Buying · Latent defect · Civil Code
The question every buyer asks after finding a problem: is it too late? Two clocks run, they do not start at the same moment, and the first one is the one that kills files.
There are two deadlines and they are not the same. The first is the notice. Article 1739 of the Civil Code of Quebec provides that a buyer who ascertains that the property is defective shall give notice in writing of the defect to the seller within a reasonable time after discovering it. No number of days is set. Where the defect appears gradually, the time begins to run on the day that the buyer could suspect the seriousness and extent of the defect. The second is prescription. Article 2925 provides that an action to enforce a personal right or movable real right is prescribed by three years, if the prescriptive period is not otherwise determined, and article 2926 adds that where the injury appears progressively or tardily, the period runs from the day the injury appears for the first time. Most files are lost on the first clock, not the second.
Article 1739 of the Civil Code of Quebec is short and decisive. A buyer who ascertains that the property is defective shall give notice in writing of the defect to the seller within a reasonable time after discovering it. Three things to hold on to: in writing, to the seller, within a reasonable time.
In writing means a phone call does not count. To the seller means the person who sold you the house, not your broker, not your inspector. Within a reasonable time means the law sets no number of days: it is assessed file by file, based on the nature of the problem and on what you could reasonably have known.
Be careful with the numbers that circulate online. There is no six-month, thirty-day or fifteen-day legal notice period for a latent defect in Quebec. What the law requires is that you not sit on it. In practice, the only comfortable position is to write immediately, before you even have an expert report, and to add detail later.
Article 1739 covers the most common case, the defect that surfaces little by little: where the defect appears gradually, the time begins to run on the day that the buyer could suspect the seriousness and extent of the defect.
That nuance saves files. A damp patch in the basement in spring is not yet the discovery of a defect. The day the wall is opened and the structure turns out to be affected, the clock starts. What counts is the moment you could suspect seriousness and extent, which is exactly why every stage has to be dated and photographed.
The same article ends with a sentence that changes many files: the seller may not invoke the tardiness of a notice from the buyer if he was aware of the defect or could not have been unaware of it.
A seller who knew cannot hide behind your delay. That is one reason the declarations by the seller form, old repair invoices and the emails exchanged during the transaction carry so much weight. Our page on the declarations by the seller form explains what that document actually commits.
Article 2925 provides that an action to enforce a personal right or movable real right is prescribed by three years, if the prescriptive period is not otherwise determined. That is the period that applies to a latent defect claim.
The starting point is not the date of sale. Article 2926 provides that where the right of action arises from moral, bodily or material injury appearing progressively or tardily, the period runs from the day the injury appears for the first time. A defect discovered four years after closing is therefore not automatically prescribed.
The full sequence is in the six steps of a latent defect claim.
There is no cut-off counted from the sale. What is fixed is the three-year period in article 2925, running from the first appearance of the injury under article 2926, plus the obligation to give written notice within a reasonable time after discovery under article 1739.
Not automatically. Late notice weakens the file because it deprives the seller of the chance to see the problem and limit the damage. But article 1739 expressly states that the seller may not invoke it if he was aware of the defect or could not have been unaware of it.
Notice and formal notice are two different things. Notice informs. A formal notice demands. Many buyers combine them in one letter, which is possible, but the priority is to inform fast. See the formal notice for a latent defect.
The latent defect file: the four tests, the deadlines, the formal notice, the proof, the expert report, the six steps, small claims court, who pays, the seller who did not know, older homes, water infiltration, the roof, the inground pool and the septic system and the well.
Every article quoted here is reproduced from the official English text of the Civil Code of Quebec and the Code of Civil Procedure published by Légis Québec, both read on September 11, 2026. We give the article numbers so you can read them yourself. We are real estate brokers, not lawyers: we can tell you what the law provides and what your transaction left behind as evidence, but the analysis of your file belongs to a lawyer. When the amount at stake runs past a few thousand dollars, that call happens before the formal notice, not after.
The Loaa & Manseur team, led by Lotfi Manseur and Loaa Al Daow, is the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 of large residential teams according to the official RE/MAX ranking, computed on actual transactions. Its Google profile counts more than 220 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Its offices are at 55 avenue de l'Équinoxe in Brossard, one bridge from the island, and every broker's licence can be checked in the OACIQ public register. Three things to verify yourself before calling us, and to demand of any other broker.
Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.