It's helpful to know the code requirements and unfortunate that the builder was not familiar with them and did not follow the contract documents. Your builder and architect should have already presented you with all of the possible alternatives. One alternative should be to remove the non-complying work and building the roof as required by law and the contract. Section 9.19. Roof Spaces 9.19.1. Venting 9.19.1.1. Required Venting (1) Except where it can be shown to be unnecessary, where insulation is installed between a ceiling and the underside of the roof sheathing, a space shall be provided between the insulation and the sheathing, and vents shall be installed to permit the movement of air from the space to the exterior. 9.19.1.2. Vent Requirements (1) Except as provided in Sentence (2), the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1/300 of the insulated ceiling area. (2) Where the roof slope is less than 1 in 6 or in roofs that are constructed with roof joists, the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1/150 of the insulated ceiling area. (3) Required vents are permitted to be roof type, eave type, gable-end type or any combination of them, and shall be distributed, (a) uniformly on opposite sides of the building, (b) with not less than 25% of the required openings located at the top of the space, and (c) with not less than 25% of the required openings located at the bottom of the space. (4) Except where each roof joist space referred to in Sentence (2) is separately vented, roof joist spaces shall be interconnected by installing purlins not less than 38 mm by 38 mm on the top of the roof joists. (5) Vents shall comply with CAN3-A93-M, âÂÂNatural Airflow Ventilators for BuildingsâÂÂ. 9.19.1.3. Clearances (1) Except as provided in Sentence (2), where venting is provided to a roof joist space, not less than 63 mm of space shall be provided between the top of the insulation and the underside of the roof sheathing. (2) Where venting is provided at the junction of sloped roofs and exterior walls and where preformed baffles are used to contain the insulation, the baffles shall, (a) provide an unobstructed air space between the insulation and the underside of the roof sheathing, that is, (i) not less than 25 mm in dimension, and (ii) of sufficient cross area to meet the attic or roof space venting requirements of Article 9.19.1.2., and (b) extend vertically not less than 50 mm above the top of the insulation. (3) Ceiling insulation shall be installed in a manner that will not restrict a free flow of air through roof vents or through any portion of the attic or roof space. 9.19.1.4. Mansard or Gambrel Roof (1) The lower portion of a mansard or gambrel style roof need not be ventilated. (2) The upper portion of roofs described in Sentence (1) shall be ventilated in conformance with the requirements in Articles 9.19.1.1. to 9.19.1.3.

in my area, it is difficult to get frame carpenters to to optimum value framing. laying out studs 16"oc is standard, too much 'thinking' to change to 24" oc. roof rafters have to fall directly on wall studs.. and most can't wrap their heads around it. I've had more success in regular stick frame with foam sheathing on the exterior of walls. properly nailed, caulked & seams taped. behind brick or furred out walls for siding we use a foil faced foam sheathing. behing stucco t&g. and I have to say, in all fairness, that sometimes it is difficult to get framers to do the foam sheathing install properly. it all depends on the builder & if he is willing to do more than code dictates. code being the least you can legally build to, but better building practices being the goal. I like double top plates for higher insulation values at edges of roof when doing insulation on attic floor. most in my area opt to foam insulate the roofline to put ductwork & equipment in semi conditioned space. while this is a more costly insulation, it covers many building failures. and studies have shown that unvented attics withstand hurricane forces much better than vented attics. some of the most common building failures include: IC instead of ICAT recessed lights oversized cuts for supply boxes, stove vents & bath fans. thermal bypasses like shower units & fireplaces left open in attic. IMO one of the best efficiency upgrades is to design the house with ducts/equip inside the living space. also invest in mid range efficiency hvac equipment, mastic seal of duct system and air sealing of house. the latter is achieved more often than the former. folks just don't understand the design of fur downs for a/c ducts & designers & architects fail us in not incorperating this in design of homes. air sealing often falls to the homeowner to make sure it is done, or to diy. load calcs for hvac sizing, duct design & sizing are all things that should be done prior to start of build. info for build ...shgc & uvalues of windows, insulation R-values, orientation, size of overhang should all be provided for these calcs. one thing that makes a big difference in sizing is the tightness of the house. load calcs give 3 choices. very leaky, average & tight..it makes a big difference in sizing for a leaky house to a tight house. if you nail down your details now, and get everyone on the same page, you'll have a better chance at an efficient house. myself like the two posters above have experience with numerous builds. efficiency is formost in the projects we are involved with, not an afterthought. glad to see that you are being proactive with your build. solid sheated plywood or osb on exterior of house (or interior) makes for a stronger structure. its pretty common in my hurricane area. as with adding foam sheathing, door & windows have to be adjusted for this thicker wall. where are you located? best of luck.

