Canada / Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia's Code Is a Staircase.
We Check Which Step You're On.
We are a United States estimating desk writing Xactimate supplements for Nova Scotia roofing contractors, with Prince Edward Island claims handled the same way. Nova Scotia's own building code regulation already has future effective dates written into it. Which edition governs a file depends on when the permit was applied for. Pricing is in United States dollars, stated plainly.
All pricing in USD.
The code question is a calendar question here
Nova Scotia's Building Code Regulations adopt the National Building Code of Canada 2020, but the regulation itself is not sitting on one fixed date. The base regulation, N.S. Reg. 198/2024, took effect April 1, 2025, and has since been amended by N.S. Reg. 199/2024, effective April 1, 2026, plus N.S. Reg. 133/2025, N.S. Reg. 3/2026, and N.S. Reg. 78/2026. That is already five instruments deep before anything about the future comes into it.
The regulation's own text goes further and states two amendments that are not yet in force at all: N.S. Reg. 200/2024, effective April 1, 2027, and N.S. Reg. 201/2024, effective April 1, 2029. The Province's own news release describes the same structure in plain language: a four-year, tiered phase-in of the national building and energy codes, moving the industry toward higher energy efficiency standards in steps rather than all at once.
For a scope writer, that staircase is not trivia. The governing code edition on a given repair is fixed at the point the permit is applied for. A file permitted before April 1, 2027 and a file permitted after it can answer to different provisions of the same regulation, and the same is true again at April 1, 2029. That is a checkable date on the permit, not a guess, and it is exactly the kind of fact that changes which code text a citation should be built against.
Hurricane Fiona, and what we will not say about the dollars
The Insurance Bureau of Canada's most recent published figure puts insured damages from Hurricane Fiona at over $800 million, making it the seventh costliest extreme weather event in Canada's history and, in IBC's own words, the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada. That figure replaced an earlier $660 million estimate; IBC itself states the newer number as the current one, and this page uses the current number.
IBC's reporting on the storm described real damage in Nova Scotia: widespread tree damage with large trees falling on cars and buildings in Halifax, significant damage in Cape Breton Island and Pictou County including extensive flooding, roofs torn off buildings, and roads washed out by storm surge, with power outages topping 415,000 customers and about 80 percent of the province without power.
What we will not do is hand you a Nova Scotia-only dollar figure for Fiona. IBC published a per-province breakdown once, in its earlier release, and has since raised its national total by roughly a fifth without republishing a matching provincial split. The old per-province numbers no longer add up to the current total, so we are not putting a stale Nova Scotia figure on this page and calling it current.
Prince Edward Island, honestly scoped
We work Prince Edward Island claims the same way we work Nova Scotia claims, but we are not going to manufacture a PEI code citation. Every PEI government legislative page we attempted to read returned a bot check instead of page content, so this page carries no claim about PEI's building code, current or otherwise.
What is sourced and readable is the damage Hurricane Fiona did to the island. IBC reported damage across the entirety of Prince Edward Island, including houses moved off their foundations by storm surge and roofs torn off buildings by wind, with power outages reaching about 95 percent of the island's customers. If you send us a PEI file, we will scope the roof in front of us. We will not pretend to know PEI's code the way we can speak to Nova Scotia's.
What we do not claim
- We are not licensed in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island. Adjusting is provincially regulated in Canada and our credential is a United States one. We do estimating and supplement documentation, working behind you.
- We do not give a Nova Scotia or PEI dollar figure for Hurricane Fiona. The only per-province split IBC published sits inside a release whose own total has since been raised without a restated split. We report the current national total instead of a stale provincial number.
- We make no code claim about Prince Edward Island. Every PEI legislative page we tried returned a bot check, not readable text. No primary read, no claim made.
- We do not claim to have Nova Scotia or PEI insurers mapped. They are different companies from the American ones, and inferring their behaviour from a US insurer would be making something up.
- We make no permit claim on this page. No Nova Scotia or PEI government primary on municipal re-roofing permit process was found, so none is described here.
- We are a US company working remotely. Nothing about the service depends on being in the same country as the roof, and we would rather you know that before you send a file than after.
