41 new violations added to the Ontario Fire Code

If you don’t meet the standards of the Ontario Fire Code in your home or building, you might be fined.

The Office of the Fire Marshall and Emergency Management recently announced an increase in the number of offenses that you can be ticketed for.

Deputy Fire Chief Mike Bechard says in the past you could be ticketed for violations regarding your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

But, 41 violations have now been added.  He says it’s not a criminal offense, in which you would have to go to a court, but you would be out of pocket once an investigation is complete.

Some examples of the new violations include failure to make records available to the Chief Fire Official when asked, failure to maintain doors in fire separations and failure to maintain your fire extinguisher maintenance records.

Bechard says the Fire Code is the minimum for what is needed to keep buildings safe.  He says the fine for other violations has gone up from 235 to 360 dollars.