Construction Contract — Quebec (Contrat de construction)

A Quebec Construction Contract (Contrat de construction) is a formal agreement governed by the Civil Code of Quebec (CCQ) Book Five: Obligations, specifically the contrat d'entreprise provisions in arts. 2098–2129, and by the Building Act (Loi sur le bâtiment, CQLR c B-1.1), which together create a construction law framework unique to Quebec civil law and entirely distinct from the construction contract regimes applicable in Ontario, Alberta, or British Columbia under their respective Builders' Lien Acts.

The contrat d'entreprise under CCQ art. 2098 defines the contractor (entrepreneur) as a person who undertakes to carry out physical work (ouvrage physique) for a client (maître de l'ouvrage or donneur d'ouvrage) without subordination, for a price that the client undertakes to pay. CCQ art. 2099 confirms that the contractor is not an employee — the contractor chooses the means of performing the work and owes only the result specified in the contract. The obligation de résultat principle is central to Quebec construction law: unlike the common law standard of reasonable care, Quebec courts hold contractors to the actual result promised in the contract. A contractor who completes work that does not conform to the agreed specifications cannot invoke reasonable diligence as a defence.

Licensing under the Building Act (Loi sur le bâtiment) is mandatory for all contractors performing construction work in Quebec for remuneration. The Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ), established under the Building Act, issues contractor licences by category — general contractor (Category 1.1), electrical (Category 16), plumbing (Category 15.1), and dozens of trade categories. A contract concluded with an unlicensed contractor for residential construction is voidable at the client's option under s.197 of the Building Act, and the client may recover amounts paid. The RBQ also enforces the Quebec Construction Code (Code de construction du Québec) adopted under the Building Act, which incorporates the National Building Code of Canada with Quebec-specific modifications.

Statutory warranties for new residential construction under CCQ arts. 2118–2120 impose mandatory warranties that cannot be contracted away: the contractor and the architect or engineer (if one was engaged) are solidarily liable for five years after completion for major defects (vices majeurs) that threaten the stability of the building; one year for defects of construction (vices de construction); and during completion for defects that the buyer could not detect at delivery. For residential projects covered by a GCR guarantee plan (Garantie Construction Résidentielle, administered by Garantie de construction résidentielle), these statutory warranties are backstopped by an insurance-based guarantee plan providing recourse if the contractor fails to honour its warranty obligations.

The legal hypothec of construction (hypothèque légale de la construction) under CCQ arts. 2724, 2726, and 2728 gives unpaid contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers a statutory lien right against the immovable on which they worked. Unlike Ontario or British Columbia construction liens (under the Construction Act 2017 or the Builder Lien Act respectively), the Quebec legal hypothec must be published in the Registre foncier du Québec at the Bureau de la publicité des droits within 30 days of the end of the work (CCQ art. 2727) or it is extinguished. Owners managing this risk typically impose contractual holdback requirements — retaining a percentage of each progress draw until the 30-day hypothec period has expired — a practice known in Quebec construction as la retenue de garantie.

A Quebec Construction Contract (Contrat de construction) under CCQ arts. 2098–2129 and the Building Act (Loi sur le bâtiment, CQLR c B-1.1) is required whenever a property owner, developer, or general contractor wishes to engage a licensed contractor for construction, renovation, or building work in Quebec, establishing the binding obligations of result, payment schedule, and warranty protection specific to Quebec civil law.

When a homeowner commissions residential renovation work worth more than $3,000 — for example, a kitchen renovation in Montreal, a bathroom addition in Quebec City, or a basement finishing project — the contractor must hold a valid Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) licence appropriate to the work category, and the written contract must include the contractor's RBQ licence number, scope of work, price, payment schedule, and the consumer's right to cancel under s.54.3 of the Consumer Protection Act (Loi sur la protection du consommateur, CQLR c P-40.1) for contracts concluded away from the contractor's place of business.

When a general contractor (entrepreneur général, Category 1.1 RBQ licence) engages subcontractors (sous-traitants) for specialized trades — electrical (Catégorie 16), plumbing (Catégorie 15.1), or HVAC (Catégorie 17) — each subcontract must clearly define the scope, price, and payment terms to manage the legal hypothec risk under CCQ arts. 2726–2728. Unpaid subcontractors and material suppliers have 30 days from the end of their work to publish a legal hypothec (hypothèque légale) against the owner's property at the Registre foncier du Québec — without contractual notice provisions and a holdback, owners can find their property encumbered by hypothecs for work they believed was already paid.

