S-5, r. 4 - Regulation respecting the lease of buildings by public institutions and regional councils

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter S-5, r. 4

Regulation respecting the lease of buildings by public institutions and regional councils

Act respecting health services and social services for Cree Native persons

(chapter S-5, ss. 173.1 and 173.2).

DIVISION I GENERAL

1. Scope: This Regulation applies to a regional council and to a public establishment covered by the Act respecting health services and social services for Cree Native persons (chapter S-5).

T.B. 171346, s. 1.

2. Interpretation: In this Regulation, unless otherwise indicated by the context:

(1)  “public call for tenders” means a notice published in at least 1 newspaper describing in a summary manner the location and technical specifications of the space sought and inviting leasing proposals;

(2)  “invitation to tender” means a notice addressed personally to at least 3 owners of buildings inviting them to submit leasing proposals;

(3)  “contract for the lease of a building” means a contract conveying the right to enjoy or occupy a building for a certain time in return for rent;

(4)  “Guide de gestion” means the document entitled “Guide sur la gestion des locations d’immeubles dans le secteur de la Santé et des Services sociaux” forming part of the Répertoire des normes et pratiques de gestion published by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, providing standard contract forms or other standard documents issued under section 173.2 of the Act in application of this Regulation;

(5)  “public or parapublic building” means a building occupied by or owned by the gouvernement du Québec, an agency thereof, a non-profit agency in the health and social services sector, including those mentioned in section 1, a non-profit agency in the education sector, a municipality, a metropolitan community or a regional county municipality;

(6)  “applicant” means the legal person covered by section 1 that is seeking space to lease for its own purposes.

T.B. 171346, s. 2.

3. Proposal for the leasing of space: A public institution which, to carry on its activities, wishes to lease a building or renew a contract for the lease of a building and to obtain the authorization required under section 72 of the Act must first submit its proposal for the leasing of space to the regional council in question for evaluation and approval.

Any proposal for the leasing of space that a regional council wishes to carry out must first be submitted to the Minister for evaluation and approval.

T.B. 171346, s. 3.

4. Contents of the proposal: A proposal for the leasing of space submitted by an applicant must indicate the reasons justifying the proposal and show clearly all the details of the program planned. In particular, it must:

(1)  specify whether it is a new application for the leasing of space for the applicant’s needs, or in the case of a renewal of a lease or a change of buildings leased, state whether the proposed lease involves an increase in the aggregate area leased or occupied by the applicant;

(2)  give an estimate of the aggregate area of the proposed area to be leased and indicate the term of the lease applied for;

(3)  show that the applicant’s requirements of space have been calculated in accordance with the standards for assigning space prescribed by the Guide de gestion;

(4)  estimate the annual rent and indicate the method of financing and also the financing of any supplementary expenses for equipment or for carrying on the applicant’s activities;

(5)  indicate the agreements in principle already received from the regional council or the Minister concerning the programming of the activities of the applicant underlying his proposal for the leasing of space;

(6)  indicate any investigation into the availability of a public or parapublic building that might meet the applicant’s needs, or require the regional council or the Minister to inform him of the situation in that respect.

T.B. 171346, s. 4.

5. Confirmation of proposal: The applicant may not undertake any action or incur any expense in seeking premises before receiving from the regional council or the Minister, as provided in section 3, confirmation in writing that his proposal for the leasing of space has been duly approved.

The proposal for the leasing of space must be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the approval obtained; if it cannot be, the applicant shall suspend the operations and submit an amended proposal for the purpose of obtaining a new approval from the regional council or the Minister.

T.B. 171346, s. 5.

6. Supplementary approval required: In addition to the approval of the regional council in question, a public institution must also obtain prior approval in writing from the Minister for its proposal for leasing of space in the following cases:

(1)  where the term of the lease sought exceeds 10 years;

(2)  where, owing to exceptional circumstances or special requirements of the public institution, the standard contract forms, standards for allotting space or other standard documents of the Guide de gestion cannot be used or applied, or must be adapted to conclude the building lease contract;

(3)  where the public institution already occupies space in a public or parapublic building, and proposes to relocate elsewhere than in another public or parapublic building;

(4)  where the leasing proposal constitutes a new application for the leasing of space for the applicant’s needs, or in the case of a renewal of a lease or a change of buildings leased, the proposed lease involves an increase in the aggregate area leased or occupied by the applicant.

T.B. 171346, s. 6.

