RBQ 1.10 Mechanical Lifts | Expert Exam Preparation

RBQ 1.10 — Contractor – mechanical lifts: preparation for the Régie du bâtiment du Québec exam. Lessons, a bank of practice questions, flashcards and audio capsules, built on the CSA Z98:19 standard, Chapter VII of the Construction Code and Chapter V of the Safety Code, with the major changes of the 2024 edition flagged: 3 hours, 60%, partially open book.

1. The RBQ 1.10 licence and its scope

According to the Régie's exam information sheet, subclass 1.10 authorizes construction work relating to mechanical lifts and conveyors referred to in paragraph 7 of section 3.4 of the Regulation respecting the application of the Building Act, work in subclasses 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 of Schedule II when it is related to such a lift or conveyor, and related construction work. It is a general contractor subclass (Schedule I of Regulation r. 9).

The Building Act applies to a passenger ropeway because it is equipment intended for public use. The contractor works for others or submits tenders; the owner-builder works on its own account (s. 7). Repair, maintenance and demolition are construction work (s. 9).

2. Who this course is for

• The future guarantor of a company that installs, alters or repairs passenger ropeways and passenger conveyors.
• The ropeway technician or mechanic who aims to become a guarantor and must master the regulatory framework, plans, specifications and estimates.
• The project manager of a ski area who wants to understand what the standard and the Codes require.
• The candidate trained on Z98:19 who needs to know the major changes of the 2024 edition.

3. Exam format: what to expect

• Type of questions: multiple-choice questions
• Duration: 3 hours
• Passing grade: 60%
• Language: French or English
• Documents: partially open book — only the documents and materials provided by the invigilator may be used
• Materials provided: calculator, ruler, paper, pencil

This information comes from the 1.10 exam information sheet, update of July 2024. According to the sheet, the exam covers the legislative, normative and regulatory framework, general knowledge and equipment, acceptance or periodic tests and trials, and maintenance and repair. The sheet publishes neither the number of questions nor the weight of each module.

4. The documents: two chapters in the room, the standard to master

According to the sheet, two documents are provided at the exam. The other texts cited are recommended reading: they are not handed out, and what they say must be known before going in.

• Safety Code (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 3), Chapter V – Passenger Ropeways — provided at the exam
• A chapter of the Construction Code (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 2) — provided at the exam: the English sheet names Chapter VIII, Petroleum Equipment Installation; the French sheet names Chapter VII, Passenger Ropeways, the chapter this course teaches. Check with the RBQ.
• CSA Z98-19, Passenger ropeways and passenger conveyors
• Building Act (CQLR, c. B-1.1)
• Regulation respecting the professional qualification of contractors and owner-builders (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 9)
• Act respecting occupational health and safety (CQLR, c. S-2.1) and Safety Code for the construction industry (CQLR, c. S-2.1, r. 4)
• Engineers Act (CQLR, c. I-9)
• Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry (CQLR, c. R-20) and its regulation on vocational training (CQLR, c. R-20, r. 8)

Two editions of the standard. The exam sheet names CSA Z98-19 (written Z98:19 in the course); it is the edition the course is based on. Since August 31, 2026, the 2024 edition (CSA Z98:24; French edition Z98:F24) has been in force in Québec, according to the RBQ notice. When a topic covered in the course is among the major changes listed in the RBQ notice, the lesson flags it in a box and the explanation of the question says so. Check with the RBQ, when you register, which edition your exam is based on.

5. The four modules of the competency profile

The 1.10 competency profile has 14 elements of competency and 99 skills, in four modules. The RBQ does not publish their weight.

