Glossary of Housing Terms

Placeholder page for the supporting reference Glossary of Housing Terms, part of the Examitect reading list for the ExAC.

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Glossary of Housing Terms at a glance

The fast facts you'll want when you cite this reference or compare it to others on the ExAC reading list.

Full titleGlossary of Housing Terms, The A to Z of Housing Terms
PublisherCanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
Current editionRevised 2001, with reprints through 2013. Catalogue number NH15-159/2001E. ISBN 0-660-18603-9.
Earlier edition1982, originally titled A Glossary of House-Building and Site-Development Terms
LanguagesEnglish with French equivalents in parentheses for most entries. French companion: Glossaire des termes d'habitation, catalogue number 61949.
Primary audienceHousing-industry professionals, university and college students in construction-related programs, anyone working with Canadian residential construction terminology
ExAC relevanceNot named on Examitect's ExAC study plan. Useful as a cross-cutting vocabulary reference for Section 2 (NBC Part 9) and Section 3 (Materials, Building Science, Assemblies) housing questions.
Where to accessCMHC publications channel and many Canadian architecture school libraries. Often available as a free PDF download from CMHC.

Why the Glossary matters for the ExAC

The ExAC doesn't ask you to recite definitions, but it does assume you know them. Part 9 of the National Building Code of Canada (NBC) uses terms like "sheathing membrane", "rim joist", "eave protection" and "braced wall panel" without stopping to define them. Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction adds another layer of housing-specific vocabulary. The Glossary is the single book where you can look any of these up in one sentence and move on.

It isn't listed as a primary or supplementary resource for any specific category on Examitect's ExAC study plan. That isn't a strike against it; it's the nature of a glossary. It earns its place on a candidate's desk in three situations:

  • Part 9 wording is unfamiliar. When you're reading the Code and a term throws you, the Glossary settles it faster than the Code's own definitions section.
  • You're studying from CWFHC. Because the two share illustrations, the Glossary lets you parse CWFHC's labelled figures with confidence.
  • You don't work in housing day to day. If your studio or office is mostly Part 3 commercial buildings, the housing vocabulary the ExAC tests can feel like a second language. The Glossary is the bridge.

Think of it as an answer key for vocabulary, not a chapter to read end to end.

ExAC sections

See the ExAC sections table below for study-plan coverage.

What the Glossary of Housing Terms is

The Glossary of Housing Terms is CMHC's short, illustrated dictionary of Canadian housing vocabulary. The 1982 edition was titled A Glossary of House-Building and Site-Development Terms; the 2001 revision shortened the name and added more than 300 new definitions to reflect current construction practice. CMHC has reprinted it nearly every year since.

Two things make it Canadian rather than a generic dictionary. First, every English entry shows the French equivalent in parentheses, so the same term works in either official language. Second, the illustrations are pulled from CMHC's companion volume Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction, so the figures match the assemblies the NBC actually regulates.

It is not a study guide and it doesn't pretend to be a code. It is a reference: short sentences, cross-references between related entries (the entry for "air conditioning" sends you to Heating and cooling terms, not to a paragraph about HVAC theory), and topic clusters for vocabularies dense enough to need their own group.

Inside the Glossary, A to W plus topic clusters

The book is alphabetical A through W (no entries begin with X, Y or Z in standard housing vocabulary). Specialized vocabularies are grouped into topic clusters. A general entry redirects you to its cluster: looking up "air conditioning" sends you to "Heating and cooling terms" where every related term lives together.

The topic clusters most relevant to the ExAC are listed below.

