If you manage commercial buildings in the United States or Canada, 2026 is not a year to approach compliance passively. Across both countries, a convergence of new building code adoptions, tightening energy performance standards, growing ESG disclosure expectations, and heightened enforcement activity is creating a regulatory environment more demanding than anything most property managers have faced in the past decade.

The challenge is not that any single new regulation is unmanageable on its own. It's that multiple compliance obligations are maturing simultaneously — and many of them require the same underlying capability: consistent, documented, retrievable records of building performance, maintenance activity, and inspection outcomes. Property managers who have been operating with fragmented or informal compliance programs are finding themselves exposed at multiple pressure points at once.

This guide walks through the most significant changes affecting commercial property compliance in 2026 — from updated building codes in both countries, to municipal building performance standards with real financial penalties, to ESG disclosure requirements that are now reaching property-level operations. For each area, we explain what is changing, what it means in practice, and what property managers should be doing right now to stay ahead.

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1. Building Codes Are Being Updated Across Both Countries — Simultaneously

One of the defining features of the current regulatory moment is that building code updates in both the US and Canada are being adopted at a pace and scale not seen in recent years. For commercial property managers, this creates compliance obligations that span multiple jurisdictions and multiple code areas at once.

Canada: The 2025 National Model Codes

Canada's National Research Council has published the 2025 editions of the National Building Code (NBC) and the National Fire Code (NFC), succeeding the 2020 editions. These represent significant updates to the framework that provincial and territorial authorities use as the basis for local construction regulations.

The 2025 NBC introduces several provisions directly relevant to commercial properties. Accessibility requirements have been expanded to apply to all types of dwelling units, with corresponding implications for mixed-use commercial buildings. The code also introduces expanded fire protection objectives, including updated requirements for fire separations in buildings undergoing change of use — a provision that directly affects commercial property managers overseeing tenant fit-outs or space conversions.

The 2025 National Fire Code updates expand fire safety requirements with particular attention to fire suppression systems, mass timber construction guidelines, and updated protocols for equipment and drain pans designed to minimize the growth and transmission of legionella bacteria — a provision with direct implications for HVAC maintenance programs in commercial buildings.

Critically, the provinces adopt these national model codes at different times and with local amendments. Ontario's 2024 Building Code — the first issued under the Reconciliation Agreement on Construction Codes — came into force on January 1, 2025, incorporating significant changes to fire separations and closures aligned with the 2020 NBC. Nova Scotia adopted the 2020 National Fire Code in April 2025. Property managers operating across multiple Canadian provinces must track not only the national model codes but also each province's adoption timeline and amendments.

Montreal introduced a new by-law on building occupancy and maintenance (Règlement 23-016) requiring, as of January 1, 2026, that owners of vacant buildings register with the city. The regulation reinforces general maintenance standards and increases fines for violations — a direct signal that municipal enforcement of building condition is intensifying in major Canadian markets.

United States: ASHRAE 90.1-2022 and the State-by-State Energy Code Landscape

In the United States, the primary commercial energy code framework continues to be ASHRAE Standard 90.1, which establishes minimum energy efficiency requirements for commercial and multi-family buildings above three stories. The current model standard is ASHRAE 90.1-2022, and the U.S. Department of Energy has formally determined that buildings designed to this standard achieve approximately 14% greater energy efficiency than those designed to the 90.1-2019 version.

State adoption of ASHRAE 90.1-2022 is actively underway. California has enacted its 2025 Energy Code — one of the most stringent commercial energy standards in the country. States like Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, and Vermont continue to operate among the most progressive code environments in the nation, while several states including Colorado, Wyoming, and Mississippi maintain no statewide commercial energy code, leaving compliance to local jurisdictions.

For property managers operating across multiple US states, the patchwork of adoption creates genuine complexity. A building in California is subject to materially different energy performance requirements than an identical building in a state still operating under the 2015 IECC. Understanding exactly which code version applies to each property in a portfolio — and how ongoing renovations or change-of-use trigger code updates — is a compliance obligation that requires active management, not periodic attention.

ASHRAE 90.1 compliance is triggered not only by new construction. Major renovations, significant system replacements (including HVAC and lighting), and changes of occupancy can all trigger requirements to bring affected systems up to the current adopted code in a given jurisdiction. Property managers who assume code compliance is a 'build and forget' proposition are taking on unrecognized risk.

