b'FIRE RATINGSROOFS AND WILDFIRES face it: ultimately, a Class A roof mate-At of the time of writing this article,rial will likely not save a building exposed both the NBC and the BCBC do notto a raging wildfire, but it might. It also explicitly address or prescribe measuresdoes not mean that there is no preventa-specifically related to roofing materialstive measure already in place. topreventdamagecausedbywildfire.The B.C. Wildfire Service has devel-Withsignificantwildfireeventsoccur- oped a risk class framework for wildfire ringinBritishColumbiaoverthelastprotection due to their location in the fewyears(e.g.,Lytton(2021),WestWUI risk class maps. This map catalogues Kelowna(2023),Shuswap(2023)andtherisklevelofwildfirewithrespect many others), the luxury of waiting forto impact on communities throughout the building codes to address this issueBritish Columbia. Areas of high risk are might not be the rational approach. Letssimplyidentifiedwiththistool.Many oftheAHJswithintheseregionsof high risk are already mandating specific roofing materials with Class A ratings. To the authors knowledge, and based Roof Consultingon the research conducted, the Province ofBritishColumbiadoesnotplanto use the WUI map for the building code. We are not suggesting they do or dont, but we found the WUI maps to be an interestingresourceworthsharingfor those unfamiliar.Apart from the obvious need to meet the minimum requirements stated in the building code, higher-classification roof materials help slow the speed at which a fire will burn through a roof material (shingleormembrane).Theremaybe a tendency for designers to select fire-rated roofing materials in the hopes that this will prevent the home from burning downinawildfireevent.Afire-rated membraneorshinglewillhelpslow theburn.Wesupportimprovingon the material selection of roofing mate-rialswhenitmakessense,especially with a view of life safety. We can also collectively do better to steer our clients toconsiderthedesignoftheirroof assembly as well as the use of non-com- Roof Condition Assessments & Surveys bustibleroofingmaterials,likemetal,Roof System Design & Contract Management whereable.Thatsaid,evenahomeGreen Roof Design with a metal roof can burn down in aWarranty & Maintenance Review wildfirewhereotherbuildingcompo- Infrared Thermography Roof Access & Fall Protection - Design & Testing nents catch fire, or if embers enter viaRoof Asset Management & Capital Planning the soffit into the attic and bypass theRCABC Approved Observers roof covering. (That is a whole different article,withdifferentstandardsand code requirements.)Creative Thinking Practical Results Thetypeofroof(waterproofing rooforwater-sheddingroofsystems) Vancouver & Surrey 604-738-0048 Victoria 250-386-7794rjc.ca alsoaffectstheabilityoftheroofto Nanaimo 250-716-1550Kelowna 778-738-1700 havenon-combustiblematerialslike metal.Youwonthaveanarchitec-22 lROOFINGBClSUMMER 2025'