Codes · Norme: find a code article and cite it

You work for [your company name], a construction company in [city, province], with the TektonAI tools connected to this conversation.

What the TektonAI tools do:
- Scaffold prepares 3D scaffold plans from the dimensions of the structure, or from the architect's IFC model or PDF drawing: dimensioned A3 PDF plan, calculation note, bill of materials in Excel and CSV, 3D model (STEP) and CAD plan (DXF). It revises an existing plan from its drawing number.
- Parts is our company's parts library: references, dimensions and weights. It imports our parts list.
- Scaffold plans use the parts of our Parts library when we ask.
- Fencing draws the site fence plan from the perimeter, or around a Scaffold scaffold along a street, with the public walkway: PDF plan, bill of materials in Excel and CSV, and the site's wind per NBC 2020.
- Materials keeps the catalogue of common building materials (drywall, lumber, insulation, hardware…) with our own items, and produces PDF and Excel catalogues from it. When I ask for a family, give only that family; accessories only when I ask for them.

How to work with me:
- Answer in English, in plain words and site terms. Produce documents (plans, calculation notes, catalogues) in English.
- Use the TektonAI tools for every plan, quantity or weight. Never make up a dimension, a quantity or a weight.
- Before producing a plan, show the configuration and the bill of materials, and wait for my approval.
- When a tool asks me a question through a form, let me answer it myself. Never choose the duty class (light, intermediate or heavy) for me.
- Leave plans at the “PRELIMINARY” status until I give you the names of the person who checked the plan and the person who approved it.
- For an import into Parts, show the preview and wait for my confirmation: a click on the card, or the word “Import” that I type myself. Pass my message on exactly as I wrote it.
- Remind me that plans are preliminary: a competent person must check them before erection.

Codes · Norme gives the exact text of Québec’s and Canada’s construction codes and regulations. You ask your AI assistant. It finds the article with Codes, reads it in full, then answers with the text, the edition and the citation.

The example follows Julie Exemple, of Entreprise Démo TektonAI, who is preparing a site in Montréal.

What you need

• Your question, in your own words. You do not need the article number.

Step 1: search without an article number

Julie does not know the article number. She asks her question as it comes:

What is the minimum height of a guard on a deck?

For a building question, your assistant searches the NBC 2020, here in Part 9, the part for small buildings. It sends several wordings of the question, in English and French. More than 30 articles come up, so it reads the outline of Section 9.8:

NBC 2020 · Division B, Section 9.8. Stairs, Ramps, Handrails and Guards

Edition: second printing, revisions and errata of March 31, 2025.

9.8.1. Application (4 articles)

9.8.2. Stair Dimensions (2 articles)

9.8.3. Stair Configurations (3 articles)

9.8.4. Step Dimensions (9 articles)

9.8.5. Ramps (5 articles)

9.8.6. Landings (4 articles)

9.8.7. Handrails (7 articles)

9.8.8. Guards (7 articles)

9.8.9. Construction (6 articles)

9.8.10. Cantilevered Precast Concrete Steps (3 articles)

Subsection 9.8.8. deals with guards. On the third round, your assistant reads Article 9.8.8.3. in full:

NBC 2020 · Division B, Article 9.8.8.3. Height of Guards

Edition: second printing, revisions and errata of March 31, 2025.

In Quebec, text in force (English):

1) Except as provided in Sentences (2) and (3), all guards shall be not less than 1 070 mm high.

2) All guards within dwelling units or within houses with a secondary suite including their common spaces shall be not less than 900 mm high.

3) Exterior guards serving not more than one dwelling unit or a house with a secondary suite including their common spaces shall be not less than 900 mm high where the walking surface served by the guard is not more than 1 800 mm above the finished ground level.

The answer then gives the federal NBC text and the article’s appendix note. Your assistant draws the answer from it: at least 1,070 mm, or 900 mm for an exterior guard serving a single dwelling unit, if the deck is 1,800 mm or less above the finished ground. It also asks Julie whether the deck serves a single dwelling unit, and how high it is above the ground.

It worked when: Your assistant answers with the article number and its edition, after reading it in full.

Step 2: read the text in force in Québec

In Québec, the NBC 2020 applies as amended by Chapter I of the Construction Code. Julie asks about her balcony:

My balcony is 1.5 m above the ground. Does the code require a guard?

Codes gives the text in force in Québec first:

NBC 2020 · Division B, Article 9.8.8.1. Required Guards

Edition: second printing, revisions and errata of March 31, 2025.

In Quebec, text in force (English):

1) Except as provided in Sentence (2) and except at the leading edge at the top of a flight, every surface to which access is provided, including but not limited to flights of steps and ramps, exterior landings, porches, balconies, mezzanines, galleries and raised walkways, shall be protected by a guard on each side that is not protected by a wall for the length where the difference in elevation is more than 600 mm between the walking surface and the adjacent surface within 1.2 m.

The answer goes on with the other sentences, then the federal NBC text, without the Québec amendments. For a project in Québec, the text in force in Québec is the one that counts. Here, 1.5 m is more than 600 mm: the balcony needs a guard.

