Article 1071 requires the syndicate to establish, on the basis of the estimated cost of major repairs and of the cost of replacing the common portions, a contingency fund allocated solely to those repairs and replacements. Since the 2019 reform the fund must be liquid in part and available at short notice, and its capital must be guaranteed. It is the property of the syndicate, and its use is determined by the board of directors.
Bill 16 strengthens this obligation: since August 14, 2025, when the regulation came into force, the amount of the contributions must be based on a contingency fund study, carried out by a professional from an order designated by regulation (OIQ, OAQ, OTPQ, OEAQ or CPA). The first study must have been obtained by August 15, 2028 (Bill 16, s. 151, para. 1: "au plus tard le jour qui suit de trois ans" the regulation coming into force, i.e. three years and one day). It is the regulation - Decree 991-2025, art. 8 - and not the Code itself that sets the frequency (a new study at least every 5 years) and the projection over at least 25 years. The figure used to sit in the second paragraph of article 1071: Bill 31 (2024, c. 2, s. 2) struck the words "Tous les cinq ans," from it and referred the frequency to the regulation, which carried it over unchanged. Bill 31 also provided that those standards "may vary according to the characteristics of an immovable".
Two floors coexist, and neither is the old 5% of article 1072: Bill 16 (s. 40, para. 2) deleted that paragraph. (1) Promoter floor, in the Code: until the developer obtains the study, the sums to be paid into the fund equal 0.5% of the reconstruction value of the immovable (art. 1071 CCQ, last paragraph). (2) Transitional floor, in Bill 16 and not in the Code: since Decree 991-2025 came into force (August 14, 2025, being the first regulation made under art. 1071, para. 2) and until the board sets the sums on the basis of the first study, the sums to be paid into the fund are at least 5% of the co-owners' contributions to the common expenses (Bill 16, s. 153, para. 2). That 5% floor is therefore imposed by law today, not only by the declaration; it stops applying once the sums are set from the study.
The fund may be used for nothing other than major repairs and replacements of the common portions. The Code does not expressly require a separate bank account, but holding the fund in an account separate from the operating account is the recommended practice, and the normal way to evidence that exclusive allocation.
CondoAide tracks the contingency fund's contributions and balance and keeps the study in the register when one exists. The study itself is the work of a professional from a recognized order; CondoAide does not produce it.
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CondoAide helps self-managed Quebec syndicates keep their register, finances and meetings aligned with the Civil Code.