Licence exemptions for certain contractor partnerships

Construction contractors sometimes form partnerships for the purpose of carrying out work on a single, generally large-scale, construction project. Everyday language uses "consortium" or "joint venture" to designate these partnerships, which can be general or undeclared partnerships, with or without a written contract.

A contractor partnership is exempt from the obligation of holding a licence where the following conditions are met:

• The partnership is a general or undeclared partnership; accordingly, a limited partnership or a legal person cannot avail itself of this exemption.
• The general or undeclared partnership was formed for the purpose of carrying out construction work on a single project.

The planned work is authorized by the following licence subclasses:

• 1.3 Contractor - all buildings
• 1.4 Contractor - roads and mains
• 1.5 Contractor - civil engineering structures
• 1.6 Contractor - underwater civil engineering
• 1.7 Contractor - telecommunications, transmission, transformation and distribution of electric power
• 1.8 Contractor - petroleum equipment installation
• 1.9 Contractor - building mechanicals
• 1.10 Contractor - mechanical lifts

Each of the contractors who are members of the general or undeclared partnership must hold a general contractor's licence covering the entire project.

The tender documents for the construction project require the successful bidder to provide a contract performance guarantee and a labour, material and services payment guarantee (e.g. security, certified cheque).

All of these conditions must be met in order to qualify for the exemption.

If this is not the case, your contractor partnership will need a licence to bid on the project and to carry out the project work, or have it carried out.

Precautionary measures to be taken before bidding

• The contract of partnership, in which the contractors who are members of the partnership agree, in a spirit of co-operation, to be engaged in an activity, to contribute to it by pooling assets, knowledge or activities, and to share among themselves the monetary benefits arising from it. Although a written contract is not mandatory to form a partnership, such a document, even if concise, may help you to establish that the exemption applies to you. The partnership contract must also specify that the general or undeclared partnership is established with a view to carrying out construction work involving a single project.
• In the case of a general partnership, a copy of the declaration of registration filed with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec.
• A copy of the general contractor's licence of every contractor who is a member of the partnership, each including all the subclasses of the general contractor's licence that are required under the terms of the project.
• The relevant extracts from the tender documents with respect to the planned work (subclasses 1.3 to 1.10), as well as the contract performance guarantee and a labour, material and services payment bond.
• Any other document required by the client to establish the application of the exemption, e.g. a sworn statement.