Inspection

Under section 68 of the Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings, GCR must establish an inspection program including the various steps in construction of a building.

This program is in line with the goals of the Policy on inspection, which aims to ensure quality construction, prevent defects and poor workmanship, and reduce potential claims. The policy is an additional tool for GCR to work toward its vision of guaranteeing quality construction for satisfied beneficiaries.

GCR is proud to present the tenth edition of its inspection program, which focuses once more on risk prevention and management. The program encourages contractors to adopt best practices and helps to improve construction quality.

→ Consult our 2025-2029 Inspection Program

GCR has an inspection department full of passionate and qualified people who work to ensure quality construction, prevent defects and poor workmanship, and reduce potential claims.

Based on their site visits, GCR inspectors create inspection reports and send them to contractors. Upon receiving an inspection report, the contractor is given some time to take corrective action toward incidents of non-compliance that were found.

Take a look at all the different tools that the GCR Inspection Department uses to achieve its objectives.

Learn more about the 2025-2029 GCR’s Inspection Program in this video (in French only) :

Moving toward 3 inspections per building

GCR’s new inspection program is set for rollout from 2025 to 2029. As it currently stands, GCR inspects all buildings at least once. However, as GCR’s new approach is rolled out over time, it will inspect more buildings every year, working up to three inspections for each building registered with the GCR by early 2029.

Prefabricated modular homes and buildings held in co ownership are subject to different inspection plans that include specific
special considerations.

A report will be submitted to the Régie du bâtiment du Québec each year and any necessary adjustments will be made.

Two key points in the rollout plan

• Starting in 2027 : At least two inspections for all buildings
• Starting in 2029 : At least three inspections for all buildings

The full rollout plan

The diagram below shows the plan for implementing the new approach in detail. GCR will begin the rollout by focusing on buildings constructed by contractors with lower Cote Qualité GCR scores, as they pose a greater risk to buyers and to GCR. By rolling out the new approach in a gradual and planned manner, GCR will be able to take a range of factors into account and adjust the plan as needed along the way.

Special case: partial work

There may be projects where the general contractor will not be performing all of the work that is generally associated with the main stages of the construction process (foundation, frame, pre-wall closing, exterior finish, finishes). The contractor must inform GCR when the project is registered if this is the case. GCR will analyze all relevant  information, including the contract between the parties, to decide when the project should be inspected. The project may require all three inspections, or may require fewer, depending on the scope of the work to be performed and the contractor’s Cote Qualité GCR score.

Inspections are extremely important in helping ensure builders deliver high quality work, no matter what stage of the construction process they are performed at. That said, as a keystone of GCR’s new strategy starting in 2025, an even greater emphasis will be placed on conducting an inspection before the contractor closes up the building walls with  drywall.

The reason is quite simple: this type of inspection allows the inspector to check and observe the greatest possible number of elements of the construction. Once the walls are closed up, many of these elements are simply impossible to observe.

Consult our Pre-wall closing inspection Preparation Guide (in French only) by clicking here.

A. Requirements for GCR to perform a pre-wall closing inspection

In order for GCR to perform a pre wall closing inspection, all work that comes before the drywalling step must be complete. This includes all structural, insulating, water and air tightness, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. The installation of drywall must be the next step after the inspection. If any minor work is required before drywalling, the GCR inspector will assess whether he can authorize the contractor to close the walls up or if he need to plan another visit.

The contractor must notify GCR if any changes are made to construction elements after the pre-wall closing inspection but before the drywalling is done. GCR will decide whether to authorize the  contractor to close the walls up or conduct a new inspection before giving the go ahead.

B. GCR’s authorization required to close up the walls

Under the GCR’s new approach, the pre-wall closing inspection is mandatory, and the contractor must get GCR’s authorization in order to close the walls up. If no incidents of non-compliance are found during this inspection, authorization may be given directly on site. However, if the contractor has corrective action to take, evidence of the  corrections must be provided before GCR can authorize the contractor to close up the walls.

C. GCR may have the walls opened back up if they are closed without authorization

If the contractor proceeds to close the walls up without waiting for GCR’s authorization, GCR may request to have the walls opened back up so that the inspection can be performed in accordance with GCR’s inspection program. The contractor may also be subject to financial penalties, changes to their Cote Qualité GCR score, and/or a loss of accreditation.