DIVISION II PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS FOR LEASING

7. Tenders: To conclude a building lease contract, an applicant must invite tenders by public call for tenders, except in the following cases:

(1)  where it applies to the leasing of space in a public or parapublic building;

(2)  where, near the expiry of an existing lease contract with a fixed term, the applicant wishes to continue occupying the premises and to negotiate the details of a new contract, provided that he used the standard contract form issued for the type of lease in question;

(3)  where it applies to the lease of an additional area in a building part of which is already leased by the applicant;

(4)  where it applies to the leasing of parking space;

(5)  where it applies to a lease obtained in accordance with section 8;

(6)  where it applies to a contract for the lease of the property and services of a pavilion. The homecare centre shall for that purpose use the contract form included in the Répertoire des normes et pratiques de gestion published by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux;

(7)  where it is a question of an emergency in which the safety of persons or property is threatened and any delay caused by calling for tenders would harm the applicant, provided that the original term of the leasing contract does not exceed 1 year.

T.B. 171346, s. 7.

8. Tenders by invitation: In order to conclude a building lease contract, an applicant may issue an invitation to tender in the following cases:

(1)  where the lease is for an area of less than 300 m2;

(2)  where the lease is for housing intended for occupation by a group home;

(3)  where the lease is for space for a work practices learning service not exceeding 1,000 m2.

In such cases, the use of the documents covered by section 11 is optional.

T.B. 171346, s. 8.

9. Advertising: A public call for tenders shall be published in at least 1 daily newspaper circulating in the region where a building is sought.

T.B. 171346, s. 9.

10. Contents of a call for tenders: A public call for tenders or an invitation to tender shall contain at least the following provisions and particulars:

(1)  the applicant’s name;

(2)  the search area, that is, the territorial boundaries within which the space required must be located;

(3)  the area required and the other technical specifications of the space sought;

(4)  the projected date of occupancy and the term of the lease desired;

(5)  the place where the necessary documents and particulars may be examined or obtained for the preparation of the tender;

(6)  the conditions for obtaining the necessary documents for preparation of the tender;

(7)  the place and time for depositing and opening tenders;

(8)  a statement that the tenders submitted must be valid for the minimum period indicated by the applicant following the date of opening of tenders;

(9)  a statement that the applicant does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any other tender submitted.

T.B. 171346, s. 10.

11. Documents issued: Potential tenderers shall be given the following documents:

(1)  a list of the documents supplied;

(2)  a copy of the text of the call for tenders;

(3)  the instructions to tenderers;

(4)  the tender form;

(5)  the form of particulars concerning the tenderer;

(6)  the lease form to be used;

(7)  any other document relating to the tender, in particular, the other technical specifications required by the applicant.

The forms that must be issued by the applicant under subparagraphs 4 to 6 of the first paragraph are those prescribed by the Guide de gestion.

T.B. 171346, s. 11.

12. Instructions to tenderers: The instructions to tenderers must indicate the manner of completing the tender form and the supporting documents required, as well as the procedure to be followed by the tenderer.

In addition, they must give notice of all the provisions mentioned in Schedule I, which are essential conditions for the admissibility of a tender at the time of the opening of tenders and for its subsequent acceptance for the purposes of awarding the contract.

T.B. 171346, s. 12.

13. Time limit for receipt: The time limit for receipt of tenders shall be calculated from the date of the first publication of the public call for tenders or from the date of the invitation to tender, and may not be less than 14 days.

The date of receipt of tenders may be postponed by means of a notice given in the same manner as the call for tenders and before the expiry of the time limit fixed.

T.B. 171346, s. 13.

14. Opening of tenders: The opening of tenders shall follow immediately the time limit fixed for receipt of tenders, unless otherwise indicated in the call for tenders.

T.B. 171346, s. 14.

15. Persons present: All the tenders received relating to the same call for tenders shall be opened publicly in the presence of 2 witnesses by the representative of the applicant.

T.B. 171346, s. 15.

16. Reading of the tenders: At the time of the opening of each tender, the applicant’s representative shall first ascertain whether the conditions set for its admissibility in accordance with the provisions of Schedule I have been satisfied, and if not, shall immediately refuse it by stating aloud the irregularity observed. If the conditions have been satisfied, the representative of the applicant shall then read aloud the name of the tenderer and the total amount of his tender.

When all the admissible tenders have been read, the representative of the applicant shall state the total number of tenders accepted for study by the applicant, subject to further verification of their compliance with the conditions.

The observations must be entered in minutes stating the names of the witnesses.

T.B. 171346, s. 16.

