Mr. Dennis Keeley:

One of the proactive initiatives the Department has engaged in is establishing a review group, of which we are members. As we see it, that group will allow for agility such that current topics, evolving strategies and evolving technologies in building construction can be assessed more quickly and guidance notes issued to accompany TGD B, as opposed to doing a complete review of the technical guidance. That is our assumption of how the process will work, but the Department needs to clarify that. A number of topics have been outlined for discussion. If they are not addressed within the new TGD B that will be published, we would see a need for a process to address them much more quickly.

Our view is that there should be a timeline of two to three years for additional guidance to be published. That is principally to guide the application of consistency across the country. It can be quite challenging for individual fire officers and fire authorities, as it can be for consultants, to interpret new and evolving technologies and how and where they sit within or interact with TGD B. We hope this initiative will allow for the agility the Senator referenced.