Law 16: specific types of maintenance?

Although very recent, Law 16 entails changes concerning the day-to-day management of property managers and condominium associations. The additional implications and types of maintenance that Law 16 brings in relation to the new restrictions, make it possible to guarantee the sustainability of buildings and the health of the inhabitants. This new law is mainly aimed at the supervision of inspections within the condominium.

As a result, Law 16 imposes certain types of maintenance on unions, boards of directors, and building managers. More specifically, they will need to carry out a study on the contingency fund (FDP), as well as to keep a maintenance log. This means that all unions, without exception, will have to have a contingency fund study and update it every five years. The study can only be carried out by a member of a professional order designated by government regulation. For the maintenance log, it is necessary that the board of directors must keep a maintenance log of the building, where various actions such as maintenance are to be carried out and completed. This log will need to be updated periodically.

The main objective of this reform is to take into account the aging of buildings and put in place the necessary measures for their conservation.

For more information on the obligations under Law 16 and the content of an interview log, please see the following articles (Lien article Loi 16 & Lien article Carnet d’entretien)

The sustainability of buildings

A building goes through several stages from its construction to its completion; it can be compared to a living being. Rather, it is during the first phase, that is, during its « childhood » that the union needs provisions to proceed with the replacement of the various parts and components of the common areas. A lack of funding can occur during what is called childhood and much of the teenage years. This leads to a lack of funds during adulthood to meet needs. The different occupants will have to compensate for this through a financial contribution. When the building is new, this is also possible to have to, help finance future work and also maintain the common areas. Therefore, it is necessary to start maintaining the building as soon as it is constructed in order to ensure its sustainability.

Maintenance required

Although Law 16 was recently passed to remedy the situation, certain essential types of maintenance are often overlooked and this can have detrimental effects on the building itself as well as the people who live there. For example, cleaning air conditioners, ventilation ducts and clothes dryers is often overlooked when it should be done periodically. In fact, the lack of maintenance of dryer ducts is the third leading cause of fires in a home since lint is a very flammable material. Furthermore, it is also important to have a building’s air ducts inspected annually and cleaned approximately every 5 years. Although it may be believed that only the air outside is polluted, the air we breathe inside buildings can also become polluted if the maintenance of ventilation ducts is neglected. In order to avoid any form of contamination and to ensure the quality of the air, it is necessary to carry out regular cleaning of ventilation systems and air conditioners.