Certificate of Location

[Plumb-bob]

When a survey is required to locate a building relative to a property line, is the measurement based to the concrete foundation, or if ICF, to the foam?

Cheers

 

[Plumb-bob]

And I suppose this number could be different than the limiting distance of the exposing building face depending on the wall assembly. How are you guys and gals handling this?

 

[TheCommish]

Depends on the rules of the community. we measure to the face of the foundation, however habitable projections count to the set back (picture raised ranch with 2 foot overhang), except 3 feet for soffits, overhangs, cornices, chimney and stairs are exempt.

 

[tmurray]

It depends on the purpose of the survey. Zoning would change based on each individual by-law. There should be a description of where the measurement is taken from in the by-law. I would consider foam to be integral to the foundation in the case of ICF, so if it references the foundation, it would be the outside surface of the foam.

For limiting distance, it is the wall surface measured at a horizontal line to a vertical projection of the property line or imaginary line between two buildings. In this case you can have multiple limiting distances on one side of the building if you have fire compartments creating multiple exposing building faces, or if a house you can use multiple exposing building faces without fire separations.

In theory, these two measurements are almost always different as your exterior wall sheathing and siding project over the foundation.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

When calculating spatial separation, I always calculate to the surface of the cladding *if the measurement requires that kind of precision*.
Think I've done it once. IIRC, there were mere centimetres at play, with the potential requirement for non-combustible cladding under 9.10.15 being the critical outcome.

 

[Plumb-bob]

Thanks for the insights, it helps me in the decision making process.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

Thanks for the insights, it helps me in the decision making process.

In the words of the great philosopher, Red Green, "we're all in this together."