Reminder: Saskatchewan adopts 2020 National Codes January 1

The Government of Saskatchewan recently adopted the 2020 editions of the national construction codes – National Building Code of Canada (NBC), National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB), and the National Plumbing Code of Canada (NPC) – which were published by the National Research Council in March 2022.

The 2020 codes come into effect in Saskatchewan on January 1, 2024.

The 2020 codes, adopted by regulation under the province’s The Construction Codes Act, allow the construction industry, trades, architects, engineers, building officials, municipalities and other stakeholders time to review and plan before the busy summer construction season begins.

This date also allows the province to fulfill its commitment under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement to adopt national construction codes within 24 months of publication to support the harmonization and timely adoption of codes across Canada.

In November of last year the federal government announced a the new federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) governance model for building code development, replacing the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, the committee that was responsible for code development in Canada since 1991. The plan is to better harmonize development and implementation nationwide.

As a result of now adopting the 2020 national construction codes, Saskatchewan provincial amendments also go into effect January 1, 2024, including:

• Consolidating Saskatchewan’s four climate zones into a single climate zone to simplify requirements for the construction industry and individuals when applying energy-efficiency provisions under the NBC and NECB.
• Establishing energy efficiency tiers for the construction of buildings:
  • Under the NECB, Tier 1 will apply for larger buildings.
  • Under the NBC, Tier 2 will apply for smaller buildings, including houses.
  • Existing buildings constructed before January 1, 2019 are exempt from these energy efficiency provisions when being renovated.
• Clarifying requirements around carbon monoxide and smoke alarms to ensure a consistent approach to enforcement.
• Clarifying where backwater valves are required in buildings to prevent sewer backups.

Free copies of the provincial regulations will be available to download on January 1, 2024 at https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/freelaw.

Electronic copies of the 2020 national construction codes are available free of charge from Codes Canada at https://nrc.canada.ca/node/3307