The TEC Guarantee
Send us an average of 2 claims per week for 12 months and we guarantee you will add a minimum of six figures in additional margin to your business. If you do not, we write you a $5,000 check at the end of the 12 months.
All pricing in USD, and the guarantee is paid in USD. This is a commitment we are making to you, not a projection of what your claims will return.
Questions
Which building code applies to a Nova Scotia roof?
It depends on when the permit lands, and that is the point. Nova Scotia's Building Code Regulations adopt the National Building Code of Canada 2020, but the regulation itself is a staircase of amendments rather than one fixed date. The base regulation, N.S. Reg. 198/2024, took effect April 1, 2025, and has already been amended by N.S. Reg. 199/2024 (effective April 1, 2026), N.S. Reg. 133/2025, N.S. Reg. 3/2026, and N.S. Reg. 78/2026. The regulation also states, on its own text, two amendments that are not yet in force: N.S. Reg. 200/2024, effective April 1, 2027, and N.S. Reg. 201/2024, effective April 1, 2029. A file permitted before one of those dates and a file permitted after it can answer to a different edition of the same regulation.
Why does a future effective date matter to a scope written today?
Because the code that governs a repair is fixed at the point the permit is applied for, not at the point the claim is written. A regulation that already carries a numbered, dated amendment taking effect April 1, 2027 or April 1, 2029 means the governing edition on a delayed rebuild can differ from the governing edition on a permit pulled today. That is a checkable date on the file, not a guess, and it is the kind of fact that changes which code text a citation should point to.
Is that staircase unique to Nova Scotia?
The shape of it is what we cite here because we can read it directly off Nova Scotia's own regulation text and its own news release describing a tiered, phased implementation of the 2020 national codes over four years. We are not asserting anything about how any other province structures its own amendments. What we can say is that on a Nova Scotia file, the permit date is a code question, not just a paperwork question.
How bad was Hurricane Fiona for Atlantic Canada?
The Insurance Bureau of Canada's most recent figure puts insured damages from Hurricane Fiona at over $800 million, making it the seventh costliest extreme weather event in Canada's history and, in IBC's own words, the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada. That figure replaced an earlier $660 million estimate; IBC's own release states the $800 million figure supersedes it. In Nova Scotia specifically, IBC's reporting on the storm's damage described widespread tree damage with large trees falling on cars and buildings in Halifax, significant damage in Cape Breton Island and Pictou County including extensive flooding, roofs torn off buildings, and roads washed out by storm surge, with power outages topping 415,000 customers and about 80 percent of the province without power.
What about Prince Edward Island?
We do not have a readable government primary for PEI's building code, and we are not going to guess at one. Every PEI legislative page we tried to open returned a bot check rather than page content, so this page carries no PEI code claim and no PEI dollar figure. What is sourced and readable is IBC's description of Fiona's impact on the island: damage reported across the entirety of Prince Edward Island, houses moved off their foundations by storm surge, roofs torn off buildings by wind, and power outages reaching 95 percent of the island's customers. If you work claims on the island, we will scope the roof in front of us; we just will not pretend to know PEI's code the way we can speak to Nova Scotia's.
Do you know how Nova Scotia or PEI insurers handle supplements?
The insurers writing property coverage in Atlantic Canada are different companies from the American ones and we are not going to claim to have their settled behaviour mapped. What carries across the border is the mechanics: a scope missing starter, drip edge, ridge cap, or steep charges is missing them regardless of country, and a measurement report either matches the estimate's line items or it does not. What we learn about a specific insurer, we learn on your file and tell you honestly.
Are you licensed in Nova Scotia?
No, and we do not present ourselves as being. We are a United States company. Our credential is a United States one, and adjusting is provincially regulated in Canada. What we do for you is estimating and supplement documentation, delivered remotely, working behind you while you keep the relationship with your insurer.
What currency are your fees in?
All pricing is in United States dollars. We do not quote in Canadian dollars and we do not publish a converted figure, because an exchange rate printed on a web page is out of date almost immediately. Your own bank or card issuer applies the conversion at the rate on the day you pay.
Send us one and see
Send the insurer estimate and your measurement report. We will read it and tell you what we see, including telling you if there is nothing worth chasing on it.
All pricing in USD.