Natural Airflow Ventilators for Buildings

CSA Group
Standards Development Organisation:
Canadian Standards Association (operating as CSA Group)
Working Program:
View the CSA work program
Designation Number:
A93
Standard Type:
National Standard of Canada - Domestic
Standard Development Activity:
New Edition
Status:
Proceeding to development
SDO Comment Period Start Date:
SDO Comment Period End Date:
Posted On:

Scope:

Note: Scope updated August 28, 2018 as per a request from the responsible SDO. (NOI originally published to CNS on April 17, 2017)

This Standard gives minimum requirements for ventilators used in buildings which are designed to permit venting of unoccupied spaces to the exterior so as to minimize the unwanted accumulation of condensation, moisture, and heat gain in the building component or assembly.  These include:

a)            Natural airflow ventilators for buildings

b)            Mechanically operated ventilators or air turbine ventilators for buildings

This Standard includes the physical, performance, and marking requirements.  It also includes Appendices giving recommendations for installation of ventilators to ventilate buildings spaces, a guide for determining net ventilating area, recommended properties of exterior apertures of ducted forced-air ventilation systems, and the mitigation of ingress of fire embers in areas of high fire risk

Project need:

The third edition of standard CAN3-A93-M82 Natural airflow ventilators for buildings was published in 1982. Since that time, the content of the standard has remained unchanged and the standard was reaffirmed numerous times by the CSA Technical Committee on Ventilators for Buildings, most recently in 2003. In 2008, the CAN3-A93-M82 standard was withdrawn and it ceased to undergo regular maintenance and review by industry experts. As a result, some of the content of the CAN3-A93-M82 has become outdated and some of the provisions in the standard are no longer appropriate for modern products. Despite being withdrawn, CAN3-A93-M82 continues to be referenced in the NBCC 2015 edition, and is used heavily in the certification of building ventilation products. As the standard becomes increasingly outdated, it is becoming difficult for producers to meet the specified requirements, leading to certification delays. A new edition of the standard is required to bring it in line with current industry needs and ensure it reflects recent technological advances

Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.

Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.