Phil Schnetzer, CPI

Written by Phil Schnetzer, CPI

Certified Professional Inspector serving the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. 10+ years and 1,500+ inspections. ReHome Inspections.

Key Takeaways

  • Code✓Check is a free tool that lets anyone look up requirements in the National Building Code of Canada — no account, no PDF hunting, no code knowledge needed.
  • Nova Scotia adopts the National Building Code with its own province-specific amendments. Code✓Check applies those automatically, so the answer reflects what actually applies here in NS.
  • Codes covered: National Building Code (NBC), National Plumbing Code (NPC), National Energy Code (NEC), and National Fire Code (NFC) — all 2025 editions — plus the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) 2021.
  • Every answer includes the exact code section and the full verbatim regulatory text, so you can verify the answer yourself against the official document.
  • There is no other free, publicly available tool in Canada that combines national codes with provincial amendments in one plain-language lookup. This is the only one.

If you’ve ever tried to look something up in the National Building Code of Canada, you know what you’re dealing with. The 2025 NBC runs to well over a thousand pages of dense regulatory text, organized by clause numbers that only make sense if you already know where to look. The Plumbing Code, Energy Code, and Fire Code are entirely separate documents. And if you’re in Nova Scotia, you need to layer the province’s own amendments on top of all of that before the answer actually applies here.

Most people — homeowners, home buyers, contractors, and yes, even some inspectors — don’t work through all of that. They guess, they ask around, or they wait on hold with the municipality. I built Code✓Check to fix that.

The CodeCheck building code lookup tool main interface — search bar and example queries
The Code✓Check interface at rehomeinspections.com/codecheck/ — type any plain-language question and get an answer in seconds.

What Code✓Check does

Code✓Check is a free building code lookup tool. You type a question in plain English — “How high does a deck guardrail need to be?”, “What’s the minimum egress window opening size?”, “How close can an outbuilding be to the property line?”, “What’s the minimum stair riser height?” — and you get a clear, plain-language answer backed by the actual code text.

No PDF hunting. No clause-number guessing. No regulatory wall to decode.

The tool is built on all four major national codes in their 2025 editions: the National Building Code of Canada (NBC), the National Plumbing Code of Canada (NPC), the National Energy Code for Buildings (NEC), and the National Fire Code of Canada (NFC). The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) 2021 is also included. Whether your question is about stair construction, smoke alarm placement, attic insulation requirements, egress windows, chimney heights, or deck guardrail heights, the codes are all there and searchable in one place.

What makes it unique in Canada

I want to be direct about this: there is no other free, publicly available tool in Canada that does what Code✓Check does.

There are professional code consulting tools aimed at engineers and municipal plan reviewers, and there are general AI chatbots that will generate an answer without citing a source. Neither option helps a homeowner who wants to know whether a contractor’s proposed stair layout is legal before signing a quote.

Code✓Check fills that gap. It’s free, requires no registration, and gives you the actual code reference — not a paraphrase or a guess, but the verbatim regulatory text — alongside a plain-language explanation you can actually act on.

Free and open: Code✓Check runs at rehomeinspections.com/codecheck/ with no account, no paywall, and no catch. The AI server has a cost to run, so if the tool saves you time, there’s a “buy me a beer” tip link on the page — but the lookup is always free.

CodeCheck AI Summary section showing a plain-language answer to a building code question
The AI Summary section translates dense regulatory language into a clear, plain-English answer — so you know what the code actually means, not just what it says.

Nova Scotia Amendments: why they matter

Canada’s National Building Code sets a national baseline, but each province adopts it on its own terms — and the Nova Scotia Amendments to the National Building Code include province-specific changes that can alter certain requirements from the national standard. Energy efficiency provisions, fire safety requirements, and some structural requirements may differ from what the NBC states at the federal level.

This is a real problem with most code lookup approaches. If you look up a requirement using a general resource that only references the national code, you may get an answer that’s technically correct for Ontario or Alberta — but not for Nova Scotia. The NS Amendments exist precisely because the province has its own building priorities and regulatory context, and those differences matter when you’re getting a permit or checking whether construction meets code.