D. GCR’s inspection must not exceed the time limit and cause construction delays

GCR must complete the inspection in a timely manner so there are no delays in the construction work. To this end, the information that GCR has must be correct (key dates, scheduled time for wall closing, etc.). Just as the contractor has responsibilities with regard to letting GCR perform the inspection prior to closing up the walls and by informing GCR of the scheduled wall closure date at least 5 working days prior to the schedule date, GCR is responsible for performing the inspection on the requested date. Once the time limit is up, the contractor may request GCR’s authorization to  proceed with closing up the walls.

The methods used to build homes in a factory are not the same as for site-built homes, and prefabricated modular homes go through quality control processes. That said, GCR still finds incidents of noncompliance in prefabricated modular homes, and buyers still file claims for them. This is why GCR wants to ramp up its inspections of these kinds of homes, while keeping the unique aspects of this market in mind.

By the end of the rollout plan, launching in 2026 and concluding in 2029 (see the table below), GCR’s practice will be to perform two inspections for each prefabricated modular home: one in the factory and one on site. To round out the inspections, reports from the factory’s quality control program under CSA standard A277 will also be considered. As with other building types, GCR’s rollout plan will take Cote Qualité GCR scores into account and begin by focusing on lower-scored contractors. For 2025, GCR will continue to use the same approach for prefabricated modular homes as it did in 2023 and 2024.

⊕In-factory inspection or on-site inspection

As with other building types, manufacturers of prefabricated modular homes are required to provide GCR with accurate construction dates so the required inspections can be planned accordingly. They must also allow GCR to perform the on-site inspection before they can deliver the unit to the client.

GCR’s inspections of buildings held in co-ownership will also be adjusted to account for the unique nature of this building type.

A. Pre-wall closing inspection also mandatory

As with buildings that are not built for co-ownership purposes, a GCR inspection will be required before the walls are closed up. However, pre-wall closing inspections will not be performed for each unit, but rather for each group of units—for example, each floor—as it is not uncommon for drywall to be installed at multiple points of the construction process for these buildings. This may require GCR to make multiple inspection visits for a single building. The rollout plan for pre-wall closing inspections of condos is the same as in section 2.2-C.

B. Potential targeted inspections

Buildings held in co-ownership can be constructed quite differently from single family buildings. For example, they might have much more complex mechanical, ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems. GCR therefore reserves the right to perform targeted inspections focusing on specific subjects.

C. Minimum number of inspections based on building size

GCR will take the size of the building held in co-ownership into account when deciding the minimum number of inspections to perform. All buildings with more than five units will be inspected by GCR at least five times. Buildings with five units or less will be inspected by GCR at least three times.

• At least 5 inspections for buildings with more than 5 units
• At least 3 inspections for buildings with 5 units or less

Plan inspection is crucial to GCR’s risk management. It allows for preventive action to be taken by analyzing the elements of construction to be verified and identifying situations before construction begins, reducing the risk of incidents of non-compliance on site.

” Systematic” plan inspection

GCR can request architectural plans for residential buildings subject to section 87 of the Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings or subject to the Architects Act, CQLR c. A-21.

GCR will also request the building sheet (or equivalent filled out by a professional) submitted to the municipality for the permit application. Architectural plans (elevations and sample sectional views) and any other documents deemed relevant may also be requested at any time and for any type of building, when the project is being assessed or when required under the Quebec Construction Code. For example, architectural plans are required for reinforced concrete work or for projects that include indoor parking garages for more than four vehicles, which require mechanical ventilation.

A plan inspection is then systematically performed for these projects.

“On-demand” plan inspection

In addition to projects for which a plan inspection is systematically performed, you can also request a plan inspection on a voluntary basis. Remember, it’s a lot easier to shift a line on a plan than to move a wall!

Plan inspections are free of charge for all buildings registered and built by accredited contractors, whether single-family homes, plexes or condominiums. Don’t hesitate to use this service!

You can send your plans to plans@garantiegcr.com.

Don’t forget to identify your e-mails by address, lot or project registration number.

Under the 2025–2029 Inspection Program, GCR will be ramping up its inspections every year  through 2029, and will count on the cooperation and professionalism of contractors to carry out  this important undertaking. In addition to being responsible for the quality of the buildings delivered to their clients, contractors must fulfill the responsibilities described below.

A. Register the building on time

The contractor must register the building either when the building permit is issued, when the contract with the buyer is signed or when construction begins, whichever occurs first.

Failure to register a building on time may  jeopardize GCR’s inspections.

B. Provide accurate construction dates and keep this information current

Buildings can be easily registered online through the Zone GCR. The contractor must provide the
construction start and end dates, as well as the date that the walls will be closed up.

