New Construction.
Article 9.36.1.3 gives three routes to compliance: the prescriptive path, the performance path, or the NECB. Which one a build takes changes what has to be measured and what merely has to be built.
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The cheapest air barrier in a house is the one detailed before the drywall goes up. Everything after that is access, and access is what makes retrofit air sealing expensive.
Alberta adopted Tier 1 only, and no municipality or accredited agency may require a higher tier — the tier position and every Zone 7A assembly figure are set out with the regulation behind them.
What Compliance Actually Requires Here.
Alberta's position is more specific than most people building here realise, and in two places it is more generous than the national code.
- Three compliance paths under Sentence 9.36.1.3.(1): the prescriptive and trade-off route in Subsections 9.36.2 to 9.36.4, the performance route in 9.36.5, or the NECB.
- Alberta is Tier 1 only. Under AR 5/2024 an accredited agency, municipality or regional services commission shall not require a tier above Tier 1, and STANDATA 23-BCB-001 confirms the higher tiers presented in the code are not enforceable under the Safety Codes Act.
- The Zone 7A prescriptive targets: ceilings below attics effective RSI 10.43 (R-59.2) or RSI 8.67 (R-49.2) with an HRV, walls RSI 3.08 (R-17.5) or 2.97 (R-16.9), cathedral ceilings and flat roofs RSI 5.02 (R-28.5), floors over unheated space RSI 5.02, foundation walls RSI 3.46 (R-19.7).
- Alberta's single 2.5 ACH50 default in Sentence 9.36.5.10.(9), replacing the national two-level system, where the air barrier system is built per Subsection 9.25.3 and Articles 9.36.2.9 and 9.36.2.10.
- Trade-off limits under Sentence 9.36.2.11.(6): a traded assembly must retain at least 55 percent of the required effective resistance for walls and joist-type roofs, and at least 60 percent for other opaque assemblies.
- Air barrier continuity designed rather than discovered — across construction, control and expansion joints, across junctions between different materials and assemblies, and around every penetration, per Sentence 9.36.2.9.(2).
- Alberta's amended window requirements under Article 9.36.2.7, which are slightly relaxed against the national code, and the equipment references in Article 9.36.3.10 updated to HSPF2, SEER2 and UEF.
- The mid-construction diagnostic option: a multi-point depressurisation test to CAN/CGSB-149.10-2019 with the walls still open, when leaks are still cheap to reach.
Where Insulation Fits in the Schedule.
- 01
Choose the compliance path at design
Prescriptive is simplest and needs no modelling. Performance allows trade-offs but brings HOT2000 modelling and a reference house into the process. The choice affects what the envelope has to deliver, not just how it is documented.
- 02
Detail continuity on the drawings
Where the air barrier crosses from wall to roof, wall to foundation, and around every service penetration. Sentence 9.36.2.9.(2) requires continuity at exactly those junctions, and they are the ones nobody owns on site unless a drawing says so.
- 03
Spray before the walls close
Substrate conditions are controllable inside a framed and sheeted building with temporary heat, and the geometry is still reachable. Both stop being true after drywall.
- 04
Test if you want the number
A test is not required. It is worth doing when the builder wants to claim a better-than-default tested value in a model, or wants a code-defined Airtightness Level to hand the buyer.
Frequently Asked Questions About New Construction Insulation
Is a blower door test mandatory in Alberta?
No, and it is worth being precise about why. The prescriptive path requires no test at all. On the performance path, Alberta's amended Sentence 9.36.5.10.(9) lets the modeller assume 2.5 air changes per hour at 50 Pa, at a pressure exponent of 0.67, provided the air barrier system is built in accordance with Subsection 9.25.3 and Articles 9.36.2.9 and 9.36.2.10 — no test needed. A test is required only if the builder chooses to claim a better tested value in the model, or voluntarily pursues an Airtightness Level. That makes a measured result a genuine differentiator rather than a box to tick.Can a municipality in Alberta require Tier 2 or higher?
No. Alberta Regulation 5/2024 states that an accredited agency, municipality or regional services commission shall not require a tier above Tier 1, for both Section 9.36 and the NECB. STANDATA 23-BCB-001 puts it the same way: while the higher levels of the tier code are presented, they are not enforceable under the Safety Codes Act. A builder being asked for more than Tier 1 by a local authority has a regulation to point at.What airtightness should a new house here actually achieve?
The Alberta modelling default is 2.5 ACH50, against the national code's 3.2 for generic Section 9.25 construction. For context on what better looks like, the code's own Airtightness Levels run from AL-1A at 2.5 down to AL-5A at 0.6; R-2000 requires 1.5; CHBA Net Zero requires 1.5 for a detached house and 2.0 attached; Passive House requires 0.6 tested both pressurised and depressurised. A Canadian study of roughly 170 000 EnerGuide records from the mid-2000s put the then-current construction average at 4.4. We have not found a published Alberta-only figure for the existing housing stock and will not invent one.Where does spray foam make the most difference on a new build?
In the places where a fibrous material cannot make the air barrier continuous: the rim joist band, cantilevers, complex roof geometry, below-grade walls, and any assembly where there is no cavity to fill. On a straightforward open wall or an open attic floor, other materials give better R-value per dollar, and a builder is better served hearing that at design stage than after the quote comes in. A hybrid — foam where continuity is the problem, fibre where volume is the problem — is a common and defensible specification.Should the insulation be tested or inspected during the build?
Spray foam is manufactured on site, which is why its application standard is part of the product standard. Article 9.25.2.5 of NBC(AE) 2023 requires spray-applied polyurethane insulation to be installed in accordance with CAN/ULC-S705.2, and that standard carries obligations for the manufacturer, the contractor and the installer, including environmental conditions, substrate requirements, daily testing of the installed product, and documentation. Asking for the daily work records at handover is a reasonable thing for a builder to do, and it costs nothing.