreciated, given the diverse opinions and suggestions emanating from members. Jordana had a vision of how our building could ultimately show off its potential and was instrumental in giving us the tools to be able to come up with an amazing, modern design.
An important aspect of a project such as this is trying to stick to budget and Jordana had managed to keep us within our projected costs even though a number of upgrades and unforeseen issues came up. Jordana has an exceptional passion for detail. This was very important given the complexity of design and materials included in the project.
I had the pleasure of being directly involved as a liaison between the Contractor, Jordana, Council and Owners and saw how professionally she was able to delicately manage a balance of steadfastness and resolve while trying to keep everyone pleased with the outcome. I would personally recommend her services on any project she may manage given her professional manner and easy rapport.
Our Strata’s experience with BCBS in managing our deck replacements has been outstanding in all aspects. All of the staff have been very professional, kind, conscientious, thorough and very easy to work with. Their services are 5 star and I would definitely recommend them to others.
We have worked with BC Building Science since 2002 on several projects. We have found their engineers and technicians to always be available and helpful with very fast turn around time. They have understand each project and circumstance and worked with us to find the best solution. They are reliable and have competitive pricing. We look forward to working with them on future projects and confidently recommend them for Envelope Consulting.
I am writing to express my complete satisfaction and appreciation with the work Steve has done for us on our roofing program this year. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Steve and BCBS.
Hopefully, we’ll have more funds in 2017 to complete further roofing on our buildings.
Merry Christmas
Regular updates and minutes of site visits and meetings were provided and were thorough in order to keep the council as up to date as possible. Status updates were also provided to all owners which in the end became very important as the Contractor had some scheduling issues with completing some aspects of the work.
In particular, Mr. Steve Krampl was our dedicated Project Consultant and we felt he gave the project his greatest effort and made the council very comfortable that their interests were being looked after – despite some challenging moments during portions of the project.
Along with Andrew Creighton, our Project Manager with BCBS, we found the entire consulting team at BCBS were very professional and courteous and we would not hesitate in referring them to others.
All phases of the project were professionally handled and well presented, from the initial presentations through progress reporting and the closing documentation. The maintenance manual provided gives excellent direction and will be of great value to future councils. Additionally, the project over site was exemplary with ‘hands on’ involvement being key as issues were dealt with as they arose.
Your firm’s guidance throughout the process was of great service as it provided much needed expertise,
particularly in dealing with some of the peculiarities of the project.
I was impressed with the level of communication provided by BCBS during the project, and appreciated the fine efforts and commitment of our Project Manager, Andrew Creighton. I would be pleased to refer BCBS to others interested in attaining their services.
BC Building Science provided excellent service for our strata, from the initial meeting with Andrew Creighton and Jordana Collison to discuss their proposal for services, to the final wrap party with the strata members, BCBS and construction crew.
Andrew and Jordana were always accessible and responsive to our questions, and I met regularly with Jordana and the construction manager throughout the renovation for project updates. BCBS regularly provided comprehensive documentation which was shared with all strata members, including meeting minutes, field reports, progress reports and budget updates. The on-site inspections conducted by Jordana and the BCBS structural engineer were thorough, and any deficits in the work were immediately identified and brought to the attention of the construction manager for remediation.
Overall the project went smoothly and completed on schedule. We are very pleased with the outcome of the project as well as the professional services rendered by BCBS, and would highly recommend the company and its team to the others.
In addition to their professionalism, we really appreciated their expertise in this area. They prepared all of the required details and specifications for a contractor bid to occur and helped us through the bidding process as well as setting up the legal contracts with the contractor who won.
Throughout the renovation construction, BC Building Science was there to stay on top of the contractor ensuring the contract specs and details were being followed. They provided lots of documentation throughout the process, as well as close out and maintenance documentation that we can use for future reference.
I found the entire consulting team at BCBS to be very professional and courteous, and would not hesitate to refer them to others. The building renovation has added a great deal of value to owners, and I believe we can all look forward to many years of enjoyment of our recently renovated homes.
Knowledgeable, organized, helpful and friendly personnel. We’re very happy with how our building renovation turned out, would definitely recommend this company to oversee building envelope projects.
I must say I couldn’t have been more pleased at the whole process from beginning to end – including the Summary that you prepared. I am familiar with closing letters having to prepare letters of representation at the end of an accounting engagement, and it means more to me to see such a thoroughly prepared summary letter. Your “presence” at meetings and in response to enquiries was solid, thorough, and professional in every respect.
BC Building Science team members belong to and support a variety of professional and industry associations