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2. Building Performance Standards Are Now Backed by Real Financial Penalties

Perhaps the most consequential compliance development for commercial property owners in major North American markets is the rapid maturation of Building Performance Standards (BPS) — regulations that mandate ongoing energy and emissions performance for existing buildings, not just compliance at the time of construction.

Unlike traditional building codes, which are primarily triggered by construction or renovation activity, Building Performance Standards apply to buildings in operation right now. They set emissions or energy use intensity (EUI) targets that buildings must meet on an ongoing basis, with compliance periods that tighten progressively through 2030, 2035, and beyond.

Key US Markets with Active BPS Enforcement in 2026

New York City's Local Law 97, which is widely cited as the most aggressive building performance standard in North America, covers buildings larger than 25,000 square feet and applies emissions intensity limits that tightened significantly beginning in 2024. Buildings exceeding their emissions cap face penalties of $268 per metric ton of excess emissions annually. For a large commercial building running 15–20% above its emissions target, this can translate to tens of thousands of dollars per year in penalties — penalties that compound until the building achieves compliance.

Boston's Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO 2.0) covers buildings representing over 60% of the city's total building emissions. The ordinance runs five-year compliance periods with increasingly stringent emissions limits through 2050, with non-compliant buildings paying $234 per metric ton into the city's Equitable Emissions Investment Fund. BERDO 2.0 also requires that covered buildings submit individual emissions reduction plans demonstrating a pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050.

Denver's Energize Denver ordinance, Philadelphia's annual benchmarking requirement with a $300 per day late filing penalty, and similar programs in Seattle, Chicago, and Washington D.C. are part of a growing national BPS coalition that now includes more than 50 U.S. cities with active building energy requirements. For property managers overseeing portfolios in multiple markets, BPS compliance is no longer an edge-case concern — it is a core operational requirement.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is now mandatory reporting infrastructure for commercial buildings in seven U.S. states and 48 local governments. Over 330,000 buildings — representing nearly 25% of all U.S. commercial building space and more than 27 billion square feet — are currently tracked in the platform. If your buildings are not yet enrolled, this is an urgent priority.

Canada: Energy Performance Tiers Under the National Energy Code

In Canada, the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) 2020 introduced a tiered energy performance compliance framework for commercial and institutional buildings. The tiered system runs from Tier 1 (basic prescriptive compliance) through Tier 4, which requires at least 40% better energy performance than the baseline standard. As provincial governments adopt the 2020 NECB and begin preparing for the 2025 edition, property managers should expect energy performance expectations to tighten across most Canadian markets over the next two to three years.

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3. ESG Disclosure Is Reaching the Property Level

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting has been a growing priority for large real estate firms and institutional investors for several years. What is changing in 2026 is the extent to which these reporting obligations are reaching the property level — making building-level compliance data, including inspection records and maintenance histories, directly relevant to corporate ESG disclosures.

The North American ESG Landscape in 2026

In the United States, while federal ESG policy has shifted under the current administration, state-level ESG requirements continue to advance independently. California's SB 253 and SB 261 — landmark climate disclosure laws enacted in 2023 — require large companies operating in California to report Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, and to disclose climate-related financial risks. These laws take full effect in 2026 for non-EU headquartered companies, directly affecting commercial real estate firms with California operations.

New York and Massachusetts are advancing building performance standards that create additional emissions reporting obligations for commercial building owners. City-level programs like New York's Local Law 97 and Boston's BERDO create property-level data requirements that feed directly into corporate ESG reporting for real estate firms and their institutional investors.

In Canada, climate-related financial disclosures aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) frameworks are advancing. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have proposed mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements aligned with ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 standards — a development that is already influencing how institutional investors evaluate commercial property portfolios.

A 2025 survey cited by GRESB found that nine in ten global institutional investors now incorporate sustainability factors into their investment decision-making. Bloomberg projects that global ESG assets under management will exceed $40 trillion by 2030 — and JLL research projects that by 2030, tenant demand for low-carbon commercial spaces will outpace supply by a factor of three. The financial case for ESG-aligned commercial property operations has never been clearer.

What ESG Means for Property-Level Inspection Programs

ESG reporting obligations at the corporate level require property-level data that most traditional inspection programs are not structured to produce. Specifically, ESG-aligned building operations require energy consumption data tracked in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, documented water management and indoor air quality monitoring programs, hazardous materials inventories and management plans, maintenance records demonstrating proactive rather than reactive building management, and tenant engagement programs with documented outcomes.

