Twelve real questions. Check our answers against your own compendium.

A property owner erects a detached garden shed with walls, a roof and a floor that occupies 9 m2 of area. The shed contains no plumbing of any kind and is not a structure designated in the building code. Under the definition of "building" in the Building Code Act, 1992, is the shed a "building"?

1. Yes. Any structure consisting of a wall, a roof and a floor is a building, whatever area it occupies.
2. No. A structure occupying 10 m2 or less is a building only if it contains plumbing or is designated in the building code.
3. Yes. All detached accessory structures are designated in the building code, so the shed is a building regardless of its size.
4. No. Sheds are a class of structure that the Act exempts in all cases, whatever their area or plumbing.

While designing a building, a designer discovers that a standard referenced in Division B specifies a requirement that conflicts with a sentence of the Building Code itself. Under Division A, Article 1.5.1.2., how is the conflict resolved?

1. The referenced standard governs because it is the more technically specific document.
2. The provision of the Code governs over the provision of the referenced document.
3. The more restrictive of the two provisions governs.
4. Neither applies until the Building Code Commission rules on the conflict.

A complete permit application meeting all the requirements of Div. C, 1.3.1.3.(5) is submitted for a new two-storey single-detached house with no dwelling unit located above another. Within what period must the chief building official either issue the permit or refuse it with written reasons?

1. 10 days
2. 15 days
3. 20 days
4. 30 days

During the open-book exam you turn to the prescribed Stop Work Order form in Compendium Volume 2, issued pursuant to subsection 14(1) of the Act. Which prior orders does the form list as the unrectified contraventions on which the stop work order is based?

1. An Order Requiring Tests and Samples and an Emergency Order
2. An Order to Comply under s. 15.10.1(2) of the Act only
3. An Order to Comply, an Order Not to Cover, and an Order to Uncover
4. An Unsafe Building Order and a Property Standards Order

A chief building official issued an emergency order and immediately hired contractors to shore up a collapsing wall, spending $80,000. The order and the statement of measures and costs have now been served. What does the Act require next, and who decides whether the money is recoverable?

1. The municipality may immediately register a lien on the land for the full amount that was spent, so that no further proceeding of any kind is needed.
2. The CBO must apply to the Building Code Commission, which decides both the validity of the emergency order and how much of the money spent is recoverable.
3. The CBO must apply to the Superior Court of Justice to confirm the order, and the court decides whether the amount spent is recoverable in whole, in part or not at all; that disposition is final.
4. Municipal council must ratify the expenditure by resolution at a public meeting, and only after that may the municipality try to recover the money.

A development corporation with no prior convictions under the Building Code Act, 1992 is convicted of constructing without a permit. What is the maximum fine the court may impose on the corporation?

1. $500,000
2. $100,000
3. $1,500,000
4. $50,000

Subsection 2.1.4. of Division B of the 2024 Building Code sorts every farm building by its major occupancy. Into the Divisions of which Group does it sort them?

1. Group A
2. Group G
3. Group E
4. Group F

Reviewing a house design that includes a spiral stair, a plans examiner's 2012-era checklist points to Article 9.8.4.5A. Which article of the 2024 Code now contains the spiral stair requirements?

1. 9.8.4.7.
2. 9.8.4.5.
3. 9.8.4.6.
4. 9.8.4.10.

Recalling common practice under the 2012 Code, a designer proposes open risers for a feature stair in the public area of a new two-storey Part 9 office building. How does the 2024 Code treat this proposal?

1. It is prohibited: a new article bans open risers except in listed cases such as stairs that serve just one dwelling unit or a house containing a secondary suite, fire escapes, maintenance and service-room stairs, and certain industrial stairs
2. It is acceptable, since open risers remain unrestricted in all Part 9 buildings, the 2024 Code having carried the 2012 treatment of riser openings forward without adding a limit
3. It is acceptable provided each open riser is detailed so the opening will not pass a 100 mm sphere, which is the dimensional limit the Code sets for openings through a guard
4. It is acceptable provided the stair is not part of a required exit, because the ban on open risers is written for stairs serving as exit facilities rather than for stairs generally

A designer is legalizing a secondary suite in an existing two-storey house and does not want to rebuild the separating walls and floor assembly to achieve a fire-resistance rating. Under the 2024 Code, the walls and floor-ceiling framing between the two dwelling units may instead be protected by which of the following?

1. A continuous smoke-tight barrier of at least 15.9 mm Type X gypsum board on both sides of the walls and on the underside of the floor-ceiling framing
2. A single layer of 12.7 mm regular gypsum board applied to the secondary-suite side of the walls only, with the floor-ceiling framing left unprotected
3. A continuous 6 mil polyethylene air barrier sealed at all joints and penetrations on both sides of the walls and on the underside of the floor-ceiling framing
4. A continuous smoke-tight barrier of 12.7 mm Type X gypsum board on one side of the walls and on the top surface of the floor sheathing

The side wall of a detached house has a limiting distance of 2.5 m to the property line. Without using the glazed-opening table or the Part 3 method, what is the maximum aggregate area of glazed openings the designer can justify for that exposing building face?

1. 2.5 m²
2. 5.0 m²
3. 6.25 m²
4. Unlimited, because the limiting distance exceeds 1.2 m

In a three-storey wood-frame house, the exterior studs of the bottom storey carry the roof plus two floors. Using 38 mm x 89 mm studs, what is the maximum stud spacing permitted by the 2024 stud table?

1. 300 mm o.c.
2. 305 mm o.c.
3. 400 mm o.c.
4. 406 mm o.c.