Régie du bâtiment du Québec – Montréal

Organisation profile

In view of protecting the public, the RBQ’s mission is to ensure the following:
• the quality of the work and safety of the buildings and facilities
• the professional qualifications of the contractors and owner-builders
• the integrity of the contractors and of the owner-builders

The RBQ fulfils its mission by enacting construction, safety and professional qualification standards. It oversees the enforcement of these standards, through investigations and verifications, by applying the remedies provided by law in case of defaults or defects and by setting out financial securities to protect the consumer. The RBQ is also recognized as an organization which inspects and verifies quality control programs in the area of pressure vessels.

For the sake of protecting the public, the RBQ lays the rules with regard to the professional qualification within the construction industry. It verifies the expertise of the building contractors and owner-builders. Once the RBQ has the assurance that the applicable regulatory requirements with regard to licence security and certification to a guarantee plan have been met, it delivers the licence required to perform or to have a third party perform the construction work of a building, of an equipment intended for public use, of certain facilities or installations detached from a building or of a civil engineering structure.

The RBQ delivers licences to building contractors and owner-builders. These licences confer them with a right of exercise, subject to the evaluation of their professional competence and of their integrity. The RBQ sees to it that they hold a licence that is both valid and in agreement with to the types of work carried out.

If one or several infractions are observed, the RBQ then enacts so as to regularize the situation. The licence holders as well as the applicants for licence delivery thus form a major segment of the RBQ’s client base. This is why the RBQ supports these stakeholders to help them meet their responsibilities.

The RBQ oversees the quality of the work and the safety of the buildings and equipment coming under the laws and regulations it administers. The RBQ also monitors, through investigation activities, whether a person operating as a contractor or owner-builder actually holds the appropriate licence for the work carried out. The extent of the regulations in the RBQ’s various areas of competence is specified in the statutory regulation of the Building Act.