Backflow Testing in North Bay

Who needs backflow testing in North Bay?

Any premises the City Engineer has identified as a cross-connection risk, and in practice most commercial, institutional and multi-unit buildings, plus homes with specific equipment. If you received a notice from the City, it is because your connection is on that list.

What the North Bay by-law requires

The City of North Bay Water Supply By-Law 2015-97, Part 8, covers cross-connections and backflow prevention. Poly-B Plumbing reads it so you do not have to, but the parts an owner is held to are short:

• Where the City Engineer requires a device, the owner must obtain a building permit and install an approved device at their own expense.
• The device must be inspected and tested by a person approved by the City on installation and annually after that, or more often if the City Engineer requires it.
• The owner must file the test report within 14 days, including the tester’s certification or licence number.
• If an owner misses the test, the City can require it within four days of notice, and can shut off the water service until a passing test is on file.
• Nobody may remove or relocate a device without the City’s approval.

Poly-B files the report with the City as part of every test, tags the device with the date and tester number, and keeps a copy so next year’s reminder does not turn into a scramble.

What backflow testing costs in North Bay

Poly-B Plumbing quotes backflow work flat-rate, in writing. An annual test on an accessible device usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. The price depends on:

• Number of devices. A plaza with six tenants is priced per device, with a break for doing them on one visit.
• Access. A device in a mechanical room versus one in a pit or a ceiling.
• Result. A pass is the test and the filing. A fail is a same-day repair quote: if a repair kit is on the truck, it is fixed then; otherwise parts are ordered and the retest is scheduled.
• New installations. Sized to the hazard and the flow, with the City permit included.

Property managers with several buildings can put every device on one annual schedule with Poly-B, which is the cheapest way to never receive an enforcement letter.

Test, repair or replace?

Why backflow matters more in North Bay than people think

North Bay’s drinking water is drawn from Trout Lake, treated by membrane filtration, UV and chlorine, and distributed to the whole city through one network. A single cross-connection on Main Street or in an industrial park can pull contaminated water into that network during a main break or a fire flow, when pressure in the street drops below pressure in the building. That is the event the devices exist for, and it is why the City tests annually rather than trusting that a valve installed in 2015 still seals. Winter adds a local failure mode: outdoor irrigation PVBs and devices in unheated enclosures freeze and crack, and the spring test is when they are found.

Licensing and standards

Backflow prevention device testing in Ontario is done by testers certified through a recognized cross-connection control program, and the City of North Bay approves the tester. Poly-B’s owner is a Red Seal journeyman plumber licensed for plumbing, wells, septic and backflow prevention, carrying up to $5 million in liability insurance. Devices are selected, installed and tested to CSA B64.10, the standard Ontario municipalities reference for backflow assemblies. Plumber (306A) is a compulsory trade regulated by Skilled Trades Ontario, so the installation itself is licensed work as well as the test.

Sources: City of North Bay By-Law 2015-97, Part 8, Cross-Connections and Backflow Prevention; Skilled Trades Ontario, Plumber (306A); City of North Bay water quality reports.

Poly-B’s backflow testing process

1. Site review and device check

   Device type, location, access and test history confirmed before the gauge comes out.

2. Test with calibrated gauges

   Differential pressure across each check and the relief valve, against the CSA B64.10 pass criteria.

3. Tag and document

   Date, result and tester number on the device; report prepared for the City.

4. Repair or replace on a fail

   Repair kits on the truck for common models; replacement quoted same day where needed.

5. File with the City

   Report submitted within the 14-day window; your copy sent with next year’s date noted.

Keeping several buildings compliant at once

Property managers and landlords with more than one address in North Bay get one annual date, one report set and one invoice. Poly-B Plumbing keeps the device inventory, the model and serial numbers and last year’s results, tests every device on the same schedule, and files each report with the City before the deadline. Each report shows the device location and type, the test readings for every check and relief valve, the pass or fail result, the tester’s certification number and the date, which is exactly what the City’s by-law asks an owner to keep on hand.

What North Bay customers say

“Excellent professional job!”Debbie Moss, Google review, May 2025

“Excellent customer service”TGunzSupreme, Google review, June 2025

Where Poly-B tests and installs backflow devices

• North Bay
• Callander
• Sturgeon Falls
• Powassan
• Corbeil
• Astorville
• Bonfield
• Nipissing
• Redbridge
• Mattawa

Backflow questions from North Bay property owners

Related services

• Backwater valve installation
• Commercial plumbing
• Water heater installations
• Plumbing maintenance
• Monthly membership plan