The Ontario Building Code | Bonding and Tying of Intersecting Walls
9.20.11.2. Bonding and Tying of Intersecting walls
(1) Where required to provide lateral support, intersecting walls shall be bonded or tied together.
(2) Where bonding is used to satisfy the requirements of Sentence (1), 50% of the adjacent masonry units in the intersecting wall, distributed uniformly over the height of the intersection, shall be embedded in the laterally supported wall.
(3) Where tying is used to satisfy the requirements of Sentence (1), the ties shall be,
(a) corrosion-resistant metal,
(b) equivalent to not less than 4.76 mm by 40 mm steel strapping,
(c) spaced not more than 800 mm o.c. vertically, and
(d) shaped at both ends to provide sufficient mechanical key to develop the strength of the ties.
In Plain Language
Intersecting masonry walls must be bonded and tied together as set out in this article, ensuring the walls act together structurally at their junctions.
This is a plain-language summary of the 2012/2017 Ontario Building Code text above, for general understanding only and not a substitute for the Code. Always confirm current requirements against the 2024 edition (O.Reg. 163/24) or a qualified professional before construction.