The contractor must provide accurate dates and update them with any changes that occur.

Contractors who encounter issues using the Zone GCR can instead email this information to planification@garantiegcr.com.

C. Schedule the inspections

The contractor is responsible for scheduling the pre-wall closing inspection. They should not wait
for GCR to contact them.

Contractors also cannot schedule an inspection the day before. There will be a minimum holding
time between the date of the inspection request and the date that the inspection is performed.

All scheduling procedures can be found below under “Inspection planning”.

D. Wait for GCR’s authorization to close up the walls

As stated in the  above section “Pre-wall closing inspection”, the contractor must get GCR’s authorization before they can proceed with closing up the walls of the property.

E. Address incidents of non-compliance
and submit evidence to GCR

If preventive notifications or incidents of non‑compliance are noted during an inspection, the contractor must take all necessary corrective action within 10 days of the inspection report being sent.

The contractor must also email evidence of the corrections (be it photographic evidence, video evidence or an attestation from a professional) to GCR at suivi@garantiegcr.com. The contractor must notify GCR if they are unable to make the corrections within 10 days and must give a reasonable time frame for the corrective action.

Potential consequences of failing to provide required information

• Additional inspection by GCR
• Late fee for late or incomplete registration
• Impact on Cote Qualité GCR score
• Walls opened back up if closed without GCR’s authorization
• Additional financial guarantees requested
• Loss of GCR accreditation

Incidents of non-compliance identified must be corrected

When incidents of non-compliance are found on site, technical professionals tasked with follow-up ensure that the contractor corrects the incidents of non-compliance. Incidents of non-compliance identified must be corrected within 10 days after the inspection report has been sent.

To allow for adequate follow-up, GCR requires a detailed description of the work and one of the following:

• Photographic evidence of corrections
• Video evidence
• An attestation from a professional

If there is no compelling evidence that can be used to assess the corrective work, the technical professional may need to conduct a follow-up visit.

List of elements to be verified on site

During site inspections, inspectors verify all of the accessible elements on the list of elements to be verified on site, approved by the RBQ, at each project stage. The elements of construction that are verified are the elements set out in the construction plans, as well as what can be observed and accessed at the time of the site inspection, taking into account the obligations set out in the contract.

The items to be verified are ranked on a risk scale, according to the level of risk they represent, the frequency with which they are non-compliant and the seriousness of the non-compliance.

→ Consult the complete list of items to be verified on site (in French only).

Watch this video (in French only) to learn more about the follow-up to a non-conformity identified by GCR during an inspection:

After a building is inspected, an inspection report is written and sent to the contractor within three working days of the inspection. The report will identify the incidents of non-compliance observed on site by level of risk, any preventive notifications issued, best practices followed by the contractor (see section below), and finally, the overall inspection rating out of 90. Details about the inspection rating system are provided in the  table below.

To determine a contractor’s technical rating (one of the components of the Cote Qualité GCR  score*), GCR draws on the contractor’s past inspections. A project gets a rating for each inspection based on the incidents of non-compliance found in the inspection and the best practices that have been incorporated. An average  rating is then calculated for each project.

If a contractor fails to correct the incidents of non-compliance found on site or provide the  required documents, up to 10 points may be deducted directly from their Cote Qualité GCR score.

The contractor’s project ratings are averaged out to give a technical rating, which follows the grading scale below :

• AA : 91 and more
• A : 81 to 90
• B : 71 to 80
• C: 45 to 70
• D : Less than 45
• N : Not scored

Risk Scale

When an inspection takes place, the GCR inspector may observe incidents of non-compliance. The contractor is required to correct these, as detailed in the section below. Such incidents of non-compliance and preventive notifications are recorded in an inspection report that will be sent to the contractor within three working days. In this section, we will explain the types of observations that the report might include.

Preventive notification

If, based on what it observes on site, GCR anticipates that any elements that have not been carried out or completed may contain deficiencies once finished, it will issue the contractor a preventive notification. The expectation is that the contractor will take any necessary action to bring the elements into compliance by the time the construction is completed. The contractor must provide evidence of the corrections. If the evidence is deemed insufficient, GCR may deduct points from the contractor’s inspection rating and require further corrective action.

Non-compliance

An incident of non‑compliance occurs if the GCR inspector finds any element of the construction to be non‑compliant with the current Quebec Construction Code, regulations, best practices and/or manufacturer requirements. Incidents of non-compliance are automatically categorized by level of risk.