ClusterWhat's inside, in plain terms
Plumbing termsDrain, waste, vent, supply, fixtures, traps, water hammer, backflow. Pairs with NBC 9.31 and CWFHC Chapter 19.
Electrical termsService entry, panels, circuits, conductors, grounding. Pairs with the Canadian Electrical Code references in NBC 9.34.
Heating and cooling termsFurnaces, boilers, heat pumps, ductwork, air conditioning. Pairs with NBC 9.33.
Ventilation termsHRV, ERV, principal exhaust, supply air, makeup air. Pairs with NBC 9.32 and CMHC's Why Houses Need Mechanical Ventilation Systems.
Window termsSash, frame, glazing, casement, awning, hung. Pairs with NBC 9.7 and CMHC's Windows Overview of Issues.
Insulation termsR-value, batt, board, loose-fill, spray foam, sheathing. Pairs with NBC 9.25 and 9.36.
Lumber termsGrade marks, dimension lumber, sheet products, engineered wood, air-dried vs kiln-dried.
Wood framing termsPlates, studs, joists, rafters, headers, trimmers. The vocabulary CWFHC's framing chapters assume.
Truss termsTop and bottom chord, web, bearing, heel, point loads. Pairs with NBC 9.23 and engineered-truss design notes.
Concrete termsSlump, aggregate, curing, formwork, reinforcement. Pairs with CWFHC Chapter 3.
Joint termsControl, isolation, expansion, construction. Useful for both concrete and masonry questions.
Soil and site drainage termsBearing capacity, frost depth, granular base, weeping tile. Pairs with NBC 9.12 to 9.14.
Flexible housing termsAdaptable, accessible, aging-in-place, visitable. Useful for accessibility-driven design questions.
Plan, ceiling, wall, paint, paving and outdoor structure termsSmaller clusters that show up sporadically. Worth knowing they exist when a question uses an unfamiliar finish or site term.

Key housing terms every ExAC candidate should know

These twelve come straight from the Glossary and show up regularly in Part 9, in CWFHC, and in Examitect's practice questions.

TermDefinition in one sentence
Air barrierThe combination of durable, impermeable materials in the building envelope, continuous around the conditioned volume and sealed together, that stops indoor-outdoor air movement.
Vapour barrierA low-permeance material installed on the warm side of insulation to limit water-vapour diffusion into the wall cavity. Distinct from the air barrier.
Air change rateThe number of times the air in a room or dwelling is exchanged by natural or mechanical means, usually in air changes per hour (ACH).
Above gradeThe part of a structure or site feature above the adjacent finished ground level.
Aggregate (coarse vs fine)Material such as gravel, crushed stone or sand. Coarse aggregate is 5 mm and over; fine aggregate is smaller than 5 mm.
Airlock entryA vestibule sealed by a second interior door, used to reduce air exchange between conditioned and unconditioned space.
Adjustable steel columnA column commonly used in basements to support a beam, capable of being adjusted to a range of heights.
AdfreezingThe process by which one object becomes adhered to another by the binding action of ice. A factor in cold-climate foundation design.
Accessible designA house, amenity or product design that allows access for people with disabilities. Cross-referenced with the entry for barrier-free.
Activated carbon air filterA filter that absorbs pollutant gases through adherence to carbon, used in residential ventilation systems.
Air-supported structureA structure consisting of a pliable membrane that achieves and maintains its shape by internal air pressure.
Air permeabilityA measurement of how readily a building material or component allows air to pass through under a differential pressure.

How the Glossary compares to other ExAC references

The Glossary's job is vocabulary. It overlaps a few definitions with each of the books below but doesn't replace any of them.

ReferenceRelationship to the Glossary
NBC 2020The Code that governs housing construction. The NBC defines a handful of terms in Division A; the Glossary covers far more housing vocabulary in plain language.
Canadian Wood-Frame House ConstructionDirect companion. The Glossary borrows CWFHC's illustrations. Use them together for Part 9 housing topics.
CHING (Building Construction Illustrated)Broader, more graphic, and American-centric. Ching defines terms in context; the Glossary defines them in isolation. Either works for vocabulary.
CHOPPractice-management focused. CHOP and the Glossary rarely overlap, but knowing housing vocabulary helps when CHOP discusses residential project administration.
NBC 2020 Part-9 IllustratedCode-keyed and illustrated. Pair it with the Glossary the same way you'd pair Part 9 with CWFHC.
Why Houses Need Mechanical Ventilation SystemsA CMHC primer on residential ventilation. The Glossary's Ventilation terms cluster is the vocabulary backbone for it.

