Check a value with Codes

You work for [your company name], a construction company in [city, province], with the TektonAI tools connected to this conversation.

What the TektonAI tools do:
- Scaffold prepares 3D scaffold plans from the dimensions of the structure, or from the architect's IFC model or PDF drawing: dimensioned A3 PDF plan, calculation note, bill of materials in Excel and CSV, 3D model (STEP) and CAD plan (DXF). It revises an existing plan from its drawing number.
- My Equipment is our company's parts library: references, dimensions and weights. It imports our parts list.
- Scaffold plans use the parts of our library in My Equipment when we ask.
- Fencing draws the site fence plan from the perimeter, or around a Scaffold scaffold along a street, with the public walkway: PDF plan, bill of materials in Excel and CSV, and the site's wind per NBC 2020.
- Parts & Materials keeps the catalogue of common building materials (drywall, lumber, insulation, hardware…) with our own items, and produces PDF and Excel catalogues from it. When I ask for a family, give only that family; accessories only when I ask for them.
- Codes gives the exact text of Québec and Canadian construction codes and regulations (NBC, Construction Code, CSTC, LSST…), with its edition and citation.

How to work with me:
- Answer in English, in plain words and site terms. Produce documents (plans, calculation notes, catalogues) in English.
- Use the TektonAI tools for every plan, quantity or weight. Never make up a dimension, a quantity or a weight.
- Produce the plan directly, without asking me to approve it: we correct it later with a revision if needed. If a piece of data is missing, let the tool ask me its questions in its form; do not ask them yourself.
- When a tool asks me a question through a form, let me answer it myself. Never choose the duty class (light, intermediate or heavy) for me.
- Leave plans at the “PRELIMINARY” status until I give you the names of the person who checked the plan and the person who approved it.
- For an import into My Equipment, show me the preview, then import the list and give me the summary.
- Remind me that plans are preliminary: a competent person must check them before erection.

You have a value on site and want to know whether it meets the rule. Codes looks for the articles that apply, reads the requirement and compares your value. It gives a verdict only when the article sets a numeric value.

Julie Exemple, of Entreprise Démo TektonAI, checks two dimensions of a scaffold.

What you need

• The value, with its unit.
• What it measures: for example the width of a platform or the height of a guardrail.

Step 1: check the width of a platform

Is a 450 mm wide scaffold platform compliant on a site in Québec?

Codes answers:

Comparison: scaffold platform width = 450 mm. Quantity read: dimension “width”, element “scaffold platform”.

Applicable articles, from most to least relevant:

1. Safety Code · 3.9.8. Platforms Introduction: “Platforms: The components of the platforms shall be laid in such a way as to prevent any toppling or sliding. In addition, scaffolding platforms shall:” Excerpt, item 2): “have a minimum free width of 470 mm;” Requirement read: minimum 470 mm Verdict: not compliant. Gap: 20 mm below the minimum of 470 mm.

Julie’s platform is 20 mm too narrow. The answer quotes the item it compared, with its text: Julie can check it herself. The Safety Code is the Safety Code for the construction industry (CSTC).

It worked when: The answer gives the article, the requirement read and the gap.

Step 2: check the height of a guardrail

Is a 1 m high guardrail compliant for a scaffold in Québec?

Codes answers:

Comparison: guardrail height = 1000 mm. Quantity read: dimension “height”, element “guardrail”.

Applicable articles, from most to least relevant:

1. Safety Code · 3.8.3. Construction Excerpt, item 1): “Any guardrail shall be between 1 m and 1.2 m above the surface on which the worker is working.” Requirement read: minimum 1 m (1000 mm), maximum 1.2 m (1200 mm) Verdict: compliant. Gap: none, the value equals the minimum of 1 m (1000 mm) ; 200 mm below the maximum of 1.2 m (1200 mm).

Articles read that deal with this quantity without a numeric requirement: Safety Code 2.7.2, Safety Code 3.2.4, Safety Code 2.15.12.

Other sections, to read depending on the use (other element or other work, no verdict):

1. Safety Code · 2.15.18. Mast-climbing transport platform Excerpt, item 1)b): “be enclosed by a fixed guardrail at least 1.06 m high consisting of full-length wire mesh that can block a 25 mm ball;” Requirement read: minimum 1.06 m (1060 mm)

The 1 m guardrail is compliant, but only just: it is at the minimum. Codes keeps two things apart:

• the verdict, on the article that covers a scaffold guardrail;
• the other sections, which cover another kind of work. Here, the mast-climbing transport platform requires 1.06 m. Codes gives no verdict on these sections: read them if your work is of that kind.

It worked when: The answer keeps the verdict apart from the other sections, to read depending on the use.

What the verdict does not say

Each answer ends with these lines:

Each verdict compares the value to the requirement of the cited item, as written. The item’s condition of application (use, fall height, type of work) is in the excerpt and is not assessed.

[…] Codes compares a value to a text; a project’s compliance is for a competent person to establish.

So read the condition of application in the excerpt: it is up to you to say whether the item covers your work.

Good to know

• Codes gives a verdict only when the article sets a numeric value.
• To read an article in full, ask your assistant for it. See Codes · Norme: find a code article and cite it.