On December 2, 2010, Bill No.122, titled the Act amending the Loi sur le bâtiment, relating to the modernization of building safety requirements was sanctioned by the National Assembly. According to the Government, these modifications will make it possible for the Régie du bâtiment to modernize the rules enacted under the terms of this law, and more specifically those relating to building safety and pressurized equipment. The Régie du bâtiment will also be permitted to make available to the public certain categories of information provided to it by an administrator of a warranty plan covering new residential buildings, for example the premiums collected, the number and amount of claims received and the cost of each loss claim.
We must bear in mind that almost all of the provisions contained in the Loi sur le bâtiment apply to buildings used or intended to be used to shelter, or be occupied by people. Condominiums fall under this definition. We can see that the intention of the Quebec Government is to work towards better regulation of maintenance standards for buildings intended for use by people, and this with the goal of ensuring public safety, with the secondary effect of preseving existing and future real-estate assets: building owners and operators will be obliged to properly maintain them and not let them deteriorate due to neglect. With these powers, the Régie du bâtiment will place greater responsibility on building owners and operators in order to create a better legal framework of regulations regarding building maintenance in order to avoid the dangers stemming from neglect or abandonment.
In addition, when the bill was presented for adoption in principle, Madame Lise Thériault, the Québec Labour Minister, cited past events such the collapse of a parking garage in the district of Ville St-Laurent, as well as the fall of a concrete frontage flagstone in the downtown area of Montreal, which together resulted in two deaths.
The drafting of specific regulations to ensure and to certify that the building conforms to standards will henceforth fall under the responsibility of Quebec's Régie du bâtiment. The power of the Régie du bâtiment to create regulations requiring the owner of a building to provide a certificate of conformity has existed for several years, but with this bill it will undoubtedly use this power more vigorously. We will probably see the creation of regulations determining the frequency of building inspections, designating the people and organizations mandated to issue certificates of conformity, as well as the rules for record-keeping of the certification documents.
Although the primary objective of this bill does not appear to be aimed at divided co-ownerships specifically, the fact that is directed at all buildings used by the public will undoubtedly have an impact especially on neglected co-ownerships, which thankfully don't appear to be numerous.
On the other hand, if the Régie du bâtiment intends to introduce regulations obliging building owners (and the physical or legal entities assimilated to the owner, of which a syndicate of co-ownership could be considered) to have them inspected by professionals at specific intervals, this will simply be a codification of the standards which are already part of the recognized practices in divided co-ownership. The majority of co-ownerships already have a building inspection schedule requiring inspections at predetermined intervals, and these are often part of the overall maintenance plan for the building, as well as the long-term contingency fund study and a multi-year plan major works plan for the building. If this isn't the way your co-ownership currently does things, then this bill represents a good opportunity for change.
The combined effect of several articles of the Civil code of Quebec already attribute and create powers and responsibilities for the Board of Directors to the same effect: a prudent and well informed Board of Directors will recognize that the preceding practices fit with the objects and the duties of all syndicates of co-ownership, irregardless of the size of the building.
A well-informed Board of Directors will thus be pro-active in its management practices and will adopt measures that are needed to preserve the collective investment and the safety of all the co-owners, in addition to avoiding harm to the syndicate, to the co-owners and to third parties caused by a lack of maintenance of the building. However, it is possible that the members of the syndicate's Board of Directors are not entirely conscious of the scale and scope of their responsibilities and that they aren't as pro-active as they should be.
When we consider the goals of these legislative changes, we believe that it would be beneficial to have precise guidelines concerning building maintenance records and the documenting of major repairs undertaken.
Moreover, these modifications will make it possible for municipalities to harmonize their regulations, such as those regarding fire safety, and henceforth, all the municipalities will be able to adopt these new standards, which doesn't prevent a municipality from adopting stricter standards..
This bill also introduces amendments to the existing rules regarding the administration of warranty plans for new residential housing (La garantie Qualité Habitation offered by the ACQ), la Garantie des bâtiments Résidentiels Neufs offered by the APCHQ and La Garantie des Maîtres bâtisseurs Inc.). These amendments were introduced at the request of consumer groups, construction contractors, and the media. Under the terms of these amendments, and with a view to ensuring the legitimacy and transparency of these warranty plans, and in order to avoid financial scandals of the type seen in other sectors of the Québec economy, the Régie will make additional financial information on the warranty plans available to the general public, which not presently the case (example: the amount of premiums collected, the actuarial reserve, the total of the claims and the cost incurred for each loss). Through these amendments the Government is aiming to increase transparency, facilitate the rendering of accounts and management of premiums by the plan administrators.
The Régie du bâtiment will also be able to enact regulations to improve the environmental efficiency of buildings at the design stage. On this level we will most likely see the introduction of additional standards for the insulation of the buildings to achieve greater energy efficiency, as well as as rules to encourage the use of wood in the construction industry and standards governing the installation of low water consumption plumbing fixtures.
According to Madame Thériault, the Régie du bâtiment will be in a position to present a series of draft regulations to parliamentary committee sometime during 2011. We will keep you abreast of any further development on this subject.