Examinations – Who? How? How many?

Who must take the examinations?

• In the case of a natural person doing business alone (as a sole proprietorship), this means the person themselves.
• In the case of a legal person or partnership, this means one of the officers. A legal person or partnership may propose more than one guarantor per field of qualification. However, fees are charged for each examination written by a guarantor.

Persons with disabilities may request examination accommodations from the RBQ. To do so, you must complete the Examination accommodations form [Fr] – PDF (696 KB) and join it to your application for the issue or amendment of a licence. This form must be completed by a relevant professional authority (doctor, occupational therapist, psychologist, resource teacher, etc.).

To obtain more information, please contact us by phone or write us at serviceclientele@rbq.gouv.qc.ca.

Examples of disabilities:

• Dyslexia
• Anxiety disorder
• Mobility impairment
• Visual disability

Examples of accommodations:

• More time to take the examination
• Individual room
• Documents read by a supervisor

How do you take the examinations?

The first step is simply to complete the appropriate licence application form and forward it to the RBQ.

If your application is complete and meets all the requirements, it will be processed within 60 days of when it is received. The RBQ will contact the guarantor(s) in writing to inform them of the date and time of the required examination(s) and the address of the RBQ regional office where the examination(s) will be held.

If, however, the application is incomplete or does not meet all the requirements, the RBQ will contact the company within 15 days of receiving the application to request the missing documents or information. Failure to receive the information and documents before the deadline allows the RBQ to keep the processing fees of your application. However, you will be reimbursed for the fees you paid to get a licence. At this point, you will have to fill a new application to obtain a licence and pay the processing fees again.  

What are the fees?

There are applicable fees to obtain, modify or maintain a licence, or to present a professional file. Consult the page related to the type of licence you wish to obtain to know the fees:

• Application for building contractor licence [Fr]
• Application for an owner-builder licence [Fr]

You can also use the fee calculator [Fr].

How many examinations do you need to take?

The number of examinations you must take depends on the type of licence and the licence subclasses you are applying for.

General owner-builder's licence

The following examinations are required in order to qualify for a general owner-builder's licence:

• Construction site safety management
• Project and site management
• Carrying out of construction work, in the selected subclass(es)

An examination is required for each subclass you apply for.

Specialized owner-builder's licence

The following examinations are required in order to qualify for a specialized owner-builder's licence:

• Construction site safety management
• Carrying out of construction work, in the selected Schedule II subclass(es)

An examination is required for each subclass you apply for.

General or specialized contractor's licence

The following examinations are required in order to qualify for a contractor's licence (general or specialized):

• Administration
• Construction site safety management
• Project and site management
• Carrying out of construction work, in the selected subclass(es) of Schedules I and II

An examination is required for each subclass you apply for.

You must pass all these examinations in order to obtain the subclass you want added to your licence.

Exceptions – Plumbing and Electrical (subclasses 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5 and 16)

In order to qualify in any of subclasses 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4 and 15.5, you must contact the Corporation des maîtres mécaniciens en tuyauterie du Québec. Similarly, to qualify in subclass16, you must contact the Corporation des maîtres électriciens du Québec. Responsibility for assessing these professional qualifications has been transferred to these two corporations. If your application concerns both of these corporations, please contact only one of them.

If you are a guarantor or are taking steps to become one, your results’ validity period will differ, depending on the situation:

• If you have had a licence, but it is no longer valid, the results of your exams or recognition of your training will remain valid for a period of 5 years following the date on which your licence’s validity ended.
• If you have successfully passed an exam but your licence was not issued following a study of your file, results of that exam will remain valid for a period of 5 years from the date on which that exam was corrected.
• If you provided certificates attesting to the successful completion of recognized training programs, but no licence was issued following a study of your file, no results will be recognized. When applying anew, you will be required to submit, once again, a certificate attesting to the training involved. If this training is no longer recognized, you will be required to follow a recognized training program or pass an RBQ exam.

After these timeframes, you will be required to take a new exam or once again follow a recognized training program.