What is the Residential Construction Guarantee (GCR)?

The Residential Construction Guarantee (GCR) administers the Guarantee Plan for New Residential Buildings, mandatory in Quebec since 1999: since January 1, 2015, it is the only organization authorized by the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) to administer it. A contractor who builds or sells a covered new home must therefore be accredited by the GCR and hold an RBQ licence with at least subclass 1.1.1 or 1.1.2.

What the guarantee covers after acceptance (Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings, section 10):

• 1 year after acceptance: repair of poor workmanship that existed but was not apparent at the time of acceptance
• 3 years after acceptance: repair of latent (hidden) defects
• 5 years after the end of the work: repair of faulty design, construction or execution and of unfavourable soil conditions

Before acceptance, the plan covers reimbursement of deposits up to $50,000, completion or correction of apparent defects and poor workmanship up to $300,000 for a detached, semi-detached or row single-family home ($200,000 per unit for a multifamily building from duplex to quintuplex), and relocation, moving and storage costs up to $6,000.

Builder obligations: register each building with the GCR at the earliest of the following events — signing of the construction or preliminary contract, issuance of the building permit, start of construction work. Registration fees are flat-rate, per unit, and vary with the GCR Quality Rating (AA to D or N) and the building category: from $2,172.68 to $4,770.68 under the schedule in force since April 1, 2026, an amount that includes risk-management fees, $300 for the RBQ guarantee fund and $61.68 required by the RBQ since 2015. No percentage-of-sale-price rate is published.

Sources: GCR, Les protections qui s'appliquent and Tarifs d'enregistrement (schedule in force April 1, 2026); GCR, Accréditation; Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 8), section 10; RBQ, Accréditation du plan and Informations sur les administrateurs — consulted October 18, 2026.