Kitchen renovation in Montréal: steps, permits, contractors

A kitchen renovation brings several trades together: demolition, plumbing, electrical, cabinets, countertops, flooring. It is also the room that is hardest to live without. A good plan, drawn up before you sign, avoids delays and bad surprises.

1. The steps

1. The plan: layout, appliances, outlets and lighting, a budget with a reserve for the unexpected.
2. Permits: check with your municipality if you move walls or change the room layout (see below).
3. Demolition, then rough plumbing and electrical.
4. Drywall, floors, then cabinets and countertops.
5. Final connections, finishing and a walk-through with the contractor.

Custom cabinets and countertops are often ordered weeks ahead: ask for the expected delivery date before setting the demolition date, and plan a temporary kitchen (microwave, fridge, bathroom sink).

2. The trades and their licences

• The general contractor who coordinates: an RBQ general-category licence.
• The electrician: subclass 16 (CMEQ). New circuits for the range and the counters are done by an electrician.
• The plumber: subclass 15.5 (CMMTQ), for the sink, the dishwasher and any relocated pipe.
• Manufactured cabinets and countertops: subclass 12.

Check every licence, including the subcontractors’.

3. The contract and payments

• A written contract with the description of the work, the products (cabinet model, countertop material), the price and the schedule.
• Staged payments tied to progress, rather than a large deposit.
• Before the last payment, ask for a release from the subcontractors and suppliers who notified you of their contract: an unpaid subcontractor can register a legal hypothec on the house (see legal construction hypothec).

Redoing a kitchen in Montréal, Laval, Repentigny or Mascouche: permit or declaration?

Replacing cabinets and the countertop without touching the walls is the simplest case. The City of Montréal lists replacing cabinets, countertops and the sink among the work that generally needs no permit; taking down a partition to open the kitchen onto the dining room changes the division of rooms and does need one (see the City’s interior renovation procedure). In Laval, renovating an existing kitchen needs no permit, unless the size or number of rooms, or the structure, changes (page Rénovation résidentielle intérieure, in French).

Elsewhere a lighter formality applies: in Repentigny, redoing a kitchen requires an online declaration of work, with no documents and no fee, filed before you start (page Demander un permis ou déclarer des travaux, in French); in Mascouche, most interior renovations need a free declaration of work, after which the work can begin (page Permis, in French). In Montréal, old cabinets and other construction waste follow your borough’s list of accepted materials and collection schedule (article Rénovations : quoi faire avant, pendant et après, in French): ask whether the company takes care of it. To find the trades, see renovation companies in the West Island, those in Terrebonne or electricians in Longueuil.

See also: general or specialty contractor and comparing quotes. Is your plan ready? Describe the kitchen you want to redo to get quotes.