How to use the Glossary for the ExAC

You don't sit down and read a glossary cover to cover. Use this sequence to extract the most ExAC value from it.

  1. Keep it open while you read other references. Park the Glossary PDF in a second window while you study NBC Part 9, CWFHC, or any CMHC housing publication. Look up any term you can't define in one sentence.
  2. Internalize the topic clusters first. Read Plumbing terms, Electrical terms, Heating and cooling terms, Ventilation terms, Window terms, Lumber terms, Insulation terms and Soil terms as connected groups. They cover the vocabulary that drives most Part 9 and assemblies questions.
  3. Use it to break apart compound terms. When the ExAC mentions a "braced wall panel" or an "eave protection membrane", split it into components and look each up. The Glossary's short definitions force you to know the parts before you put them back together.
  4. Note the bilingual entries. Each entry includes the French term. Skim them. If you ever take a bilingual practice question or a French-language Code reference, you'll recognize the term faster.
  5. Pair entries with the matching NBC article. After you read a Glossary definition, jot the NBC 2020 Part 9 article where the term applies. The Glossary defines the word; the Code applies it. You need both.
  6. Drill the vocabulary through Examitect questions. Run Examitect's Section 2 and Section 3 practice sets filtered for Part 9 housing topics. Each explanation uses the same vocabulary the Glossary defines, so the words stick faster in context than on a flashcard.

ExAC sub-categories the Glossary supports

The Glossary isn't named against any specific category on Examitect's ExAC study plan. The table below shows where its vocabulary is most likely to earn its keep.

ExAC SectionWhere the Glossary helps
Section 1, Design and AnalysisCoordinating Engineering Systems. The plumbing, electrical, heating and ventilation clusters let you parse residential engineering questions without losing time on terminology.
Section 2, CodesSmall Buildings (NBC). The Glossary defines the day-to-day housing vocabulary the NBC text assumes you already know. Also useful for Envelope and Environmental Separation questions.
Section 3, Materials and Construction (Final Project)Materials, Building Science, and Assemblies. The Concrete, Lumber, Truss, Wood Framing, Insulation and Joint clusters cover the vocabulary that appears in residential assembly questions.
Section 4, Construction and PracticeLimited direct use. For field functions, contract administration and project management, lean on CHOP and the CCDC documents instead.

Tips for Intern Architects using the Glossary

Practical advice from candidates who've passed and from Examitect's question authors.

Tip 1, treat it as a lookup tool, not a chapter. Don't try to memorize the Glossary; nobody passes the ExAC by reading definitions A to W in order. Use it the way you'd use a Code definitions section: when something throws you, look it up.

Tip 2, learn the cross-reference pattern. Many general entries say "See [Cluster] terms." That's not a dead end; it means the real definition lives with related terms. Following the cross-reference once teaches you the cluster.

Tip 3, prioritize the envelope vocabulary. Air barrier, vapour barrier, sheathing membrane, air change rate, air permeability, airtightness. If you can recite the distinction between these in one sentence each, you'll lose fewer envelope marks.

Tip 4, don't ignore the French equivalents. If you're writing the bilingual version of the ExAC, the French translations in each entry are exactly what you need. If you're writing English-only, scanning them still helps you recognize French-language excerpts on practice questions.

Tip 5, watch for "barrier-free" and "accessible design". The Flexible Housing Terms cluster covers visitable, adaptable and aging-in-place. Accessibility-driven questions in Section 3 use this language, and the Glossary's distinctions are sharper than the Code's.

Tip 6, cross-check date-sensitive terms against the 2020 NBC. The Glossary's 2001 revision predates several Code updates. Energy efficiency vocabulary in particular has been refined in 9.36. Where the Glossary and NBC 2020 disagree, trust the Code.

Tip 7, build flashcards from the cluster entries. Twenty cards from Heating and cooling terms plus twenty from Ventilation terms gets you a long way for Part 9 mechanical-systems questions in Section 1 and Section 2.

