Building permits in Quebec
In Quebec, municipalities issue building permits while the province's Construction Code — Quebec's adaptation of the National Building Code under the Building Act — sets the technical standards, and the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) licenses the contractors who do the work. That licensing layer is Quebec's distinctive feature: hiring an unlicensed contractor is itself a legal problem, though you can do most work on your own primary residence yourself without a licence — with electrical work as the notable exception, reserved for licensed contractors.
- Licenses Quebec's contractors — verify before you hire
- RBQ
- Quebec's provincial standards, based on the NBC
- Construction Code
- Needed for most DIY work on your own primary residence
- No licence
Licenses Quebec's contractors — verify before you hire
Quebec's provincial standards, based on the NBC
Needed for most DIY work on your own primary residence
Permits and the RBQ licence — two separate checks
A Quebec renovation needs both boxes ticked: the municipal permit for the work, and an RBQ licence for whoever performs it (unless that's you, on your own primary residence). The RBQ maintains a free public registry — checking a contractor's licence number takes a minute and is the single best fraud filter in Quebec renovation. Municipal permit requirements themselves vary city to city as everywhere in Canada, and Montreal adds borough-level rules, so confirm requirements with your arrondissement or municipality before work starts.
The DIY allowance has hard edges: it covers your own primary residence, not rental property, and it doesn't extend to electrical work, which Quebec reserves for licensed electrical contractors. Renovating a duplex you rent out, or flipping, puts you in owner-builder or contractor territory with the RBQ — check before assuming the homeowner exemption covers you.
Find a pro in Quebec
Homeprint keeps your home's whole permit story
Everything above lives in scattered municipal files — if it was kept at all. Homeprint pulls your home's full permit history free from municipal records in most major Canadian cities, then keeps the record going: every new permit, drawing, and renovation document filed against your address in one place, with reminders drawn from what the history actually implies.
- Your complete permit history, pulled free from municipal records — no FOI forms, no counter visits
- Every new permit and renovation document kept on your home's permanent record for the day you sell
- Reminders built from the history itself — roof age, warranty windows, service dates
Building permits in Quebec — FAQ
Building permits in other provinces
Let Homeprint do the remembering
Add your documents once — Homeprint tracks the dates, the renewals, and the deadlines, and tells you when it's time to act.