BC Energy Step Code levels: what Steps 3, 4 and 5 require, and what each Metro Vancouver city asks for

Three limits in every step

The Step Code applies to houses and to small buildings that hold only homes. Note A-9.36.1.3.(3) of the BC Building Code lists what counts as a house for this purpose: detached houses, semi-detached houses, duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, row houses and boarding houses. Sentence 9.36.1.3.(3) says these buildings, and buildings holding only homes with common space of no more than 20 percent of the floor area, comply through Subsection 9.36.6, which is the Step Code.

Each step in Tables 9.36.6.3.-A to -F sets three limits. The first is thermal energy demand intensity, shortened to TEDI. Article 9.36.6.2 defines it as the yearly heat the building needs for its rooms and for warming fresh air, per square metre of conditioned floor space. It looks at the walls, roof, floors, windows, air leakage, heat from people and equipment, and heat recovered from exhaust air. TEDI measures the shell, whatever the heating equipment.

The second limit is mechanical energy use intensity, shortened to MEUI. It is the yearly energy used by the heating, cooling, fan, hot water, pump and other heating and ventilation equipment, per square metre. Table 9.36.6.3.-H sets it by floor area, by climate and by whether more than half the home is cooled. A small home gets a larger allowance per square metre than a large one.

The third limit is airtightness, set as an Airtightness Level. Table 9.36.7.4 gives AL-1 a limit of 2.5 air changes per hour at 50 pascals of test pressure, AL-3 a limit of 1.5, and AL-4 a limit of 1.0. Step 3 uses AL-1, Step 4 uses AL-3 and Step 5 uses AL-4. The testing chapter of this guide explains the test.

Why the same step means different numbers in Vancouver and Vernon

The tables are sorted by climate, measured in heating degree-days below 18°C, which is a count of how cold a place is over a year. Table C-2 in Appendix C of the BC Building Code lists the value for each location. Vancouver City Hall is 2,825, Burnaby (general) 2,735, Surrey at 88 Avenue and 156 Street 2,750, Richmond 2,800, New Westminster 2,800 and North Vancouver 2,910. All of these are under 3,000, so Table 9.36.6.3.-A applies.

Vernon is listed at 3,600 degree-days, which puts it in Table 9.36.6.3.-B. There the heating demand limits are 40, 30 and 20 kWh per square metre per year for Steps 3, 4 and 5. The airtightness levels stay the same. A colder place gets a larger heating allowance because a house there needs more heat to stay at the same indoor temperature.

Sentence 9.36.6.3.(4) adds a formula that adjusts the heating limit for the actual degree-days of the site. It moves the limit part of the way toward the next table as the site gets colder. Your energy advisor applies it in the model.

There is a second route. Table 9.36.6.3.-G lets a building show a percent improvement against a reference house built to the code's base rules, plus a percent cut in heat loss. For a building over 300 cubic metres, Step 3 needs at least a 20 percent improvement and a 10 percent heat loss cut, Step 4 needs 40 and 20 percent, and Step 5 needs 70 and 40 percent. The same airtightness levels apply.

The Zero Carbon Step Code levels

The Zero Carbon Step Code was added to the code in May 2023. It limits greenhouse gas emissions from the energy a building uses, mostly from heating and hot water. The province names the four levels Measure-only (EL-1), Moderate Carbon Performance (EL-2), Strong Carbon Performance (EL-3) and Zero Carbon Performance (EL-4). Starting 10 March 2025, the province requires most new buildings to meet or exceed EL-1. Local governments can require any level.

Table 9.37.1.3 gives each level three ways to comply. One is a yearly cap on total emissions for the house. One is an emissions intensity cap per square metre paired with a total cap. The third is a rule about fuel: the energy sources for named systems must have an emissions factor of 0.011 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per kWh or less. Sentence 9.37.1.3.(2) sets electricity at 0.011 and natural gas at 0.180, so on this third route only electricity qualifies.

The province's page describes a prescriptive path for Part 9 buildings, which asks builders to use lower-carbon equipment for space heating, water heating and cooking, with more of it at higher levels. It also describes a performance path with an emissions target, where energy advisors can show whether other gas equipment, such as a fireplace, cooktop or clothes dryer, still fits.

What each Metro Vancouver city asks for

The province's requirements page says Step Code requirements depend on the building permit date and the location, and that local governments may require higher steps through bylaw. The table below lists the rule for new Part 9 homes in each city whose own page we read on 24 October 2026. Part 9 means buildings of 3 storeys or less with a footprint of 600 square metres or less, which, as Surrey's page explains, covers houses, duplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings.

Two cities are missing. The City of Vancouver does not use the BC Building Code; the province's code page says Vancouver has its own building bylaw. Vancouver's web pages refused our requests on 24 October 2026, so we state no Vancouver rule here. Ask the City for the energy and emission rules that apply to your permit date. We also could not open the District of North Vancouver's page.

Cities change these rules often. New Westminster's published timeline already lists a further rise on 1 January 2027, and Richmond lists a different rule for permits submitted before 31 October 2023. Confirm the rule with the city on the day you apply, because the permit date decides which rule applies.

For a building with more than one home, the city's step applies to the whole building. Sentence 9.36.6.1.(1) says that where a building has more than one dwelling unit, the Step Code applies to the energy performance of the building and not to each unit, and Sentence 9.37.1.1.(2) says the same for emissions. A fourplex is modelled and tested as one building.