17. Study of tenders: The tenders considered admissible following a call for tenders shall be studied by the applicant taking into account the following criteria in particular:

(1)  the location of the building offered within the area fixed in the call for tenders;

(2)  the location of the area offered in the building in question;

(3)  ease of access of the building for handicapped persons;

(4)  the cost of the annual rent and its various components;

(5)  the details of the cost and a description of the rental improvements and procedures for financing them;

(6)  the compliance of the building with the requirements and standards applying in respect of safety, health, hygiene and operation;

(7)  the satisfaction of the particular requirements inherent in the applicant’s functions.

T.B. 171346, s. 17.

18. Selection of a tender: The applicant must state the reasons for a decision to choose one of the tenders studied for the purposes of awarding a contract for the lease of a building and the decision must be recorded in a resolution of its board of directors. A copy of the resolution shall be sent to the regional council in question and to the Minister on request.

An applicant may not, for the purposes of awarding a contract for the lease of a building, accept a tender other than the lowest complying with the conditions, unless for serious reasons stated in the resolution of its board of directors it justifies the choice of another tenderer in compliance with the conditions.

In all cases, the acceptance of a tender by the applicant shall be subject to the approval of the regional council in question in the case of a public institution or the approval of the Minister in the case of a regional council.

Confirmation in writing of the approval required must be obtained by the applicant before signing the contract for the lease of a building.

T.B. 171346, s. 18.

19. Supplementary approval required: In addition to the approval of the regional council in question, the acceptance of a tender by a public institution must also be subject to the approval in writing of the Minister in the following cases:

(1)  where the tender selected is not the lowest complying with the conditions;

(2)  where the tender is obtained under a proposal for the leasing of space covered by paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of section 6;

(3)  where, following an invitation to tender, only one tender complying with the conditions is received.

T.B. 171346, s. 19.

DIVISION III FINAL

20. (Omitted).

T.B. 171346, s. 20.

21. (Obsolete).

22. (Omitted).

T.B. 171346, s. 22.

SCHEDULE I

(s. 12)

PROVISIONS THAT MUST BE MENTIONED IN INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS

DIVISION I

ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR THE ADMISSIBILITY OF A TENDER

1. The tenderer shall submit his tender on the documents issued by the applicant or on any exact reproduction of those documents, which must be completed clearly and accurately, and must be duly signed in the places prescribed for that purpose by the person or persons authorized thereto.

2. Unless the tenderer is a natural person operating a business alone under his own name and signing the tender documents himself, authorization to sign the documents must accompany the tender and be declared:

(1) in a certified copy of the resolution of the legal person to that effect where the tenderer is a legal person;

(2) where the tenderer is a partnership, a power of attorney authorizing the signature must also be furnished where the tender documents where not signed by all the partners;

(3) in a notarial power of attorney designating the person authorized to sign, where it is a natural person operating a business alone under his own name who has not himself signed the tender documents.

3. The total starting rent must be indicated on the tender form and the annual cost of the basic price, the cost of preparation, estimated taxes, operating costs and the cost of housekeeping maintenance where they are not included in operating expenses.

4. The total starting rent, without the estimated cost of taxes must also be indicated on the tender form for the purposes of determining the lowest tender.

5. Any crossings out of and corrections to figures in the tender must be initialed by the person or persons who signed the tender.

6. The documents must be drawn up in the official language of Québec.

7. The applicant does not agree to accept any tender after the time fixed in the tender invitation, or if receipt is delayed, after the time stated in the notice addressed to tenderers.

8. Any other condition indicated as essential in the instructions to tenderers, specifically stating that any failure to comply therewith would render the tender inadmissible, must be satisfied by the tenderer.

DIVISION II

ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR ACCEPTANCE OF A TENDER

9. The tender must not be accompanied by conditions or restrictions.

10. Subject to the provisions respecting admissibility, errors or omissions in tender documents do not involve refusal of the tender, provided that the tenderer corrects them when required to the satisfaction of the applicant within 10 days following the opening of tenders, and that the corrections do not involve an increase in the tender price.

11. The analysis of the tenders may not have the effect that a tenderer, other than the lowest tenderer at the time of the opening of tenders, becomes the lowest tenderer by reason of the correction of an error in his tender whose effect is to reduce the total price.

12. A tender shall be void after the expiry of the time indicated in the call for tenders, except upon agreement of the parties in writing to grant an additional period of validity.

T.B. 171346, Sch. I.

REFERENCES

T.B. 171346, 1989 G.O. 2, 3419

S.Q. 1992, c. 21, ss. 355 and 375

M.O. 93-03, 1993 G.O. 2, 5228