Bill 16 and Condo Documents in Quebec

A seller tells you his co-ownership has neither a maintenance logbook nor a contingency fund study. In 2026 he is probably telling the truth, and he is not in breach of anything. Another obligation, though, has applied since 14 August 2025 and entitles you to dated figures before you sign. Here is what is in force, what is still coming, and the list to demand before anyone drafts a promise to purchase.

Bill 16 and divided co-ownership in Quebec: what is in force in 2026

The statute commonly called Bill 16, assented to on 11 December 2019, is titled Loi visant principalement l’encadrement des inspections en bâtiment et de la copropriété divise. It amended the Code civil du Québec, but most of its measures depended on a regulation. That regulation now exists: the Règlement établissant diverses règles en matière de copropriété divise was published in the Gazette officielle du Québec on 30 July 2025 and has been in force since 14 August 2025. No general meeting can vote itself out of it. Coming into force does not mean immediate results.

The three years and one day granted for the first logbook and the first study is the fact buyers miss most often. Until 15 August 2028, a syndicate that has neither one is complying with the law. You, meanwhile, are buying without them.

The contingency fund study: who produces it, what it must contain

Article 1071 requires the board of directors to obtain a study establishing the sums needed for the fund to cover the estimated cost of major repairs and of the replacement of the common portions. The 2025 regulation reserves that work to a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs, of the évaluateurs agréés (chartered appraisers), of the architects, of the technologues professionnels or of the comptables professionnels agréés, independent of the co-ownership: not a director, not the manager, not a co-owner, not an occupant.

The board must obtain one at least every 5 years. It is built on the major repairs and replacements set out in the logbook over at least 25 years, and its minimum content comes down to four points: the fund balance used for the calculation, the estimated cost of each major repair in its year of execution, the recommendation on the amount to have on hand at the start of each year and on the sums to be paid in annually, then the explanation of the calculations.

The line that concerns you is the recommendation. Compare it with the actual balance shown on the attestation: the gap is your real negotiating subject. While you wait for a study, there is only a floor, and Éducaloi puts it this way: at least 5% of your condo fees must go into the contingency fund.

The maintenance logbook, and revision every 5 or every 10 years

The logbook provided for in article 1070.2 inventories the common portions, the materials, the apparatus and the equipment, including those inside private portions whose upkeep the syndicate assumes. For each one: installation date, required maintenance and its frequency, routine repairs, contracts, warranties, inspection reports. A separate section assesses the condition and the remaining useful life of every component, then describes the major repairs and replacements to be carried out over at least 25 years, with an estimated year of execution for each.

The most useful sentence in the regulation is elsewhere. The board updates the logbook at least once a year, and if planned work has not been done, the logbook must say so and say why. That list of postponements, with its justifications, teaches you more about how the building is run than a forty-minute showing.

Revision happens at least every 5 years, by a qualified professional who has examined the premises. Every 10 years is enough in three cases: at most 8 private portions excluding parking spaces and storage spaces, no common portion located inside a building, or at most 3 storeys entirely above ground. Plenty of small converted buildings in Laval and Montreal fall into that box: the information will arrive at wider intervals than in a downtown tower.

The syndicate’s attestation: the Bill 16 obligation that bites right now

Article 1068.1 is direct. Anyone selling a fraction must, in due course, give the promisor-buyer an attestation from the syndicate on the state of the co-ownership, and the syndicate provides it within 15 days to the co-owner who asks for it. The OACIQ points out that no transitional measure was provided: a seller who accepts a promise to purchase on or after 14 August 2025 has to supply it.

The regulation sets a minimum content of eight blocks. Two deserve your attention first: the contingency fund balance as at the date of the attestation together with the recommendation from the most recent study, and the major repairs planned over 10 years with their estimated date and cost. The rest gives the contributions and the financial statements over 3 years, liquidity, the budget, the insurance, the highest deductible, claims and inspections over 5 years, and pending litigation.

Three practical details. No form is imposed: the Société d’habitation du Québec offers an optional model. The Demande de renseignements au syndicat des copropriétaires form, the DRCOP, remains useful but does not replace the attestation. And if the attestation is not ready when the offer is being drafted, the OACIQ recommends making it a condition under clause 9.1 of the Promesse d’achat Copropriété form, allowing for the syndicate’s 15 days.

