The ventilation amount and opening size requirements can be found in section 806 roof ventilation of chapter 8 roof ceiling construction.
Attic ventilation requirements canada.
Ventilation of attic spaces is required by most building codes as well as by roofing material manufacturers and the national roofing contractors association nrca.
Proper attic ventilation consists of a balance between air intake at your eaves soffits or fascias and air exhaust at or near your roof ridge.
In order to facilitate this exchange of warm and cool air the general rule of thumb suggests installing at least 1 sq.
Federal housing authority recommends a minimum of at least 1 square foot of attic ventilation evenly split between intake and exhaust for every 300 square feet of attic floor space.
You can also contact your local municipality to check on building code in your area.
The ratio of vent area to ceiling area should be approximately 1 to 300.
For minimum building code requirements use the 1 300 ratio instead of the 1 150 ratio.
Proper attic ventilation consists of a balance between air intake at your eaves soffits or fascias and air exhaust at or near your roof ridge.
Federal housing authority recommends a minimum of at least 1 square foot of attic ventilation evenly split between intake and exhaust for every 300 square feet of attic floor space.
For example depending on roof colour and orientation to the sun attic air temperatures can exceed 55 c 131 f when it is less than 38 c 100 f outside.
Vent requirements 1 except as provided in sentence 2 the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1 300 of the insulated ceiling area.
Most building codes require a ratio of 1 150 ventilation space to attic floor space.
Of vent for every 300 sq.
Where the roof space is fairly larger for example cold uninhabited attic spaces with roof slopes of greater than 1 6 the total net vent area should be at least 1 300th of the area of insulated ceiling.
2 where the roof slope is less than 1 in 6 or in roofs that are constructed with roof joists the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1 150 of the insulated ceiling area.
The majority of the requirements related to attic ventilation have not changed much from the previous editions.
However in more extreme environments including much of canada during winter it can be a problem.
The following are the requirements taken directly from the irc.
Building codes vary.
Do not automatically increase ventilation.
Air vent recommends 1 square foot of ventilation for every 150 square feet of attic floor space with half the ventilation represented by intake vents and half by exhaust vents such as ridge vents.