For many interns, the code is the part of the ExAC that looks worst from a distance. The book is enormous, the numbering is dense, and at work someone else often does the code review.
Here is the relief. For Section 2 the code is on the desk in front of you. Three hours, two documents, and your own tabbed copies. The risk is rarely a forgotten number. It is not finding the page in time.
What Section 2 covers
The 2026 ExAC Preparation Guide lists two topics for Section 2: the National Building Code of Canada (2020) and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (2020). The exam objectives for the code fall into five groups.
| Objective | What you are asked to do |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Scope and application | Identify which Parts apply to a building type, explain the notes and appendices to Division B, and understand how referenced standards apply |
| 5.2 Part 3 buildings | Classification and construction, fire safety, safety within floor areas, barrier-free design, sound transmission, exits and health |
| 5.3 Part 9 buildings | Prescriptive requirements for structural design, safety, health and envelope design, for a building at the construction documents stage |
| 5.4 Alternative solutions | When an alternative solution is appropriate, the Code objectives and functional statements behind a requirement, and what must be filed |
| 5.5 NECB | Apply the energy code to the design process and to the construction documents |
Notice the verbs in the official wording: identify, interpret, apply. Not recite.
The rules for your copy
These come straight from the Preparation Guide. Get them right before you spend an evening tabbing.
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Paper copies of the NBC 2020 and NECB 2020, in Section 2 only | Any code book in Sections 1, 3 and 4 |
| Handwritten annotations, highlighting, circling, underlining | Writing or marking in your copies while in the exam room |
| Tabs | Added pages, such as your own index, table or reference sheet |
| A printout of the PDF edition, if you hold the appropriate licence | Printouts that breach the Copyright Act |
| The national code, without provincial adaptations | Counting on a provincial code. The guide says you use one at your own risk |
An invigilator can confiscate anything that does not comply. A home-made index stapled inside the cover is exactly the kind of thing that gets removed.
Many interns use a provincial code every day. The structure is close to the national model, but the numbering and some requirements differ. Do your exam practice in the national NBC 2020, so the page you turn to in November is the page you practised on.
How the NBC is laid out
The Code has three divisions, published across two volumes.
- Division A is the rulebook for the rulebook: compliance, objectives and functional statements. It tells you which Parts apply to which buildings.
- Division B holds the acceptable solutions. This is where the technical requirements live, including Part 3 and Part 9.
- Division C holds the administrative provisions.
Almost every look-up starts in Division A and ends in Division B. If you remember nothing else about the structure, remember that order.
Part 3 or Part 9: the first decision on every question
Division A sets out which buildings fall under Part 3 and which under Part 9. Getting this wrong sends you to the wrong half of the book.
| Part 9 | Part 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Three storeys or less in building height, and a building area of 600 m² or less | Anything larger or taller |
| Occupancy | Chiefly residential, business and personal services, mercantile, and medium- and low-hazard industrial | Assembly, most care, treatment and detention, and high-hazard industrial occupancies, whatever the size |
| Style | Prescriptive: do this, to this dimension | Classify first, then follow the requirements that the classification triggers |
The trap is size. A small building is not automatically a Part 9 building. Occupancy decides first. The exact wording is in Division A, Article 1.3.3.2 and Article 1.3.3.3. Read both in your own copy and tab the page.
How to set up your copy
Tabs are allowed, so use them. The goal is to reach any common requirement in under a minute.
- Tab the entry points. The application articles in Division A, the defined terms, and the index at the back.
- Tab Part 3 by the order you use it. Classification in Section 3.1, building size and construction and spatial separation in Section 3.2, safety within floor areas in Section 3.3, exits in Section 3.4, health requirements in Section 3.7, accessibility in Section 3.8.
- Tab the tables you will hunt for. The major occupancy classification table and the occupant load table are the usual two.
- Tab Part 9 by building element. Stairs and guards, means of egress, fire protection, heat, air and moisture control, and energy efficiency.
- Do the same for the NECB. Tab the start of each Part and the compliance options.
- Annotate in the margins, by hand. A cross-reference beside an article is legal. A loose summary sheet is not.
Then stop decorating and start using it. Every practice question you answer with the book open makes the tabs faster.
A look-up, start to finish
Take a simple case. A question describes a one-storey community hall with a building area of 250 m² and asks which Part of Division B governs its fire safety.
- What is it used for? A hall where people gather is an assembly occupancy.
- Check application. Division A sends every assembly occupancy to Part 3, regardless of size.
- Classify. In Part 3, find the major occupancy classification table and confirm the Group and Division.
- Follow the trigger. The classification, with the building's height and area, leads to the construction and fire safety requirements in Section 3.2.
The building is small, and the answer is still Part 3. Four page turns, no memorized numbers. That sequence, use, application, classification, requirement, works on most Section 2 questions.
Do not skip alternative solutions
Objective 5.4 gets less attention than it deserves. The Code is objective-based: each requirement in Division B is tied to objectives and functional statements set out in Division A. A design can comply through an acceptable solution in Division B, or through an alternative solution that achieves at least the same level of performance.
You should be able to say when an alternative solution is appropriate, find the objectives and functional statements attributed to a requirement, and list what has to be documented and filed. This is short to learn and easy to overlook.
The NECB in brief
The energy code objectives ask you to apply the NECB to design and to construction documents. Know how the document is divided, by envelope, lighting, HVAC, service water heating and electrical power, and know that it offers more than one route to compliance: prescriptive requirements, trade-offs and performance modelling. Then practise finding a requirement in it, the same way you do with the NBC.
Four traps in Section 2
- Assuming small means Part 9. Check the occupancy first.
- Trusting a remembered number. The book is open. Confirm it.
- Reading the article and skipping the note. The explanatory notes are named in the objectives.
- Answering from your provincial code. The exam is written to the national one.
Interns for ExAC is an independent, unofficial study tool. Its Section 2 practice questions cover the NBC 2020 and NECB 2020, each with the reasoning behind the answer. Try the free sample questions with your code beside you. No account needed.
Quick answers
Can I bring the building code into the ExAC?
Yes, for Section 2 only. Paper copies of the National Building Code of Canada 2020, without provincial adaptations, and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020 are permitted during the Section 2 examination.
Can I tab and highlight my NBC for the ExAC?
Yes. The 2026 Preparation Guide allows handwritten annotations, highlighting, circling, underlining and tabs. You may not add pages such as an index or table, and you may not mark your copies while in the examination room.
Which building code does the ExAC use?
The 2026 ExAC uses the National Building Code of Canada, 2020 edition, and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings, 2020 edition. Provincial codes are not the basis of the exam.
What is the difference between Part 3 and Part 9 of the NBC?
Part 9 applies to small buildings, three storeys or less with a building area of 600 square metres or less, in residential, business, mercantile and medium- and low-hazard industrial occupancies. Part 3 applies to larger buildings and to occupancies such as assembly, treatment, detention and high-hazard industrial, whatever their size.
Do I need to memorize the National Building Code for the ExAC?
No. Section 2 allows paper copies of the NBC and NECB, and the exam objectives ask candidates to identify, interpret and apply requirements. Knowing the structure of the code and being able to find requirements quickly matters more than recall.
What to remember
- Section 2 is the NBC 2020 and the NECB 2020, with your own paper copies on the desk.
- Tabs, highlights and handwritten notes are fine. Added pages and writing during the exam are not.
- Decide occupancy and Part 3 or Part 9 before anything else.
- Practise the sequence: use, application, classification, requirement.