Last Wednesday, the Régie du bâtiment du Quebec (RBQ) and the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec (OPHQ) announced the long-awaited news: the adoption of the new Regulation amending the Construction Code, Chapter I, Building, aiming for accessibility within residential dwellings.
« This new regulation requires minimal accessibility within new housing dwellings so that a person living with a disability can access and move easily into certain parts of their home, as well as facilitates the use of sanitary facilities. It also offers options for building contractors to go one step further and build adaptable housing. This makes it easier to adapt these units later on to address the needs of a person with certain limitations, »affirms the Régie du bâtiment du Québec in its press release .
We are very pleased that finally there are minimum accessibility requirements for the interior of housing units in Quebec. While these requirements are still perfectible, this is a first and we must rejoice! This is a cause we have been working towards for more than 20 years!