It worked when: The answer relies on the text in force in Québec, and says so.

Step 3: read a section of the Safety Code

For a site in Québec, Part 8 of the NBC is deleted: Québec’s Safety Code for the construction industry (CSTC) applies. Julie is preparing a scaffold:

My scaffold is 4 m high and 1.2 m wide. Does it have to be tied in?

Your assistant reads section 3.9.10 of the CSTC. Codes gives the official English text as it is written:

Safety Code · Article 3.9.10. Mooring

Edition: updated to July 1, 2026.

Text (English):

Mooring:

1) Scaffoldings whose height is greater than 3 times the shortest side dimension of their base shall be firmly anchored to a building or structure by means of anchors, or to the ground by means of guys.

2) The building or structure to which the scaffolding is anchored shall resist to the load induced by scaffolding and anchors.

The anchors shall

a) resist to traction and compression side loads applied to the scaffolding. The loads must be equal to 225 N/m of platform length without being less than 1,0000 N;

The English text prints “1,0000 N”. Your assistant also reads the French text of the same section, which prints “1 000 N”. It gives you both values, says that the French figure reads as 1,000 N and that the English figure looks like a printing typo, and asks you to have a competent person confirm the value before you use it. Here, the limit is 3 × 1.2 m = 3.6 m. Julie’s scaffold is 4 m high: it has to be tied in.

It worked when: Your assistant cites the CSTC with the date it is up to date to, and flags any gap between the French and English texts.

Step 4: read an act

Codes also holds the Regulation respecting occupational health and safety (RSST) and the Act respecting occupational health and safety (LSST). Julie wants to know her duties as an employer:

What does an employer have to do to protect workers?

The LSST is loaded in French only. Codes says so, then gives the official French text:

AOHS · Article 51.

Edition: updated to August 12, 2026.

The English text of this article is not loaded: the text below is the official document’s French text.

Text (French):

L’employeur doit prendre les mesures nécessaires pour protéger la santé et assurer la sécurité et l’intégrité physique et psychique du travailleur. Il doit notamment:

1) s’assurer que les établissements sur lesquels il a autorité sont équipés et aménagés de façon à assurer la protection du travailleur;

The section has 16 paragraphs. Your assistant sums up the main ones in English, says that its summary is a translation and not official wording, and offers the others.

It worked when: You have the section of the act, with the date it is up to date to.

Step 5: search the plumbing code

Chapter III of the Construction Code, Plumbing, is also in Codes. Julie has to connect a drain:

I have to connect the drain around the foundation to the sanitary sewer. Where do I tie it in?

Your assistant searches Chapter III, then reads the article it found:

QCC, Ch. III · Division B, Article 2.4.5.3. Connection of Subsoil Drainage Pipe to a Sanitary Drainage System

Edition: third printing of October 14, 2026.

Text (English):

1) Where a subsoil drainage pipe is connected to a sanitary drainage system, the connection shall be made on the upstream side of a trap with a cleanout or a trapped sump or a retention pit. (See Note A-2.4.5.3.(1).)

Appendix notes:

A-2.4.5.3.(1) Connection of Subsoil Drainage Pipe to a Drainage System. This Code does not regulate the installation of subsoil drainage pipes, but does regulate the connection of such pipes to the plumbing system. The intent of this Article is to place a trap between the subsoil drainage pipe and the storm water or combined system. The cleanout must be installed in accordance with Sentence 2.4.7.1.(2).

The answer goes on with the note’s figure. Your assistant sums up the note: the code does not regulate the installation of subsoil drainage pipes, only their connection, and the cleanout must meet Sentence 2.4.7.1.(2). It offers to read that article.

It worked when: The answer gives the Chapter III article and its printing.

Step 6: cite the article on the plan

Give me the exact reference for the 1,070 mm guard height, for my plan.

Codes gives the full citation and its short form:

National Building Code of Canada 2020 (NBC 2020), second printing, Division B, Article 9.8.8.3., Sentence 1), as amended by the Quebec Construction Code, Chapter I – Building (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 2), updated to September 10, 2026.

Short form: NBC 2020 (Division B), 9.8.8.3. Sentence 1) (QCC, Ch. I)

This article is amended in Quebec: cite the amendment too.

Use the citation as written. The short form is for tables and plan legends. Julie then asks for the citations of the other articles of the day: the CSTC, the LSST and Chapter III each have their own.

It worked when: You have the full citation and its short form, with the edition.

Special cases

• Your question finds no article: your assistant searches in three rounds at most. Then it tells you what it found and asks you one question.
• You know the article number: give it, and your assistant reads the article directly.
• The value you need is not in the texts Codes holds, for example the climatic data of NBC Appendix C or a CSA standard: your assistant tells you so and asks you for the value and its source.
• You work in French: Codes has the French text of all its documents.
• Your assistant does not see the tool: an administrator has to give you access, on the Access page of the console. See Your team in TektonAI.

Good to know

• Codes cites the text; it does not judge a project. A competent person decides how the article applies to your site.
• Your assistant does not translate an article and present it as the official text.
• See also Codes · Norme in the documentation.