Code✓Check applies the Nova Scotia Amendments automatically. When NS requirements differ from the national baseline, the tool surfaces both — the national provision and the provincial amendment — so you get the answer that applies here, not just the answer that applies somewhere else in Canada.

CodeCheck Nova Scotia Amendments section showing province-specific code changes applied to a query result
When Nova Scotia’s amendments change the national requirement, Code✓Check flags it clearly — so you always know which rule applies in NS specifically.

How it works

Three steps, and the whole thing takes about 15 seconds:

  1. Type your question in plain English. No need to know which section of the Canada Building Code applies. “Minimum masonry chimney height above the roofline” or “smoke alarm requirements near bedrooms” works exactly as written. The tool figures out where to look.
  2. Get a plain-language AI summary. Code✓Check returns a clear explanation of what the code requires, including any relevant Nova Scotia Amendments. Imperial equivalents are included alongside all metric measurements — because most Nova Scotia trades still work in feet and inches, and the National Building Code of Canada is written entirely in metric.
  3. See the source. Every answer includes the document name, clause number, and the full verbatim text of the applicable code section. If you want to find that clause in the official published document yourself, you have everything you need to do that.
CodeCheck Code Reference section showing the verbatim text from the National Building Code of Canada with document name and clause number
The Code Reference section shows the exact clause from the National Building Code of Canada — document name, section number, and verbatim text — so you can verify the answer yourself.

What codes are covered

Code✓Check draws on all five major Canadian codes:

  • National Building Code of Canada (NBC) — 2025 edition with Nova Scotia Amendments applied. The NBC covers residential and commercial construction: structural requirements, fire safety, accessibility, stair dimensions, window sizes, foundation requirements, and much more.
  • National Plumbing Code of Canada (NPC) — 2025 edition. Drainage, venting, fixture requirements, water supply, and pipe specifications.
  • National Energy Code for Buildings (NEC) — 2025 edition. Insulation R-values, airtightness requirements, window energy performance, and building envelope standards for Nova Scotia’s climate zone.
  • National Fire Code of Canada (NFC) — 2025 edition. Fire protection systems, egress, occupancy requirements, and fire safety measures.
  • Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) — 2021 edition. Wiring methods, panel requirements, circuit protection, and electrical installation standards.

The tool is optimized for residential construction — the kinds of questions that come up around buying, selling, renovating, or inspecting a home in Nova Scotia. But it covers the full scope of the codes, including commercial and complex buildings, so it’s useful across a wide range of scenarios.

Who it’s built for

Code✓Check is aimed at people who need to understand Canada Building Code requirements but aren’t code professionals:

  • Homeowners planning a renovation, addition, or new construction who want to understand the rules before hiring a contractor — or verify that a contractor’s proposed work is code-compliant.
  • Home buyers who received an inspection report and want to understand whether a flagged item is a code issue, how significant it is, and what the code actually says about it.
  • Contractors and trades in Nova Scotia who want a fast, accurate reference without pulling out a codebook or calling the municipal office.
  • Real estate agents who want to give informed answers to client questions about building permits, legal non-conforming structures, or what a code requirement actually means in plain language.
  • Home inspectors who want a fast cross-reference during or after an inspection to confirm whether something meets the applicable National Building Code standard.

An important note on using it

Code✓Check is an informational reference tool, and I want to be clear about what it is and isn’t. The AI can make mistakes. Building codes are subject to local interpretation, and your municipality may have requirements that go beyond the provincial baseline. The NS Amendments covered are current as of NBC 2025 and may not reflect every subsequent local variation.

Use Code✓Check to get oriented — to understand what the code says and what section it’s in. For anything involving an actual permit application, a construction decision, or a legal or safety matter, verify with your local building department or a licensed professional. The tool gives you a solid, well-sourced starting point. A building official gives you the final word.

Try it now: rehomeinspections.com/codecheck/ — free, no sign-up. Type any question about the National Building Code of Canada or Nova Scotia Amendments and see what comes back. If you’re buying or renovating a home in the Annapolis Valley, it’s the fastest way to get a code answer grounded in the actual regulation.