Practical Guide
Alarm Systems and Insurance Discounts in Quebec
The sales representative announces an insurance discount, sometimes a precise percentage. Nobody shows you the grid …
The wall is open, the crew is on site, and behind the drywall there is a crack nobody saw before the purchase. The decision that counts gets made in the hours that follow: do we close it up and carry on? Here is the sequence, in order, and the move that loses solid files.
Closing the wall back up erases the proof of the hidden defect
Educaloi is blunt: if you do not want to bear the cost of the work, do not begin repair work at your own expense. The seller must have the opportunity to verify the existence and seriousness of the defect, to observe the damage, and to repair or replace. A single exception is named: urgent repairs, if the defect is dangerous or risks seriously damaging the building or leading to its loss. Stopping a leak belongs there. Pouring a new slab does not.
A renovation adds a pressure that a defect discovered in ordinary times does not carry: the contractor has a schedule, an accepted quote and a crew paid by the day. Everyone around you has an interest in closing it up fast. Yet it is usually the person making the claim who bears the burden of proof. A wall closed back up does not testify on your behalf.
The first hours: photograph, date, get it in writing
The small claims rules of evidence say exactly what a photo has to carry. Note the date it was taken, what it shows and the name of the person who took it, then annotate a copy. Quality counts more than quantity: one or two photos that demonstrate the extent of the damage can be enough.
Have the contractor write it down before leaving the site. What was found, where, on what date, in what condition. The written record matters for money too: testimony alone is generally not enough to prove a contract or a payment of more than $1,500 entered into with the opposing party.
Bring in an expert while it is open. In a hidden defect file, a building inspector can testify as an expert to explain to the judge the cause of the defect and the work needed to repair it. He can only explain what he saw. At the same time, pull out your Declarations du vendeur sur l’immeuble and your pre-purchase inspection report: the question is not only “what is it”, but “was it declared”. If the opening reveals suspect insulation rather than a crack, everything goes through a laboratory, as explained in vermiculite and asbestos in a Quebec home.
Three possible parties, three different clocks
Before writing to anyone, you have to know to whom. The same crack can fall under three different regimes.
| Avenue | What must be shown | The clock |
|---|---|---|
| The seller | A serious defect, existing at the sale, not apparent, unknown to you | Give written notice without delay, 3 years to sue |
| A past contractor | Work badly done, a contract, a valid licence | The finding within 12 months after the end of the work |
| Wear or apparent defect | Nothing: there is no recourse | None |
On the first avenue, article 1726 of the Code civil du Québec (Quebec’s civil code) is clear, and the OACIQ sums it up: the seller warrants that the immovable is free of defects, existing at the time of the sale, that render it unfit for the use for which it is intended or that so diminish its usefulness that the buyer would not have paid the same price. It does not cover a defect known to the buyer, nor one that a prudent and diligent buyer could have discovered without needing to resort to an expert.
The third avenue is the one people forget. Educaloi specifies that not having an inspection done, or not having it done in a prudent and diligent manner, amounts to accepting the immovable with all the defects that could have been detected. A 1978 baseboard heater at the end of its life is not a hidden defect.
Give written notice of the hidden defect, and only then repair
Article 1739 of the Code civil is explicit: the notice to the seller must be in writing, and when the defect appears gradually the reasonable delay runs from the day the buyer could suspect its seriousness and extent. That “reasonable” delay is assessed according to the circumstances: Educaloi indicates that a delay of 6 months to a year will generally be considered reasonable, exceptionally longer if the defect appears seasonally. A stopped work site does not leave you that comfort: the letter goes out this week.
You may send a formal demand letter directly instead of a simple notice. It contains the description of the defect, your demands, your conditions and the deadline to reply, and it is the prerequisite to a lawsuit. The law requires writing, a verbal notice is not enough, and if the deadline you grant is too short, the person will still be entitled to a reasonable delay. Educaloi recommends facts rather than suppositions, and a page and a half at most.
One limit often surprises people: the OACIQ forbids a broker to provide a legal opinion, for example on the time limits to bring a recourse, to draft a formal demand letter, and to substitute for a building professional in proposing corrective work. The broker can observe the damage with you and direct you to a legal adviser, an architect or a building engineer. I am a broker, not a lawyer: the letter itself gets prepared with a lawyer or a notary.
What happens to your work site in the meantime
Stopping the work is not stopping the payments. If the contractor is not paid, article 2726 of the Code civil gives him a legal hypothec on your immovable, and the same hypothec exists for the architect, the engineer, the supplier of materials, the worker and the subcontractor, without any need to publish it. The protection exists upstream, in how you pay: the smallest possible deposit, payments as the work progresses, and an amount held back until all the planned work is completed.
