The Ontario Building Code (OBC) sets legal requirements for windows and doors Brampton to ensure structural integrity, safety, energy efficiency, and functionality in homes. Homeowners planning window and door projects must understand critical code rules regarding minimum sizes, emergency egress, glazing, and energy ratings.
While the OBC allows flexibility in materials and designs, failing to adhere can jeopardize safety, resulting in orders to redo non-compliant installations. Review codes early when planning projects. Let’s examine critical OBC stipulations for compliance in installing windows and doors Brampton.
- Minimum Window And Door Sizes
The OBC dictates minimum allowable sizes for windows and doors Brampton to ensure sufficient light and emergency egress from a dwelling. Bedrooms must have at least one window with an unobstructed glass area.
Other habitable rooms require a window with no less than 0.28 m2 of unobstructed glass. Depending on components, doors designated as egress points must open fully and provide minimum dimensions ranging from 1.8-2 m high by 550-910 mm wide.
- Safety Glazing Requirements
The code mandates that glass in hazardous locations like doors, sidelights, windows close to doors, and large panes be safety glazed to reduce injury risks if shattered. Approved glazing includes laminated, tempered, and wired types that resist breaking into sharp shards.
- Emergency Egress
Sleeping areas must have at least one window for emergency egress that provides an unobstructed opening clearance of 0.35 m2 (3.77 ft2) with no dimension less than 380 mm (15 inches). This allows passage for rescue and escape.
Egress window openings must remain free of security bars and other obstructions unless they have approved quick-release mechanisms. Below-grade egress windows must include a suitably sized window well for escape.
- Energy Efficiency And Windows
The OBC sets energy efficiency standards for fenestration to reduce heat loss and gain. It references Energy Ratings determined by the Canadian Standards Association and Window Wise energy rating program. Minimum double glazing is mandated.
New homes and additions generally require Energy Rating compliant windows with an ER rating of 29 or better. Triple glazing, Low-E coatings, inert gas fills, and warm edge spacers are common ways manufacturers achieve compliant efficiency levels.
- Energy Efficiency And Doors
Insulated doors with sufficient RSI (R-value) levels must separate heated and unheated spaces. Steel doors require minimum foam insulation values of RSI 0.7 (R-4.0). Other doors between heated and unheated areas, like garage access doors, must have minimum RSI 1 (R-5.6) insulation.
Insulated fiberglass, vinyl, composite, and polyurethane foam core doors with weatherstripping meet the code for energy efficiency. They restrict heat flow between interior conditioned and unconditioned spaces.
All new windows installed during window replacement Brampton must meet the mandated efficiency ratings.
- Structural Requirements
The OBC mandates exterior windows and doors Brampton resist wind loads without failure or water infiltration issues. They must withstand positive and negative design wind pressures for the specific area’s wind speed and exposure zone as defined by the code. Structural testing and certified performance ratings provide proof of adequacy.
Anchorage of the framework into surrounding construction must provide strength to resist wind forces. Performance grades integrate allowable deflection with the wind load resistance. Windows and doors must also manage rain penetration, driving winds to the cheerful design pressure.
- Flame Spread Limits
Combustible windows and door components incorporated into wall assemblies that require fire resistance must demonstrate flame spread and smoke development ratings below-regulated maximums. The specific class rating required depends on the type of building and occupancy.
Flame spread ratings dictate the distance and speed of flame propagation across a material’s surface. The smoke development class indicates the potential density of smoke generated. Both must fall within acceptable parameters for fire safety and safe egress when part of the fire-rated wall, floor, or roof assemblies.
- Sealants, Caulking, Weatherstripping
The building code mandates properly sealed exterior windows and doors to limit air leakage for energy efficiency. Contact between frames and surrounding construction must be caulked, gasketed, weather-stripped, or otherwise sealed.
Seals must be continuous without gaps or cracks that allow air infiltration. Approved sealants and caulking must withstand expansion, contraction, vibration, and other building movements without compromising the air barrier integrity. Only durable, flexible, waterproof materials may be used.