Claims: when and under what circumstances?
You can submit a claim in case of failure by the entrepreneur to comply with its legal and contractual obligations. The applicable procedure and deadlines may vary depending on the breach giving rise to the claim.
If the contractor does not intervene to correct or complete the work within fifteen days after receiving the information or if you consider his intervention to be unsatisfactory, you can initiate an official complaint with the administrator of the plan (GCR).
You can make a claim for the following situations:
Note that you can enrich your claim file with documents relating to your building held by the administrator of plan (GCR) or previous administrators of the public guarantee plan for new residential buildings. The Regulation regarding the guarantee plan for new residential buildings provides that, upon request by the beneficiary of the plan, it must give access, among other things, to inspection or intervention reports, to defects found, to corrections made, to plans and specifications, if any, and other similar documents. You will need to request these documents.
Reminder
Before filing a claim, you can contact your contractor to discuss and try to negotiate a suitable solution with him.
When the entrepreneur does not intervene following your request, and after having sent him a denunciation notice form, you can launch a claim procedure.
Remember that in all cases, you must first question yourself as to when you noticed the breach of the contractor's obligations: BEFORE or AFTER acceptance of the building.
When the contractor has failed to fulfill his obligations BEFORE acceptance of the building, the guarantee covers the deposit, the completion of the work, and the reimbursement of the costs of relocation, moving or storing the goods.
Here's how:
Reminder
This fee will be reimbursed to you if an agreement is reached between you and the contractor or if the administrator's decision is favorable to you in whole or in part.
Once the claim procedure has started
Reimbursement of a reasonable, actual cost for relocation, moving or storage before acceptance
You cannot move into your condo as planned because all the work is not finished on the agreed date? To obtain reimbursement for moving, relocation or storage costs incurred because of this failure, you must:
Attention
The request for reimbursement must be made in writing to the contractor and the administrator within 6 months of acceptance of the building. Do not wait any longer to make a claim.
A decision in due form
The administrative decision is a means offered by the Regulation respecting the guarantee plan for new residential buildings to have your rights recognized and respected or to defend your interests. Garantie de construction résidentielle (GCR) is the only competent body to make this administrative decision.
Whether it is in your favor or not, an administrative decision must be fair and include the following information:
You disagree?
What to do if you disagree with the report of the administrator of the Guarantee Plan? If you think the decision is fundamentally wrong because it fails to consider important evidence, you can always appeal it.
The appeal process will direct you to arbitration (like a judge, but faster and less procedural) or you can decide in concert with the Guarantee Plan administrator to go to mediation (similar to negotiation, but with a neutral part which facilitates discussion).
Note that the entrepreneur may also disagree, in which case he will contact you if he wishes to go to mediation or file a request for arbitration.
Attention
You and the contractor only have 30 days from the day you receive the administrator's report to dispute it - act quickly!