The new 2024 Ontario Building Code is set to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2025 and will have big implications for Ontario builders.
The public review period for the NBC (National Building Code of Canada) just ended on July 29 and is set to be unveiled next year. This update will deliver a major green shift to the code with the inclusion of standards for operational greenhouse gas emissions and technical requirements for existing building stock.
Related, the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings, released in 2020, also outlines several means to achieve higher energy efficiency rates while minimizing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
However, individual provinces still need to modify their existing building codes to fall in line with national standards with the brand new 2024 Ontario Building Code being the first to make such modifications.
The 2024 Ontario Building Code
The 2024 Ontario Building Code is meant to streamline the construction process and to increase the harmonization with national construction codes. To this end, at least 1730 technical variations have been eliminated between the national and Ontario provincial requirements. This makes it much easier for Ontario builders to fall in line with both provincial and national housing codes.
The new 2024 Ontario Building Code is set to replace the older 2012 Ontario Building Code and the 1995 Farm Building Code, among other key documents. As announced by the National Research Council Canada, “The new model integrates the provinces and territories into the national process to better respond to code priorities from jurisdictions and harmonize construction codes across Canada”.
This new model will increase both the quality and safety of buildings, make it much easier to create new housing, and reduce the regulatory burdens within the construction industry.
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However, there are some areas of the National Building Code not being adopted by the Ontario Building Code, resulting in a harmonization rate of roughly 80 percent. There are some key areas that the new code leaves out or is lacking on, including details about certain septic systems, tornado resiliency, and energy efficiency. The National Building Code has a four-tiered energy format that provinces should adhere to.
Efficiency Canada has expressed concerns with this lack of coverage in terms of energy efficiency for new homes, particularly as it pertains to this four-tiered energy format.
Tier one is the baseline target, with tier four representing a 60 percent improvement in energy efficiency over tier one. Although it is estimated that Ontario is above the minimum tier, and roughly at tier three, there is a distinct lack of planning in terms of the forward direction.
The 2024 Ontario Building Code leaves a good deal of uncertainty about how the province will move forward in terms of adopting higher tiers of energy efficiency. This great uncertainty about where the province plans to move in terms of building codes for energy efficiency is problematic.
Customers of new homes therefore become more susceptible to future retrofit costs and higher energy costs that could be avoided if construction were properly managed through better initial building performance, something which the new Ontario Building Code fails to address.
A notable effect that the new Ontario Building Code is predicted to have is a rise in the cost of building greenhouses. The new code details that newly built greenhouses have to meet higher wind loading and snow loading requirements.
For anybody looking to build a greenhouse in Ontario, this means that your costs could soon rise. However, there is a bit of good news, which is that those who applied for new building permits soon may be able to avoid these higher costs thanks to regulations still having to adhere to the older building code.
OBC Applications and Deadlines
For anyone looking to start a new construction, all permit applications up to Dec. 31, 2024 will still be considered under the older Ontario building code. On that note, applications may continue to be submitted under the older building code until March 31, 2025, so long as the applicant can demonstrate that the working drawings are substantially finished by Dec. 31, 2024. After April 1, 2025, all new building applications must be filed under the new 2024 OBC.
