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·4 min read·By Maxime Legrand

RBQ licence number on your website: what the law requires

Yes, your website counts

Quebec's Building Act requires contractors to display their Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) licence number in several places. Your website is one of them: according to the RBQ, your number must appear on your website and on your social media, whether business accounts or personal accounts where you advertise your services.

RBQ inspectors and investigators check these rules as part of their monitoring.

The exact format

Your licence number has 10 digits. The RBQ asks that it be written like this:

RBQ licence: XXXX-XXXX-XX

Not "RBQ# 1234567890", not "Lic. 1234-5678-90". The wording and the dashes matter.

Every place it must appear

The website is only one of them. The RBQ requires the number on:

  • Your estimates, bids, contracts, account statements and invoices
  • Your job-site signs, if the business name is on them
  • All advertising, including business cards
  • Directory listings, as soon as the listing mentions your services or sector (a plain name-address-phone listing is not covered)
  • Your website and social media
  • Your vehicles that display the business name and travel on public roads or job sites

Promotional items (pens, mugs, key rings, T-shirts) are not covered.

Who is exempt?

  • Members of the Corporation des maîtres électriciens du Québec (CMEQ) and the Corporation des maîtres mécaniciens en tuyauterie du Québec (CMMTQ): they are identified by their corporation's logo instead of the RBQ number.
  • Contractors domiciled outside Quebec.

In other words, if you're a plumber or electrician and a member of your corporation, your corporation's rules apply. Check with them.

What's prohibited

It is strictly prohibited to display the Government of Quebec flag or the RBQ logo, on your website or anywhere else. The government signature is a registered trademark reserved for government departments and agencies. Show the number as text, with no logo.

Where to put it on your site

  • In the footer: that way it shows on every page with no extra effort
  • On the Contact page, next to your phone number
  • On every quote or form page, if you have them

One more tip: more and more clients check a contractor's licence before hiring, and the RBQ encourages them to. A clearly visible number they can confirm in the licence holder registry reassures them from the very first visit.

Source

All the rules above come from the RBQ's official page, Displaying your licence. If you're unsure about your own situation, that page is the reference.

At Kapsim, the licence number is built into the footer of every site we deliver. See our packages or book a free call.

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