Self-insurance fund, deductible and reconstruction cost

Article 1071.1 requires the syndicate to establish a self-insurance fund allocated to paying the deductibles under its policies. The Règlement établissant diverses mesures en matière d’assurance des copropriétés divises has set the minimum contribution since 15 April 2022, and the arithmetic fits on the back of a napkin. Below half of the highest deductible, the contribution equals that half. Above it, the contribution equals the difference between the deductible and the fund balance. Once the deductible is reached, no contribution is required. Earthquake and flood deductibles are excluded, and the contribution may be reduced as soon as capitalization reaches $100,000.

Two figures from the attestation are therefore enough to anticipate next year’s levy: the highest deductible and the fund balance.

The same regulation requires each co-owner to carry $1,000,000 of liability insurance under 13 fractions, and $2,000,000 from 13 fractions up. It also reserves to a member of the Ordre des évaluateurs agréés du Québec the appraisal of the amount the syndicate’s insurance must provide to rebuild the immovable, which article 1073 requires at least every five years. Ask for its date.

A thin fund does not mean a cheap building

Here is the mechanism nobody explains. After the first study, the board has 30 days following the annual general meeting to fix the sums to be paid in. If the study reveals an insufficient fund, the board adjusts the contributions and has a maximum of 10 years to replenish it. A study obtained in 2028 can therefore translate into fee increases through to 2038, in your unit, after your purchase.

A building with low fees whose fund does not cover the roof scheduled 4 years from now is not cheaper: the bill is shifted onto you. What the monthly amount buys, and who decides on a special assessment, is the subject of condo fees and the contingency fund.

So run the calculation the other way around: take the most likely increase in charges and see what it does to your budget with the affordability calculator. An assessment announced after closing does not change your loan, only your margin.

The documents to demand before the offer, and how to read each one

The syndicate’s attestation, article 1068.1. The fund balance against the recommended amount, then the work planned over 10 years. Two numbers, one conclusion.

The contingency fund study, if one exists. Compare the recommended annual sum with what co-owners are actually paying this year. A gap gets explained in writing.

The maintenance logbook, if one exists. Go straight to the planned work that was not done and to the reasons recorded.

The financial statements for the last three fiscal years. A repeated deficit reads in a minute and announces an increase.

The minutes of the board and of the general meetings. A special assessment almost always surfaces here before it is decided, since the board must consult the meeting.

The syndicate’s insurance policy. The highest deductible, and the date of the last appraisal of the reconstruction cost.

The statement of common expenses owing, article 1069. Whoever acquires a fraction is liable for the expenses owing at the time of acquisition. The syndicate has 15 days to provide the statement.

The declaration of co-ownership and the description of your private portion. The register must describe the private portions precisely enough for co-owners' improvements to be identifiable. That is where unauthorized work surfaces, and what separates the two insurers after a claim: the real limit when you renovate a condo.

Frequently asked questions

The syndicate has neither a logbook nor a study. Should I worry? Not legally, not before 15 August 2028. But you are buying without the two documents that put numbers on the future. Compensate with the section of the attestation on the work planned over 10 years, and with the inspections of the last 5 years.

The syndicate refuses to give me the attestation. The legal obligation rests on the seller, and the syndicate must provide it within 15 days to the co-owner who asks for it. Make it a condition under clause 9.1: no document, condition not met.

Five per cent of the condo fees into the contingency fund, is that enough? It is a floor, not an answer. Éducaloi puts it this way: at least 5% of the condo fees must be deposited into the contingency fund. Only the study says how much is actually needed.

Does my home inspector need an RBQ certificate? Not yet. The Règlement sur l’encadrement des inspecteurs en bâtiments d’habitation has been in force since 1 October 2024, but the certificate only becomes mandatory on 1 October 2027. Until then, the criteria are yours: how to choose an inspector.

To round this out, read seven red flags you can verify on paper and seven failures that keep coming back in a transaction.

A promise to purchase to prepare on a condo? Write to me: I request the attestation, the study and the logbook from the syndicate, and we read them together before the clause 9.1 deadline.

Georges Matar

Residential Real Estate Broker · RE/MAX DU CARTIER INC.

Contact Georges