Common ExAC scenarios where the Glossary helps

If a practice question uses one of the following situations, a quick Glossary lookup often points straight to the answer.

  • A question describes a wall section with "polyethylene on the warm side and a spun-bonded polyolefin behind the cladding." Which is the vapour barrier and which is the sheathing membrane? Look up both in the Glossary.
  • A specification calls for an "airlock entry" at the main door. What is it actually asking for, and what NBC clause makes it sensible?
  • A drainage detail uses the term "adfreezing" to justify foundation insulation extending below frost depth. What is adfreezing and why does it matter?
  • A truss schedule labels members as "top chord", "bottom chord" and "web". The Truss terms cluster gives you each definition in one sentence.
  • A ventilation rate is given in "ACH". The Glossary's air change rate entry tells you exactly what is being measured and how it's calculated.
  • A housing project brief asks for "visitable" units. The Flexible housing terms cluster tells you what visitable means in CMHC parlance, distinct from adaptable or accessible.
  • A Code reference uses "above grade" without defining it. The Glossary's one-line definition saves you from arguing with yourself about where grade starts.

How Examitect reinforces housing vocabulary

Examitect's Section 2 and Section 3 question banks lean heavily on Part 9 housing terminology. Every Part 9 explanation uses the same vocabulary the Glossary defines, so if you read enough explanations, you internalize the Glossary's working set without sitting down to study it.

Where a question hinges on a specific term, Examitect's explanations typically restate the definition in line so you don't have to chase it. The Glossary stays useful as the place to verify, expand or look up cross-references when an explanation only gives you the short answer.

You can try a free practice question to see how the explanations are written, or compare plans if you're ready to start drilling.

Glossary of Housing Terms and ExAC FAQ

Not as a named resource. It isn't listed against a specific category on Examitect's ExAC study plan. It works as a cross-cutting vocabulary reference that disambiguates housing terms used across Part 9 of the NBC, Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction and other housing-related supplementary readings.

The CMHC edition titled Glossary of Housing Terms, revised in 2001 and reprinted through 2013. Earlier editions used the title A Glossary of House-Building and Site-Development Terms (1982). Catalogue number NH15-159/2001E, ISBN 0-660-18603-9.

Effectively yes. Each English entry shows the French equivalent in parentheses. CMHC also publishes a fully French version, Glossaire des termes d'habitation, catalogue number 61949.

Alphabetical A through W. Specialized vocabularies are grouped into topic clusters such as Plumbing terms, Electrical terms, Heating and cooling terms, Ventilation terms, Window terms, Lumber terms, Insulation terms and Soil terms. A general entry like "air conditioning" redirects you to the relevant cluster.

The 2001 revision added more than 300 new definitions on top of the 1982 original, so the working set is well into the four-figure range across the alphabetical and topic-cluster entries combined.

No. Use it for disambiguation. When a practice question or a Part 9 passage uses a housing term you don't recognize, look it up. The Glossary is a reference, not a study list.

They are companion volumes. The Glossary draws selected illustrations from Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction, and the two are commonly cited together for Part 9 housing topics.

Through CMHC's publications channel. The Glossary is widely available in PDF form because CMHC distributes it as a public reference, and Canadian architecture school libraries carry it.

Other ExAC reference books

If you're keeping the Glossary close, these are the references most likely to come up alongside it on practice questions and on the exam itself.

Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction

The direct companion volume. Same CMHC source, same illustrations, but built around the construction sequence rather than vocabulary.

NBC 2020

The National Building Code of Canada. Part 9 housing provisions use the vocabulary the Glossary defines.

CHING

Building Construction Illustrated. Broader graphic reference where terminology lives in context rather than in entries.

CHOP

The Canadian Handbook of Practice, the RAIC reference for architectural practice management cited across the ExAC.

NBC 2020 Part-9 Illustrated

Code-keyed illustrated guide. Reads naturally with the Glossary's vocabulary at your elbow.

All ExAC references

The full list of primary and supplementary resources on Examitect's ExAC study plan.