Private seniors’ residences still have two years to complete the installation of sprinklers, a request that was first to be completed in December 2020.
RPA owners had until December 2, 2022 to finalize the installation of sprinklers in their establishments, but a decree published on Wednesday now allows them to complete the work within the next two years.
Owners explained to the Régie du bâtiment that the delays in the installation of the sprinklers come in particular from issues related to the pandemic, the shortage of labor and the cost of the work. Some also cited “municipal infrastructure challenges” as a dominant factor.
A delay had already been granted by Quebec previously, while RPAs had to equip themselves with a sprinkler system as of December 2, 2020. This is the second time that the requirement has been postponed.
The Régie du bâtiment had ordered the installation of sprinklers in all RPAs following the major fire that killed 32 people in 2014 in the Résidence du Havre, in L’Isle-Verte.
This second postponement “aims to avoid possible closures with potentially devastating repercussions on residents and owners of non-compliant residences,” the government body said in a press release.
This is a “necessary reprieve” to “address the difficulties encountered by the RPAs concerned in complying with the requirements”, can we read.