Radon Testing

meet with our professional experts

Radon is a radioactive gas that we cannot see, smell or taste. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Approximately 10% of homes in Canada have high levels of radon. Radon is a radioactive gas produced naturally when uranium breaks down in the bedrock, soil, and groundwater.
In every building structure, the air pressure inside is measurably lower than the air pressure in the ground soil outside. In a residential home, as air escapes, air and gas from the ground soil (including radon) seep into the interior. Radon gas can enter a building structure through all types of openings, concrete floor of the foundation, through cracks of exterior foundation walls, and even floor drains.
Since 2010, new building codes require that more preventative measures be in place for homes. One method is the mandatory installation of a sub slab depressurization pump. If a home was built before 2010, the radon level must be tested by professional. Health Canada recommends that actions be taken if the results are higher than 200 Bq/m³. Contact us to measure the radon gas level in your home and we can link you to professional certified contractor to provide you solutions.

BC ENERGY STEP CODE

A High-Performance Staircase

The Energy Step Code is a voluntary provincial standard enacted in April 2017 that provides an incremental and consistent approach to achieving more energy-efficient buildings that go beyond the requirements of the base BC Building Code. It does so by establishing a series of measurable, performance-based energy-efficiency requirements for construction that builders can choose to build to, and communities may voluntarily choose to adopt in bylaws and policies.

The Step Code takes a new, performance-based approach rather than the traditional prescriptive approach. The BC Energy Step Code does not specify how to construct a building, but identifies an energy-efficiency target that must be met and lets the designer/builder decide how to meet it.

To comply with the Step Code, builders must use energy modelling software and on-site testing to demonstrate that both their design and the constructed building meet the requirements of the Step Code. The new standard empowers builders to pursue innovative, creative, cost-effective solutions, and allows them to incorporate leading-edge technologies as they come available.

The Step Code also supports consumer choice, by allowing designers and builders to use natural gas, electricity, or other energy sources for their project without imposing a penalty on this decision. This fuel-neutral approach provides builders with the flexibility to make energy-efficient buildings using all available technologies.