Health Canada on testing a brand-new Riverside South home for radon?

Health Canada recommends that every home be tested, no matter where it is located, the type of building, or whether it already has a mitigation system, so a brand-new home in Riverside South is included.

Its testing guide applies to a new home the same way:

• The minimum test length is 91 days for a valid estimate, with at least 91 days of the test during the heating season.
• Test in a normal occupancy area of the lowest lived-in level, a space someone spends more than 4 hours a day in.
• Use a device that appears on the C-NRPP list, and do not alter how you live in the house during the test.
• Short-term measurements are not appropriate for informing mitigation decisions.

Health Canada's guideline is to take corrective action if the average annual radon level exceeds 200 Bq/m³ in the normal occupancy area. It says 200 Bq/m³ is not a recommended stopping point if it is reasonable to go lower, and that individuals mitigate within 1 year for levels higher than 200 Bq/m³. For corrective work it points to a C-NRPP certified radon mitigation professional.

Ottawa Public Health says radon concentrations vary a great deal within the City of Ottawa, making it difficult to predict radon levels in any one home, and it puts do-it-yourself long-term kits at $29 to $170. Radon testing and mitigation as services are covered on ottawaabatement.com.

What Tarion's warranty says about radon is a question to put to Tarion directly.

Because a valid test needs at least 91 days, start it once you are living in the home, in the lowest lived-in level, during the heating season.