Green lease adoption is accelerating rapidly as a mechanism for aligning landlord and tenant ESG responsibilities. According to survey data cited in recent GRESB research, 62% of new commercial leases now contain green provisions — up from approximately 50% just two years prior. Green lease clauses increasingly require tenants to share utility data, cooperate on waste reduction programs, and align with the landlord's sustainability commitments. For property managers, these clauses create data collection and reporting obligations that require systematic inspection and monitoring infrastructure.

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4. Life Safety and Fire Code Compliance: What's Tightening in 2026

Beyond energy and ESG requirements, life safety compliance obligations for commercial buildings are also evolving — driven by new code adoptions, updated equipment standards, and increased enforcement activity following high-profile incidents in recent years.

Fire Safety Plan Requirements

The 2025 National Fire Code of Canada consolidates and strengthens fire safety plan requirements that had previously been distributed across multiple code provisions. For commercial building managers, this means a formal fire safety plan must be maintained on-site, kept current, and made available for inspection by fire officials. The plan must include documentation of emergency procedures, designated roles and responsibilities, evacuation drill records, and maintenance logs for all fire protection systems.

In the US, fire safety requirements for commercial buildings are primarily governed at the state and local level, referencing NFPA standards. The National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) and NFPA 1 (Fire Code) continue to be the primary reference standards, and both receive regular updates. Property managers should confirm which edition has been adopted in each jurisdiction where they operate, as compliance obligations can vary significantly between states and municipalities.

HVAC Compliance: Legionella, IAQ, and Refrigerant Transitions

Commercial HVAC systems face a convergence of compliance obligations in 2026. The 2025 NFC in Canada includes updated provisions for evaporative cooling equipment and drain pans, specifically addressing the prevention of legionella and other bacterial growth — a compliance area that has seen increased regulatory attention following several high-profile outbreaks in commercial and healthcare settings across North America.

Indoor air quality compliance is also tightening through ASHRAE Standard 62.1, which governs ventilation and acceptable indoor air quality for commercial buildings. Regular inspection and documentation of HVAC performance, filter conditions, and ventilation rates is increasingly expected as part of both code compliance and ESG certification programs such as BOMA BEST and WELL Building Standard.

The ongoing HFC refrigerant phasedown, proceeding under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act in the United States and corresponding Canadian regulations, is creating replacement cycles for older HVAC equipment. Property managers with commercial buildings containing HFC-based refrigeration or cooling systems should be actively tracking replacement timelines and ensuring that technician qualifications and refrigerant handling records meet current regulatory requirements.

Accessibility: ADA and Expanding Canadian Requirements

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) remains a significant ongoing compliance obligation for commercial property owners in the United States, with active enforcement by both the DOJ and private litigants. The 2025 NBC in Canada has expanded accessibility requirements to apply to all types of dwelling units — a change that has broader implications for mixed-use commercial buildings undergoing renovation or change of use.

Property managers conducting regular building inspections should include accessibility compliance as a standing component of their inspection program — covering entrances, corridors, restrooms, parking facilities, signage, and elevator operations. Documented accessibility inspections not only reduce legal exposure but also support BOMA and LEED certification requirements.

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5. Digital Documentation Is Becoming a Compliance Prerequisite

One theme runs through virtually every compliance development described in this guide: the expectation that compliance documentation is accurate, current, and retrievable on demand. Whether the requirement comes from a BPS regulator asking for energy benchmark data, a fire inspector requesting maintenance logs, an insurance underwriter reviewing HVAC service records, or an institutional investor conducting ESG due diligence, the answer to all of these requests depends on the same underlying capability — a systematic, documented inspection and maintenance program.

Ontario's 2026 building regulation changes have made this explicit, designating digital documentation as the expected standard for permits, inspections, and safety audits. Builders and building managers are expected to maintain real-time reporting on site conditions and compliance status. While this requirement is most immediately applicable to construction activity, it signals the broader direction of regulatory expectations for commercial building operations.

The practical challenge for many property management operations is that their current documentation systems — paper logs, spreadsheets, email-based communication — were not designed to produce the kind of audit-ready, portfolio-level compliance record that 2026 requirements increasingly demand. An inspection program that lives in a binder on-site may satisfy a local fire marshal conducting an annual visit. It will not satisfy a BPS regulator asking for 18 months of ENERGY STAR data, a BOMA 360 auditor reviewing six categories of operational performance, or a green lease tenant requesting documentation of IAQ monitoring outcomes.

Compliance documentation that cannot be retrieved quickly, filtered by date or building system, and linked to corrective action records is not a functional compliance program — it is a paper trail that provides the appearance of compliance without the substance of it. In 2026, this distinction is becoming financially consequential.

