Ontario Building Code

Hi, I am thinking of buying Chief Architect.
Do any Canadian users know if it can be made to work with the Ontario or Canadian Building Code?

Home Designer software has being used in Australia, the UK, Canada and Europe for years. It does not "do" anything for you, rather it is a tool to be learned and used, where you use it to do what you wnat done.
If you are a serious, professional user then Home Designer Pro would be a minimum consideration. On the other hand, Chief Architect Premier offers the least number of limitations and productivity tools. Only you can decide what is acceptable for your own situation.

DJP

The only thing that doesn't apply to us Canadians is the IRC checklist that Chief has, which I don't know how many experienced users actually use anyway, even in the US. Other than that, you can draw pretty much any kind of house. It's more up to you to know your local building codes. Chief doesn't allow or disallow drawing things a certain way based on Codes (e.g.: if your stairs don't meet code or your ceiling is too low, there's no pop up warning you of that).

If you are not familiar with the Codes, I would recommend buying the appropriate Code. You can get it online at http://www.nationalcodes.nrc.gc.ca/eng/nbc/. You can get it for only 10 days for fairly cheap if you plan on using it only once. There are also requirements outside of the Code that could apply, such as local bylaws, permit requirements, and architectural guidelines. If you're not comfortable with all that, I would recommend consulting a qualified architect or architectural draftsperson to help you design your plan.

Chief has nothing to do with codes, you can use it for any codes. You determine how the codes comply with Chief. It's up to you, Chief couldn't possibly incorporate all the different codes within their software. It's just there for reference mainly. The "plan check" just covers a few basic codes that apply, and I never use it.