Putting the ‘portable’ in school portables

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/01/2016 (3566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

So you thought when one school no longer needed a portable, and another school had space issues, they just loaded the hut on a truck and moved it? If only it were that simple.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) has taken the first decisive action in his new role as city council liaison to school boards by sending out a package detailing the bureaucratic maze schools must navigate in order to move a portable (or more accurately, a high-quality relocatable).

It’s a three-page compilation of permits, inspections, building codes, rules and regulations.

Mayes said Friday he was inspired by the difficulty Louis Riel School Division had in his ward last summer moving a portable from Hastings School to âcole Howden.

“It was a complete gong show,” he said. “It was a textbook of frustration. It was the 2014-15 school year that it sat there soaking up space.”

Mayes said everyone blamed everyone else, including the city, school division and province. The city staff thought they were doing their job, but others felt “the city was erecting bureaucratic blockades,” he said.

City school divisions did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment.

Mayes asked city staff to pull together every hoop through which schools must jump through to shift a portable from one location to another.

“They were happy to pull it together and put the official stamp on it,” Mayes said. “(Before), they were dealing with it on a case-by-case basis.”

How complex does it get, given the word “portable” implies the huts are indeed portable?

Start with bylaw 4555/87, which defines the word “temporary” and talks about the conditions under which a one-year permit can be extended.

Consider this requirement, school officials, and dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’: “As portable classrooms are assembly buildings, both an architect and engineer(s) are required to assess the building being relocated for current code compliance in all aspects: life safety, health, barrier-free design, structural safety, mechanical performance and electrical compliance. A building-permit application with sealed and signed architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical sections and relevant drawings are required to relocate an existing building.”

And adhere to every edict herein: “The following elements require certification under a single seal or submitted separately under the seal of multiple design professionals registered in the province of Manitoba:

— All aspects of the original, as-built building construction, including the foundation plan and specifications for the location identified on the application;

— The superstructure plans and specifications at the proposed location (post-move);

— A site-specific geotechnical report specifying the limit states design requirements. Completed Required Professional Designers Certificates (RPDC’s) for each discipline;

— Certification letters for each discipline.”

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca