Montreal electrical contractor CCQ: RBQ licensing and code

What to take away

Two regulators, one job site

Quebec splits the question in two. The Building Act (Loi sur le batiment, CQLR c. B-1.1) creates the Regie du batiment du Quebec (RBQ), which decides whether your company may contract electrical work. The Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry (CQLR c. R-20) creates the Commission de la construction du Quebec (CCQ), which decides who may stand on site.

A valid licence does not let you hire off the street. A certified crew does not make an unlicensed company eligible to bid. Before either file exists, our guide to getting ready to open legally sets out the paperwork order for a new firm.

RBQ licence classes and the qualifying individual

Quebec issues more than one contractor credential. A Montreal electrical firm meets the contractor licence, the specialised contractor licence (licence d'entrepreneur specialise) and the owner-builder licence (licence de constructeur-proprietaire). The classes, the subclasses of work and the qualifying-individual test come from the Reglement sur la qualification professionnelle des entrepreneurs et des constructeurs-proprietaires.

Each class carries a list of subclasses of work. Electrical installation sits under subclass 15.1 – Électricité on that schedule, so adding fire alarm or building automation can mean an added subclass rather than a new company. A specialised licence is limited to the subclasses named on it, and the subclass recorded on your licence file is the one your bid has to match.

The RBQ publishes licence requirements and the online tool Comment déterminer la licence requise, which explains how to determine the licence required. Run that tool against your real scope before you incorporate, and confirm the resulting class and subclass against the RBQ's public register of licence holders.

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Every licence names a qualifying individual, and that person carries responsibility for the work. If they leave, the licence does not travel with them.

The Quebec code text and the extended transition period

Quebec does not adopt the Canadian Electrical Code as written. The Construction Code, Chapter V - Electricity, made under the Building Act, adopts CSA C22.1 with provincial amendments, so the Quebec text governs, not the base CSA C22.1 document. Work from the chapter text, not a generic CSA C22.1 handbook.

The RBQ has published notice of an extended transition period for building and electricity regulations. Treat that window as planning time, and check the notice on the RBQ site for the start and end of the period before you schedule work around it.

The Corporation des maitres electriciens du Quebec (CMEQ) is the sector association, but membership is not a licence and does not replace RBQ or CCQ duties.

Permit filing is its own provincial routine. On a Montreal job the RBQ is the authority that applies the Construction Code, electricity chapter included, and the city issues the building permit for the work. Our comparison of filing with ESA, Technical Safety BC and Alberta Municipal Affairs is a useful cross-check when crews cross borders.

CCQ certificates, trade codes and the referral sequence

The CCQ administers the construction labour regime under the R-20 Act, and the Décret sur l'industrie de la construction sets what counts as construction work and extends the sector collective agreements to every employer. Its competency certificates come in named types: the certificat de competence metier for a trade, the certificat de competence occupation for support work, and the certificat d'apprenti for those still advancing. Electricians hold the électricien trade certificate, CCQ trade code 161.

Apprentices hold a registered level, and the CCQ tracks their hours as they advance. Check the level, not just the certificate, before assigning work that needs a journeyman. The project is also classified by sector - building, civil engineering or industrial - and the sector decides which collective agreement and rate table applies before you post the job. The Décret sur l'industrie de la construction extends the sector collective agreements for bâtiment, génie civil and industriel.

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Referral takes time, so the request belongs in the schedule, not in the week you mobilise. Wages and fringe come from the collective agreement for your sector, extended by the Décret sur l'industrie de la construction, and our labour cost breakdown shows how those fixed pieces land in a bid.

French-language rules for bids and documents

Sections 22 and 24 of the Charter of the French language, CQLR c. C-11, push contracts of adhesion and contracts with public bodies into French. Bill 96, adopted in 2022, tightened those obligations further.

Public tenders are published in French and evaluated in French. Private clients, including anglophone ones, often need a French contract for their own compliance file.

Keep one bilingual document set with French as the governing version: templates, safety plans, method statements and quote sheets. Have a qualified reviewer check terms such as raceway, panel schedule and bonding before a bid leaves the office.

Pricing when the wage rate is set before you bid

CCQ wages, fringe and training contributions come from the collective agreement that the Décret sur l'industrie de la construction extends to every employer in the industry, so the hourly floor is fixed. A bid built on non-CCQ rates will not survive the first payroll.

As a planning placeholder, treat total labour burden as a typical range of 30 to 45 percent above base hourly wage. Use the Décret's posted rate for your trade and level as the real number.

With labour fixed, competition moves to productivity, supervision ratio, material buying and code scoping. A Quebec amendment that changes method or material belongs in your takeoff, not in a change order after inspection.

Referral lead times, permit processing and inspection scheduling all consume float. Our guide to pricing that protects profit explains how to carry fixed labour and code risk into a number you can defend.

Common questions