Is Your Heating & Cooling System Up to Code?
Deciding to upgrade your home is not as simple as picking a color scheme and finding a good contractor. Every time you modify your home, you must ensure your renovations are compliant with local building codes. These are regulations that govern the installations around your home. For example, if you were installing a furnace replacement.
Code legislature, however, can exceed 1,000 pages and is frequently updated, so even if your home installations were code-compliant a few years ago, they might not be now. You can contact your local furnace repair specialists to survey your home and inform you of any necessary changes.
For a general understanding, read on to discover more about building codes and what to do when you are out of compliance.
What Is a Building Code?
If you decide to make structural changes to your home, you must follow the laws governing what you legally are and aren’t able to do. Although it can be frustrating to have to ask permission to work on your own home, codes are there primarily to protect the safety of a home’s occupants.
Building codes vary by area, but most stem from models, like the International Residential Code or the Uniform Mechanical Code.
Is My Heating and Cooling System Up to Code?
Your HVAC system is an integral part of your home, however, furnace replacement is an intricate process that is subject to lots of code provisions. Most localities’ codes governing furnace replacement come from the Uniform Mechanical Code, which is updated every three years by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.
If you aren’t a qualified furnace repair technician, you should never try to install a furnace replacement on your own. You may unknowingly break the law by violating local codes. It’s also dangerous since you are working with harmful chemicals and combustible fuels.
Get in touch with a Kingston-based furnace repair service to install your new system safely, and in compliance with the current building legislature.
What Happens If I’m Out of Compliance?
If you live in an older home, there are probably a few areas where it violates the current code requirements. Pre-existing homes are grandfathered, meaning you don’t have to update your heating and cooling system to comply with the code while you’re living there.
However, if you plan on selling your house, or completing a project that requires a city permit, your home must comply with current code requirements. In addition, some insurers may decline home insurance for older heating and cooling systems.
Contact us to update your building to code or install a new furnace!
For furnace replacements and repairs guaranteed to comply with local codes, you can rely on the Toshack team. Toshack services the Brockville and Kingston areas and has excellent knowledge of local building codes to keep your home in compliance.
Contact us today to receive your quote.