Registering a building

The guarantee plan ensures that the contractor must fulfill a number of obligations, and covers the following types of new residential buildings exclusively:

• Detached, semi‑detached or row-type single‑family house
• Multifamily building of two to five units, held in undivided co‑ownership (intergenerational, duplex, triplex, etc.)
• Multifamily building held in divided co‑ownership (condo) of no more than four stacked private portions

Exclusions

• Transformation of buildings;
• Building renovations such as extensions or construction of a non‑adjacent garage to the property;
• buildings under construction on a foundation that was retained following the demolition or disaster of an existing building (e.g. fire)*;
• Condominium buildings that have more than four superimposed private portions;
• A home you have built yourself, without the help of a general contractor**.

* The guarantee plan applies when damage has occurred during construction and the foundation has been preserved or when it is a new foundation, but “abandoned” for an extended period of time (e.g.: construction site stopped then resumed). Certain conditions apply, so please contact GCR Technical advisory in these cases.

Mandatory listing of new residential buildings constructed for rental purposes

Sometimes, a building constructed for rental purposes may be repurposed in the 24 months following the completion of work, and its units may be sold instead of rented. In the interest of ensuring adequate coverage for buyers and fair treatment for contractors, GCR would like to share with you the procedure for buildings constructed for rental purposes.

→ Review the details for listing a building constructed for rental purposes.

Prefabricated homes

Prefabricated homes are subject to certain exceptions:

1. If the sales contract is concluded with the manufacturer of a prefabricated home and includes complete home installation (turnkey project), the manufacturer must register the residential unit.
2. If the sales contract and installation contract are concluded with the general contractor (turnkey project), the general contractor must register the residential unit.
3. If the sales contract is concluded with the manufacturer of the prefabricated home and the installation contract is concluded with a general contractor, only the on-site installation work, by the contractor, is covered by the plan.

Self-built homes*

Self-built homes are not generally covered by GCR.

Therefore, a self-builder who organizes and coordinates the construction of a new residential building, whether performing the work alone or hiring a specialized contractor to perform it, cannot be covered by the guarantee plan.

The situation changes if the self-builder hires a contractor to organize or coordinate the work fully or partially. In this case, the contractor will be considered to be acting as a general contractor. The contractor must hold a subclass 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 licence, be accredited under the guarantee plan and register the project with GCR (even if the invoice is issued under the name of the self-builder).

To register a building with GCR, you must follow the steps set out in the Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings.

You must register each building by the time the first of these events occurs:

1. The business contract or preliminary contract is signed
2. Construction permits are issued
3. Construction work begins on the building to be registered

The forms to register a building are available for free in the Zone GCR (in french).

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:

Registration fees vary based on the Cote Qualité GCR and the building class.

Fees include:

• The fee to register the unit
• Risk management fees (fees for inspections, analysis, tests, etc.)
• The $300 (plus applicable taxes) that is required for the RBQ guarantee fund
• The $57.17 (plus applicable taxes) that has been required by the RBQ since January 1, 2015

→ List of registration fees

If you would like a hard copy of the form for registering single-family residential buildings, you must pay the administrative fee that has been in place since January 1, 2020, which applies to each registration. We encourage you to register all of your new projects in the Zone GCR.

Download the flow chart (PDF) to determine which documents you’ll need to register your project (in french).

Additional documents may be requested depending on the geographical location of the new construction. For example, soil tests or a piling certificate could be required in areas known for soil bearing problems.