The correction can change the scope of the work, and therefore the permit. In Laval, a permit becomes required for an interior renovation as soon as there is a change to the dimensions of the rooms, to the number of rooms or to the structure. The City announces a 30 day timeline and a cost of $92 for the first $20,000, plus $2.50 per $1,000 bracket. A change to the layout or to the structure requires an architectural plan sealed under section 16 of the Loi sur les architectes and a structural plan sealed by an engineer. Work done without the required permit exposes you to a fine.
Before restarting the site with a bigger invoice, put two numbers side by side: what the property is worth once the defect is corrected, and what the correction costs. The home value estimator gives a starting point for the first, the contractor for the second.
If the defect comes from work, not from the seller
An open wall often reveals an earlier renovation badly done rather than an original flaw. The regime then changes, and the Regie du batiment du Quebec (Quebec’s building authority) describes the sequence in four steps: try to reach an agreement with the contractor, send him a formal demand letter by registered mail, obtain a judgment, then claim against the licence bond. The Regie warns that your chances of being compensated drop sharply without a judgment.
The bond is $40,000 for a general contractor and $20,000 for a specialized contractor. As soon as a first compliant claim is admitted, a file stays open for 6 months for the other clients, and if the total exceeds the bond, the money is distributed pro rata. The conditions count as much as the amount: a valid licence at the time of the contract or of the work, a contract where the name and licence number match, an amount already paid, work badly done observed within 12 months after the end of the work, and a first judicial step within 3 years following the finding.
Two details decide files. The judgment must target the business whose name and licence number appear on the contract, not the natural person who owns it. And if your home insurance compensates you for damage caused by the work, you will not receive a second compensation. The checks to make before the next contract are in choosing a renovation contractor in Quebec.
The right court, and the two clocks to watch
The Regie du batiment publishes the tiers: $15,000 or less at the Small Claims Division, from $15,000.01 to $74,999.99 at the Civil Division of the Court of Quebec, from $75,000 to $99,999.99 at either one at your choice, and $100,000 and up at the Superior Court.
At small claims, you act alone, without a lawyer, and the limit is $15,000 not counting interest. If the work costs $21,000, you may choose to claim only $15,000 in order to get there. Mediation is free up to three hours per file, and it should be favoured before filing an application. One deadline is often discovered too late: the originals of your documents and photos must be filed in the Court record at least 30 days before the trial, failing which the judge could refuse to take note of them.
Two clocks are therefore running, and it is not the long one that loses files. Three years run from the discovery of the defect to sue the seller: that is the prescription of article 2925 of the Code civil, and article 2926 starts that clock, for a prejudice that appears gradually, on the day it first appears. The reasonable delay to give written notice runs, for its part, from the moment the contractor opened the wall.
Frequently asked questions
The contractor wants to close it up tomorrow morning. Can I let him? Not before writing to the seller and having what is visible observed. The seller must be able to verify the existence and seriousness of the defect, and it is you who will have to prove what was behind the drywall. If the site really cannot wait, document heavily before closing it up.
Can I have it repaired and send the invoice to the seller? That is the riskiest scenario. Educaloi asks that you not begin repairs at your own expense, because the seller must have the opportunity to verify, to observe and to repair. Only urgent repairs escape that rule.
The seller swears he did not know. Does that change anything? Little in one direction, a lot in the other. According to the OACIQ, the fact that the seller was unaware of the defect, or that the defect only appears after the sale, does not diminish the warranty in any way. If he knew about it or could not have been unaware of it, article 1728 of the Code civil requires him to repair the prejudice suffered by the buyer, on top of returning the price.
I bought “at my own risk”. You then bought the immovable in the state it was in, with or without defects, and in principle you have no protection against a hidden defect. Article 1733 of the Code civil draws the line: a seller cannot free himself from defects he knew of or could not have been unaware of, and a purchase at your own risk is an exception to that only when the seller is not a professional seller. Have the exact clause of your deed read by a notary before writing to anyone.
To go further, read the conditions of a vice caché and your recourses in Quebec and what a sale without legal warranty actually takes away.
An open wall and a doubt, in Laval or in Montreal? Write to me. I look at your Declarations du vendeur and your inspection report with you, then I point you to the lawyer or the notary who will settle it.
Georges Matar
Residential Real Estate Broker · RE/MAX DU CARTIER INC.
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