What the RBQ does for you

The Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) plays a major role within the construction sector: the organization ensures not only the proper quality of the work, but also your safety as well as your protection as a consumer. Thus, the RBQ performs many duties within the daily lives of the citizens.

Enforcing the Building Act, the Construction Code and the Safety Code

The RBQ is instrumental in ensuring the quality of the buildings and your protection when you are on the premises of buildings and equipment covered or are using equipment falling within the regulations, such as an elevator or a ski lift.

To this end, the RBQ provides for enforcement of the Building Act. More specifically, it sees that the prescriptions of the Construction Code as well as of the Safety Code are met.

Issuing licences to the contractors and owner-builders

The RBQ is instrumental in ensuring the quality of the construction or renovation work, or the installation of certain equipment. To this end, it issues the licences [Fr] relevant to the contractors and owner-builders, provided that certain conditions are being met.

The RBQ not only issues these licences, but it is also empowered to modify, restrict or withdraw these when their holders have failed their obligations. You can refer to the existing decisions rendered to this effect.

Offering financial guarantees to the consumers

In order to protect the consumers, two (2) types of financial guarantees are available.

The licence security

The licence security is an amount which is lodged (deposited) as guarantee by any contractor applying for a licence. This amount is to be used to compensate the consumer who has suffered prejudice as a result of, for instance, the non-performance or the poor performance of the work.

The Guarantee plan for new residential buildings

The Guarantee plan for new residential buildings offers to the purchasers of houses or new dwellings held in co-ownership which are covered by this plan, a guarantee of the contractual obligations of the contractor. These obligations involve in particular the partial payments as well as a guarantee against construction defects.

In order to benefit from the protections offered by this plan, the purchaser must take certain precautionary measures, the first of which being to do business only with a contractor holding the appropriate licence subclass and whom is duly accredited with a manager authorized by the RBQ.

Think safety

The RBQ builds upon prevention and awareness-raising in order to inform the public about the hazards and safety precautions which are related to the thrust areas managed by the RBQ. You will find in the sections entitled Think safety at home and Think safety in public places advices on the behaviours to adopt in order to avoid hazards and to ensure your safety.