Low-risk : these incidents meet the analysis criteria for risk level A or B

Average-risk : these incidents meet the analysis criteria for risk level A and B

High-risk : these incidents meet the analysis criteria for risk level C

Conditions for an AA Technical rating

A contractor that wants to maintain or obtain an AA technical rating must meet the following three criteria :

1. Demonstrate that at least one best practice has been applied for each project inspected
2. Obtain an average of at least 91 points on inspection reports
3. Lose no collaboration points

Cote Qualité GCR

Every contractor accredited by GCR will be assigned a Cote Qualité GCR. This score is assigned by assessing financial ratios, customer satisfaction and the quality of buildings constructed. Contractors who have not yet received a technical assessment are temporarily given a score of N (not scored).

The Cote Qualité GCR helps ensure fair risk management for all accredited contractors.

Note : For a business with a score of N to be assigned a Cote Qualité GCR, it must submit its financial statements and have been subject to inspections totalling 3.0 points. For example, 3.0 points can be achieved through two inspections, one for the exterior finish (1.5) and one for water and air tightness (1.5). These two inspections must be carried out on two different buildings for detached, semi‑detached or row-type single-family buildings.

Through inspection planning follow-ups over the phone or by email, contractors can help GCR keep track of changes on site. Inspection planning takes inspection targets into consideration, which are based on the contractor’s Cote Qualité GCR, work progress and the type of construction (complexity, non-conventional materials, etc.).

The inspection planning is based on the dates you’ve listed in the Zone GCR on your Registration Form. To the extent possible, these dates must be as representative as possible of the progress of your work. In order to ensure better planning of inspections, here are the most important dates to provide to us: the expected delivery date, the “start of work” date and the “end of work” date.

These respectively stand for:

* When the start of work date isn’t known, it is important to provide a reminder date for inspection planning. The reminder date represents an approximate date on which GCR will contact you to confirm the start of work date and schedule its inspections. This is a good practice to avoid oversights!

To contact the inspection planning  : Planification@GarantieGCR.com

514 657-2333 ou 1 855 657-2333, extension 178

Good to know

Contractor are responsible for scheduling the pre-wall closing inspection. They should not wait for GCR to contact them.

Contractors can expect to be contacted by GCR at least 48 hours before an inspector’s visit. Contractors must confirm at that time that they or a site supervisor will be present.

GCR is the only organization in Quebec that collects evidence of incidents of non-compliance found upon inspection and issues identified in buyer claims, stored in what is known as the Colonne vertébrale de GCR.

GCR uses the information in the Colonne vertébrale to make its inspections more effective, provide contractors with the best technical training and share information about issues of priority concern. Every year on its website, GCR posts a list of the top 10 types of non-compliance found in inspections and the top 10 recurring issues most often identified in claims.

Here is the list of the ten recurring issues most often found in inspection listed for 2024 :

1. Roof structure: notches and bracings
2. Installation of doors and windows
3. Air, vapour and gas barriers
4. Fire protection: firebreaks / firestop sealing and compartmentation
5. Wooden floor and wall structure
6. Secondary protection plan (weather barriers)
7. Thermal performance and resistance of building elements
8. Roofing: ventilation of roof spaces
9. Electricity
10. Wood / wood fibre / fibre cement exterior finish

Here is the list of the ten recurring issues most often identified in claims listed for 2024 :

• Drainage: land and foundation
• Plumbing: inlet, outlet and ventilation
• Interior slab on grade
• Masonry: mortar and element installation
• Wood / wood fibre / fibre cement exterior finish
• Thermal performance and resistance of building elements
• Doors and windows: materials and finish
• Quality of exterior concrete work: balconies, stairs, retaining walls and slabs on grade
• Drywall and joints
• Pitched roofs: asphalt and metal shingles

Our data sheets

To reduce incidents of non-compliance and help you respect the codes and standards in force, GCR has created data sheets on a variety of topics. All of these sheets are carefully prepared by GCR and their regulatory content is approved by the RBQ.

→ Take a look at our data sheets (in French only)

Contractors can improve their Cote Qualité GCR through the application of Best Practices. These practices help diligent contractors construct buildings of even higher quality than required by standards in force.

→ More informations on best practices

If you have any questions or would like to follow up on a Best Practice, you can email us at excellence@garantiegcr.com.

The Construction Code (chapter B-1.1, r. 2) is applied by GCR to dwellings subject to the Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings (chapter B-1.1, r. 8) in accordance with the scope of application of the Section l to articles 1.01 to 1.04.

To learn more about the application of the Building Code and its exemptions, consult the following page: Application of the Building Code (in french only).