"With the air tight IC recessed light cans you should still build air sealed enclosures around them because they leak a lot apparently. LEDs are a great choice for these locations especially without enclosures as they have a weaker "mini chimney" effect." in all my projects new and existing I've found many ways to seal IC cans. retrofit with inserts. then seal housing to sheetrock ceiling...from inside the house before putting trim kits in place. even 'air tight' trims don't stop the oversized cuts in sheetrock from leaking. I use a mastic tape made by Hardcast #1402 for all my holes in ceiling. more on this later. this seal described above is the best with no measurable air leakage. building boxes..maintaining the 4" air space on all sides & top of can light..also works, cheaper cost..harder install. problem is the 'legs' of the can lights that are attached to ceiling joists & properly sealing around them. this is where the air leakage occurs. I never use foam..because it shrinks over time, you have little control over where it goes & unless it is fire rated..shouldn't be next to heat producing areas. and yeah..I'm overly cautious about this. this method can be well done..and still leaky. foam installs I've seen online in videos put fg batts around recessed lights and foam them. I don't like this at all, and it is never done on my jobs. best of all is to use ICAT only, and use the hardcast tape to seal the cut between housing & sheetrock. Hardcast brand mastic tape #1402 is a 3" wide strong mastic tape. I perfer it over any other brand on the market. cut it into 1 1/2" wide strips and use it in full width depending on size of opening to be sealed. sticks to just about any clean dry surface...to the point of pulling paper off sheetrock if you try to remove it. so use it carefully. opeings at bath fans, supply boxes, stove vents, recessed lights..I use hardcast. use it once..and you'll understand why. not the cheapest on the market @ $22- $35 per 100' roll. but absolutely great stuff. while it is hard to describe the sealing of supply boxes with hardcast from inside the house..a picture shows it well. I'll attach one to this post. flgargoyle .. foil bubble foil is an overpriced product that performs no better than the cheaper radiant barriers. in my house with a tin roof..I have a single sided foil scrim fraft paper like what is used for ductwrap. I used button cap nails to attach it to the undersides of my rafters. with gable end vents..and 3 hurricanes later I've had to do a little repair on it..but it was worth the few bucks it cost me & the 2 mornings it took to install. good benefit in summer little to none in winter. my attic has fg batts on attic floor, one layer in joist bays the other unfaced layer laid across joists. no ducts, no equipment no recessed lights and a damn near perfect air barrier from living to attic space. ducts are in fur downs inside living space, vs air handler in side living space also. a bit over sized @ 2 tons with an whole house april air dehumidifier..also in conditined space. 4" media filter at return. 15SEER unit the addition I re-roofed last summer, batts in rafter bays 1" R-7 foil foam sheating lathes & gavalnized tin. as rafter/ceiling joists are 2x4 (yeah...go figure) the batts are R-13 with the R-7 gives me R-21 for this large bedroom. prior to this install the room was used for storage as it was too hot in summer & too cold in winter and too expensive & uncomfortable to use. with radiant barriers there always has to be a mininum of a 3/4" air space. thus the lathes on top of foil foam board under tin in addition & opposite install in big attic with rb under rafters with foil facing into attic space. gotta run...but wanted to share my take on things. oh here is the pic of the supply sealed from inside the house with hardcast tape. best of luck

Ok,..as I'm in my usual hurry, I haven't read ALL the posts so if this conflicts with any you will have to weigh that.Here's my 2 cents. I DO like cellulose,..it prevents many bugs and saved one of my buildings from burning down (also said by the state fire marshal) Superhot fire in the attic caused by an electrical mistake was so hot that copper wire melted.Huge beams too. (blast furnace effect because we hadn't done walls at that time and the races allowed this effect) However only 2 inches of the 15 inches of the cellulose burned off You can stop it from settling by adding 10% of blowing in fiberglass when doing it,.. You can generally stop moisture by a good moisture barrier paint on the inside of exterior walls. OK,.here is an old post of mine from a Landlord board so parts might not totally apply. ************************************************************ Here are a few more considerations. Yes if you can afford to do your units with a good color thermal camera and have someone come and do properties with a blower door, it would be better but you can come pretty close to finding out a lot about your property without them. We still have half the heating season to go,..and they seem to come around again pretty fast esp if you are paying for heat. I find that tenants appreciate units that are not energy inefficient and EZer to heat,and a selling point tp prospective tenants these days. Go to my picture page and see pics of the way we add another layer of "glass" (plexi) to windows.The upper sashes,if they can't easily be accessed from the outside, we fit them in by holding them in with spaces made from foam 1/2 inch weather striping and then further holding them in with Daps clear Alex Plus. (so that you can still raise the windows up) We also add "pulls to the bottom sashes so that