Not only do they help cities fill the housing supply gap, they also provide homeowners and property investors with tangible benefits, often by upping the value of properties along the way. In Part One of our guide series to secondary suites in Toronto series, we’ll go through what secondary suites are, what’s behind their rising popularity, what kind of benefits they have to offer to different stakeholders, and which are the different types of secondary suites that exist.
It is a very important institution that, in a public protection objective, contributes in addition to the adoption of construction standards, to the qualification of construction contractors or owner-builders. The main license of a construction contractor is the RBQ license.
A secondary suite is a self-contained dwelling unit with a private kitchen, bathroom facilities, and sleeping areas. It’s different from a rooming house, where you rent out different bedrooms which share a common kitchen. Depending on your city and its by-laws, this type of home addition can also be known as an accessory dwelling unit, in-law suite, nanny suite, or granny suite.
There are two main categories of licenses: the general contractor license and the specialized contractor license. For each, there are several categories. Each category demonstrates a qualification of the contractor to perform certain work. The main difference between a general contractor and a specialized contractor is the fact that a general contractor can subcontract part of his construction contract, ie use another contractor to do some or all of the work. A general contractor may also carry out work himself if he has in addition to his general contractor’s license, the specialized license(s) required.
A general contractor in good standing won’t be reluctant to provide her RBQ number. Moreover, the RBQ number is often written on the quote provided. The RBQ license number is in this form: 12345-1234-12. A public registry of RBQ license holders is accessible on the RBQ website. You’ll find useful information such as: the issue & expiration dates, the types of construction work a contractor can perform, contact information.