When a Quebec municipality or public body subject to the Act respecting contracting by public bodies (CQLR c C-65.1) awards a construction contract — whether for a school building, a social housing project, or infrastructure works — the contract must comply with Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) regulations, competitive tendering rules, and mandatory contractual clauses established by the Conseil du trésor directives, including anti-corruption attestations required under the Act to prevent, combat and sanction corrupt practices in public contract management (Loi sur l'intégrité en matière de contrats publics).

When the construction involves heritage buildings in Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal), Old Quebec City (Vieux-Québec), or other municipally designated heritage areas, the Cultural Heritage Act (Loi sur le patrimoine culturel, CQLR c P-9.002) requires authorization from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications for work on classified or recognized heritage immovables, and the construction contract must confirm that all applicable heritage permits have been obtained before work commences.

When a residential developer builds new homes or condominiums subject to the GCR guarantee plan (Garantie Construction Résidentielle), enrolment in the GCR plan is mandatory and the construction contract must reference the GCR guarantee certificate number, because buyers have statutory claims against the GCR plan for contractor defaults, abandonment, or warranty non-compliance — separate from their contractual claims against the developer.

A Quebec Construction Contract (Contrat de construction) under CCQ arts. 2098–2129 and the Building Act (Loi sur le bâtiment) must include the following components to satisfy the RBQ licensing requirements, manage legal hypothec risk, trigger statutory warranty coverage, and provide enforceable remedies under Quebec civil law.

Party identification must state the full legal name of the client (maître de l'ouvrage) and contractor (entrepreneur), with the contractor's Numéro d'entreprise du Québec (NEQ) from the Registraire des entreprises du Québec (REQ) and their RBQ licence number (mandatory on all contracts under Building Act s.84). The contractor's RBQ licence category must match the work to be performed — a general contractor licence (Category 1.1) for multi-trade projects, or a specialized trade licence for single-trade work. Clients should verify licence validity on the RBQ's public online licence verification portal before signing.

Scope of work must describe the work with the precision required by CCQ art. 2098's obligation de résultat standard — not "bathroom renovation" but a specification incorporating detailed plans, materials schedule, finish standards, and exclusions. Plans and specifications prepared by an architect (membre de l'Ordre des architectes du Québec) or engineer (membre de l'Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec) should be attached and incorporated by reference in the contract.

Contract price and payment schedule must specify whether the price is a forfait fixe (lump sum), prix unitaire (unit price), or régie contrôlée (cost-plus with a ceiling). The payment schedule should tie each progress draw to a defined milestone certified by the project architect or engineer. For residential contracts, GST at 5% and QST at 9.975% (combined 14.975%) must be itemized unless the work qualifies for the new residential housing GST/HST rebate under s.256 of the Excise Tax Act (Canada).

Legal hypothec holdback under CCQ arts. 2726–2728 should contractually require the client to retain a percentage of each progress payment (typically 10%) until 30 days after the end of all construction work on the project. Under CCQ art. 2117, the client may hold back amounts sufficient to pay hypothec creditors if unpaid subcontractors publish hypothec notices against the property at the Bureau de la publicité des droits of the Registre foncier du Québec.

Statutory warranties under CCQ arts. 2118–2120 are non-waivable in residential construction: the contractor is liable for 5 years for vices majeurs (major defects threatening structural integrity), 1 year for vices de construction (construction defects), and during delivery for apparent defects. The contract must not purport to limit these warranties for residential work — any such limitation is void under Quebec law.

Change orders (avenants) must be in writing and signed by both parties before the additional or varied work commences. Under CCQ art. 2100, any modification to the agreed work constitutes a new contract requiring mutual consent — a contractor who performs additional work without a signed change order may have difficulty recovering payment beyond the original contract price.

Dispute resolution must reference the GCR arbitration process for residential warranty claims, mediation under the Code of Civil Procedure (CQLR c C-25.01) arts. 1–7 for pre-trial disputes, and the applicable court tier: Superior Court of Quebec (Cour supérieure du Québec) for claims exceeding $85,000 or involving complex construction defect issues, or the Court of Quebec (Cour du Québec) for claims between $15,000 and $85,000.

The forms-legal.com Quebec Construction Contract template includes CCQ arts. 2098–2129 contrat d'entreprise provisions, RBQ licence verification clause, legal hypothec holdback language under CCQ arts. 2726–2728, GCR warranty plan reference for residential projects, CNESST workplace safety declaration, and a bilingual (French/English) execution block with signature dates.