Self-construction and the RBQ license

If you want to self-build your personal house (the one you are going to live in and which will house your family), you do not need to obtain an RBQ license.

The owner-builder’s license is compulsory for people who wish to work on the work of buildings they own, excluding their personal home (house, condo where they live).

Often people confuse the term Owner-Builder with self-build.

 

 

A construction intended for your personal use or that of your family

In the case of the construction or renovation of a single family Home or a book intended for your personal use or that of your family, you do not have to hold a license as a natural person, except for work related to an installation intended to use gas, a petroleum product or an electrical installation.

See instead  :  HERE

 

Work on a work intended for the personal use of a natural person or his family

From  owner-builders, whoever is a  Physical person  who carries out or has carried out construction work on a single-family house or on a work intended for his personal use or that of his family is not required to hold a license.

Things to remember

• This exemption only applies to a  Physical person
• The single family Home  must be used exclusively to house the natural person who built it or his family. It must not include any business or accommodation (and bring no income).
• The natural person who wishes to build a single-family house for the purpose of selling it is presumed to be a building contractor and must hold a contractor’s license.
• A natural person who wishes to build a single-family house for the purpose of renting it cannot benefit from this exemption: he must hold a builder-owner’s license.
• At all times, a natural person is not entitled to carry out construction work at an installation intended to use gas, at an installation of petroleum equipment or at an electrical installation, if he does not hold the appropriate license. .
• By work intended for his personal use, we mean in particular a garage or a shed which have no commercial use and are reserved exclusively for the use of the owner (natural person) or his family.

Plumbing Renovation: Whether licensed or unlicensed, owner-builders must  to declare  any construction or renovation in plumbing.

See instead  :  HERE

 

The builder-owner license

The owner-builder’s license is compulsory for any Person who, for his own account, carries out or has construction work carried out (NO  intended for his personal use or that of his family)

The owner-builder is therefore a natural person, a company or a public or private legal person who performs work to meet his own needs and on his property (s). (NO intended for his personal use or that of his family), and not for the purpose of profiting from the actual execution of the construction work. In simpler terms, the owner-builder has no customers.

For example, the person who constructs a ten-story building to rent the apartments in that building is an owner-builder. On the other hand, if she builds a ten-story condominium for the purpose of selling units of that building, she is considered a building contractor.

Here are some examples of potential owner-builders within the meaning of the Building Act:

• public bodies: government bodies not mandated by the state
• municipal and paramunicipal organizations; school organizations
• health or social service organizations; religious organizations
• owners of public buildings (office towers, apartment buildings, etc.)
• industry owners
• owners of duplexes and triplexes, etc.
• owners of shopping centers and tenants of commercial spaces
• other owners, such as cooperatives, associations of owners of condominiums, etc.