• Module 1 — Definitions and types of systems (14 skills, 5 lessons): types of passenger ropeways and vocabulary of the standard, components, main, auxiliary and evacuation drives, hydraulic systems, electrical circuits.
• Module 2 — Legislative, normative and regulatory framework (16 skills, 5 lessons): Building Act and licence, designer, engineer and contractor, environment and workforce, Chapter VII and Chapter V, welding.
• Module 3 — Plans, specifications and estimates (25 skills, 5 lessons): plans and profile of a passenger ropeway, quantity survey, specification divisions, estimating a new installation and repair work, tenders and securities.
• Module 4 — Standards and execution of work (44 skills, 10 lessons): planning, site and hoisting, quality control, acceptance tests, commissioning, maintenance and inspections, ropes, troubleshooting and evacuation, health and safety.

6. What the preparation includes

• 25 lessons linked to the skills of the profile, each with its figures, its pitfalls and, where the topic is among the major changes the RBQ notice lists for the 2024 edition, a box that flags it.
• 733 original multiple-choice practice questions, 139 of them based on 84 diagrams; each explanation gives its reference.
• One quiz per module, and a free sample quiz.
• 241 flashcards to fix terms, values and section numbers.
• 25 audio capsules, one per lesson, to review by listening.

7. Four mechanisms a passenger ropeway contractor must tell apart

A few points the preparation stresses, because they turn on a fine distinction rather than on general knowledge:

• A standard that changes by reference. Chapter VII does not copy Z98: it refers to it. New editions apply to construction work only from the last day of the sixth month following the month of publication of their French text (s. 7.01). That is how Z98:F24 has been in force since August 31, 2026, and the Safety Code (s. 104) makes it apply to inspection, periodic testing, operation and maintenance, whatever the age of the device.
• Building, or maintaining? Construction work on a passenger ropeway requires plans and specifications (s. 7.03) and, at the end, a certificate of conformity produced and signed by a recognized person (s. 7.04). Maintenance, repair and demolition are excluded, but the standard still applies (s. 7.02). A new, altered or renovated passenger ropeway may be put into service only once the certificate provided for in section 7.04 has been sent (Safety Code, s. 105).
• The engineer's seal. For the works covered by the Engineers Act, the tower among them, the engineer signs and seals the plans and specifications (I-9, s. 3.3), and, subject to the exceptions in s. 24, no one may use plans or specifications not signed and sealed by an engineer. No contractor may claim any amount for the production of the certificate of conformity referred to in section 16 (Building Act, s. 17).
• Two mechanic certificates. Outside work governed by Act R-20, the certificate in passenger ropeway mechanics (MRM) covers the passenger ropeways referred to in Z98 (F-5, r. 1, s. 3, par. 11); the MRM-S certificate lists, among others, rope tows, ropeways for secondary carriers and passenger conveyors (par. 12). The two overlap in part. For construction work governed by Act R-20, the competency certificate issued by the CCQ applies (s. 85.5).

8. Preparation strategy

Learn the standard, which is not provided. Most of the technical requirements are in CSA Z98: its vocabulary, requirements and values are studied before the exam.

Know where to look in what is provided. The chapters of the Codes are short: practise finding the applicable obligation quickly.

One module at a time. The questions of each quiz come from the module's bank, in random order, and the order of the answers changes from one attempt to the next; the quizzes can be retaken as often as needed. The flashcards fix vocabulary and values; the audio capsules go over each lesson.

9. Our sources and their editions

Each question is written from documents we consulted, and its explanation gives the reference.

The editions. Our questions were developed from the CSA Z98:19 standard, the Construction Code (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 2), Chapter VII, and the Safety Code (CQLR, c. B-1.1, r. 3), Chapter V — consolidated versions consulted in October 2026. The CSA Z98:24 edition (French edition Z98:F24) has been in force in Québec since August 31, 2026; the major changes listed in the RBQ notice are flagged. The CSA Z98 standard is published by CSA Group and must be purchased; acquiring it is the user's responsibility. Québec regulatory texts are published free of charge on LégisQuébec.

We have never seen the RBQ question bank: the preparation is based on the subject matter described in the official profile, it does not predict the exam questions.

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