What You Need to Know
Medical laboratories across Ontario—including hospital-based pathology labs—will soon be subject to new fire safety requirements under the Ontario Fire Code (OFC). These changes, effective January 1, 2026, are designed to enhance safety in facilities that store flammable or combustible liquids used for preserving biological specimens. The requirements of the OFC are retroactive to existing buildings and compliance is mandatory.
What’s Changing?
Under OFC Sentence 5.5.5.2.(3), laboratories must ensure that containers used for preserving animal, human, or plant specimens with flammable or combustible liquids:
- Are properly sized for the specimens,
- Are stored in rooms that comply with OFC Subsection 4.2.9, and
- Are protected against breakage and spillage.
OFC Subsection 4.2.9 requires that these storage rooms be of damage-limiting construction (i.e., blast resistant) and equipped with explosion venting that discharges directly outdoors, in accordance with NFPA 68, Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting.
Implications for Existing Buildings
These requirements present significant challenges for existing facilities, particularly those with pathology labs located in:
- Basements, or
- Landlocked areas of above-grade floorplates.
In such cases, installing explosion vents on exterior walls may be physically unfeasible. Additionally, most existing lab partitions are not blast resistant, and retrofitting them to meet the new standards is often cost prohibitive.
Exploring Alternative Solutions
To address these challenges, laboratories may propose Alternative Solutions that meet the intent of the code without requiring full compliance with Subsection 4.2.9. One such option is the use of explosion prevention systems, which are designed to protect occupied rooms from deflagration hazards.
These systems must comply with NFPA 69, Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems, and any proposed Alternative Solution must be reviewed and approved by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).
Next Steps for Compliance
Laboratories should begin assessing their current facilities and exploring feasible compliance strategies—whether through physical upgrades or approved alternative solutions. Early planning will be essential to meet the January 2026 deadline without disruption to operations. LRI Engineering has experienced consultants ready to assist in the evaluation of existing conditions and in collaborating with clients to find feasible and practical solutions to achieve compliance with either prescriptive requirements or performance based design.
