Quick answer
A like-for-like furnace replacement in an existing Ontario house does not get a routine government inspection. The TSSA licenses the contractor and the G2 or G1 technician and audits their work instead of visiting every job. The installer's commissioning record is the inspection: gas pressure, temperature rise and combustion readings in writing. Enbridge, the municipality or the ESA inspect only in specific situations.
No inspector is booked automatically when a new furnace installation goes into an existing house in Ontario. The province regulates the people who do the work, not each job, so the quality check on a replacement is the licensed technician's own start-up testing. Knowing that tells you what to ask for before the installer leaves.
How Ontario regulates a gas furnace installation
Gas work in Ontario falls under the Technical Standards and Safety Act and O. Reg. 212/01, which adopts the CSA B149.1 gas code. The business must be registered with the TSSA as a fuels contractor, and the person connecting the furnace must hold a gas technician certificate: G2 covers residential furnaces, G1 covers larger equipment as well. A homeowner cannot do this work, as explained in whether you can install a furnace yourself.
The TSSA enforces through audits of contractors and through investigations of complaints and incidents. It does not send an inspector to each residential furnace replacement. That makes the licence check your part of the system: our guide on how to verify a TSSA licence shows where to look the contractor up.
The paperwork a proper furnace install leaves behind
The gas code requires the installer to set up and test the appliance to the manufacturer's instructions. The written record of those tests is the closest thing to an inspection certificate a replacement gets, so ask for it by name:
- Commissioning record: inlet and manifold gas pressure, temperature rise across the heat exchanger compared with the range on the rating plate, and combustion readings from an analyzer.
- The manufacturer's start-up sheet, filled in and dated, with the installer's name and licence number.
- An invoice that lists the furnace model and serial number. You need both to register the warranty.
- A note of what was done to the venting, the condensate drain and the gas line.
A furnace can run and still be set up wrong. Gas pressure a little high or a temperature rise above the plate range will not trip anything on day one, but it shortens the heat exchanger's life. Numbers on paper are how that gets caught.
When a third party does inspect a furnace installation
- Enbridge Gas, on a new gas service: under section 7 of O. Reg. 212/01, when premises are connected to gas for the first time, no appliance may be put into use until the distributor has examined the installation.
- Enbridge Gas, at other times: the distributor checks appliances when it restores gas after a meter exchange or a shut-off, and the regulation has it inspect the appliances at a premises at least once every 10 years or under a quality assurance program.
- Municipal building inspectors: on new houses, additions and any job done under a building permit, such as a new duct system. A straight replacement in an existing house does not normally need a building permit, but each municipality decides; see HVAC permits in Burlington for one example.
- Electrical Safety Authority: when new wiring is run, for instance a new circuit for a heat pump or air handler added with the furnace.
A home inspector at resale and a rebate program's auditor may also look at the furnace, but neither is a regulator and neither certifies the gas work.
How to check a new furnace install yourself
- The model and serial number on the rating plate match the invoice.
- Plastic vent pipes slope back toward the furnace, are supported every few feet, and end outside clear of windows and the gas meter.
- The condensate line runs to a drain or pump with no kinks and no standing water.
- There is a shut-off valve and a drip leg on the gas line at the furnace.
- The filter slides out without tools, and a working CO alarm is near the bedrooms.
A longer walk-through is in how to know if your furnace was installed correctly. If something looks off, a second licensed technician can test the installation and write up what they find.
What to ask before you pay the final invoice
Ask any installer, us included, for the commissioning readings in writing before the last payment. High-efficiency furnace installs run $4,500–$7,500, and the start-up sheet costs the contractor ten minutes. A company that will not provide it is telling you something.
ZK Mechanical is owner-operated, and every gas connection is made by a TSSA-licensed technician. For furnace installation in Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hamilton, Mississauga or Brampton, call (647) 801-1252 or request a written quote.