you have someplace to lift up same,.. A thermometer left on the still measuring the cold air falling from these windows are very close to new Anderson,Harvey etc window temps. You will also see examples of what missing insulation looks like from the steam test. The colder areas of the walls have moisture condensed on them and show up darker. Here's the old post: Ways to reduce heat loss in homes/apartments. First find the air leaks in your house. Air infiltration is a major source of heat loss, often surpassing the effect of good insulation. First of all consider there is an inner and an outer seal of the envelope in your house. Both of these are important to seal. Note: despite what some people will tell you, it is extremely hard to get an older house too tight. Most that think they have done so have been shown to fail miserably upon testing. To find the inner leaks you can place a HIGH capacity fan (about 50-60 dollars at HD ) in a window blowing air OUT, best place is a hall window on a first floor but any window will do. Make sure its secure (bungees, whatever) and then put polyethylene over it, secure that with either tape or staples. Cut out an area very slightly smaller than the cage of the fan. At this time make sure the furnace is shut off and fireplaces are long out and flues tightly shut. Turn off any fueled hot water heaters. If you can, plug the exhausts of these with fiberglass insulation and make a big note to unplug them before you turn them on later! If you cant, you can still run the test pretty well. In furnaces you can usually do this by stuffing the fiberglass in the barometric damper toward the chimney. Now turn on the fan set on high. If its set up on the first story, go outside and feel the air leaving your house. SOMEWHERE its coming in just as fast! This amount of air comes pretty close to the amount of air that presses in your house and comes in on a cold day! Your job is to find out WHERE. Have a friend open a window in the house. Can you feel much of a difference if they open/close the window? Probably not very much. Now go back inside and close all interior doors that connect to the rooms that the fan is pulling from. That is, if its in a common hall, all the rooms that branch out from the hall. The whole house is connected in some way, think how the air flows to the fan. Now crack open one door at a time. Feel the air coming out of that room. Note which has most of the air coming out. Go back to that room and feel around, the windows, the base moldings, electrical outlets, etc. find out where its coming in and fix them with appropriate caulks, insulative ropes, Weather stripping. Check that room/door again. When you feel a lot less air coming out of that door go to the next room. After you get the rooms done be sure to check the basement. This is very important. Often people will say they dont have a leaky house because they do the check for cold drafts on a cold windy day thing. This isnt really a good test because of the cold air pressure on a house causes a "chimney effect" That is, air coming in from the lower floors, will push out the air of the upper ones. That pressure is substantial so the warm air will always go OUT. You wont feel cold coming IN from those areas but cold air IS coming in from micro and not so micro cracks in the lower levels and pushes a lot of hot air outside! Like pushing an inverted glass down in water, the fact that the glass doesnt let any air out, no water can go IN. You try to seal the top floors leaks that you NOW can find because of the fan to causing a vacuum. Now after this is all done, Go outside again and feel the amount of air coming out of your house again. Do the open and closed window thing again. There should now be a difference. You might still have a lot of air coming out, remember that it still is coming in somewhere. Can you see if you can find any more? Now it would be good if you can do the outer envelope test. To do this see if you can get a theatrical smoker , this gives off a LOT of non toxic "smoke" They are real cheap from Walmarts at Halloween. It also comes with a optional switch that will keep it going w/o having being in the room pushing the button each time its ready for the next cycle. Now you do the same fan thing but have it blowing IN. Start the smoke. You might call the fire dept to let them know you are doing a smoke test in case someone sees smoke leaving your building and calls them. Turn on the fan and go out, maybe with a video cam and note where the smoke is coming out. This is the outer envelope you should try to seal. Once you do this, with good caulk its should be a one time thing. It will pay you year after year. Another way is a "poor mans" infrared test. Its an easy way to point out weak/no areas of insulation. Let temp in unit go down to around 60 degrees. On a very cold day, all you need to do is to boil water on all the stove burners. Add hot tap water as needed. It make take an hour or two. Use a few fans on high to circulate the air in the unit. You will find that the coldest surfaces will have moisture condense on them. In a while you will see windows condense first. Note which condense first,. Use a non flash camera to take pictures as you may not remember exactly where later and it limits the time you have to boil the water. After the windows,. generally parts of the exterior walls will get wet. Once in a while you might see an exterior wall condense. If so you may have a race in the wall open or a connection to a poor top seal in the attic. The pattern is very similar to what you may see on an infrared scan costing (in this area) hundred s of dollars.