Digital inspection platforms close this gap by ensuring that every inspection is timestamped, every deficiency is linked to a work order, every corrective action is tracked through to completion, and the full documentation history is searchable and exportable at any time. For property managers preparing for BPS compliance reviews, ESG audits, or certification applications, this capability is the difference between a smooth process and a costly scramble.

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What to Do Right Now: A Practical 2026 Compliance Action Plan

The following steps address the most urgent compliance priorities for commercial property managers in 2026. They are organized in order of immediate financial risk, moving from highest-penalty exposures to longer-term positioning actions.

1. Confirm your BPS status in every jurisdiction where you operate. If you own or manage commercial buildings in New York, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle, or any of the 50+ other U.S. cities with active building performance standards, check your current energy use intensity against applicable targets. Identify buildings that are out of compliance and estimate penalty exposure. BPS penalties can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for large buildings that are significantly above target — this is the most immediate financial risk many property managers are carrying right now.
2. Enroll all applicable buildings in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager if you have not already. This is now mandatory infrastructure in seven U.S. states and 48 local governments, and it is required for BOMA 360 certification, LEED recertification, and most major ESG reporting frameworks. Without Portfolio Manager enrollment, you cannot demonstrate energy compliance in any jurisdiction that requires it.
3. Verify which building code edition governs each property in your portfolio. For Canadian properties, confirm which edition of the National Building Code and National Fire Code has been adopted in each province and identify whether any local amendments apply. For U.S. properties, confirm the applicable edition of ASHRAE 90.1 or IECC in each state, particularly for buildings that have recently undergone major renovation or system replacement.
4. Audit your fire and life safety inspection records. Review documentation for all fire alarm panels, sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, fire doors, and evacuation drill records. Identify gaps — particularly for any systems that have been modified or replaced in the past three years, as code updates may have triggered new inspection requirements. Ensure records are stored in a format that can be retrieved immediately on request.
5. Update your HVAC maintenance program to address legionella risk and IAQ documentation. If your commercial buildings include evaporative cooling towers, cooling coils, or humidification systems, ensure you have a documented water management program aligned with ASHRAE Guideline 12-2000 or the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188 requirements for legionella risk management. Document filter replacements, coil cleanings, drain pan conditions, and refrigerant handling records systematically.
6. Evaluate your ESG reporting readiness. If your firm or your investors are subject to ESG disclosure obligations — including California's SB 253/261, Canadian CSA climate risk disclosure proposals, or investor-driven GRESB reporting — assess whether your property-level data collection is adequate to support corporate-level disclosures. Energy, water, waste, and indoor environment data must be available at the building level to roll up into credible ESG reports.
7. Migrate your inspection and maintenance documentation to a digital platform if you have not already. The documentation requirements embedded in 2026 compliance obligations — across BPS, fire safety, HVAC, accessibility, and ESG — collectively require a systematic, searchable, audit-ready record of building performance. Paper-based or spreadsheet-driven systems cannot reliably produce this record at scale. A digital inspection and work order management platform is now practical infrastructure for any commercial portfolio operating in regulated markets.

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Final Thoughts

Commercial property compliance in 2026 is more complex, more consequential, and more interconnected than it has been at any point in recent memory. Building code updates, energy performance mandates, ESG disclosure requirements, and life safety obligations are not arriving sequentially — they are arriving simultaneously, and they share a common dependency on systematic, documented building management.

The property managers best positioned to navigate this environment are not necessarily those with the largest compliance budgets. They are the ones who have built operational programs — structured inspection schedules, digital documentation systems, proactive maintenance protocols — that produce the records compliance requires as a natural byproduct of running buildings well.

For operations that have not yet made that structural shift, 2026 is a reasonable deadline to treat as a forcing function. The combination of active BPS enforcement, new code adoptions, and growing ESG investor expectations means that the cost of non-compliance is no longer theoretical. It shows up in penalty notices, failed certification applications, insurance rate increases, and the growing list of institutional tenants whose lease requirements now include documented sustainability performance.

The good news is that aligning your inspection program with 2026 compliance requirements does not require a major capital investment. It requires structure, consistency, and the right tools to turn daily maintenance activity into the compliance documentation that regulators, auditors, and investors are increasingly demanding.

Onsite HQ is built to support exactly this transition — giving property managers the ability to run structured, digital inspection programs that close the loop between identified issues and resolved work orders, while building the audit-ready documentation trail that 2026 compliance obligations require.

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