Even before the codification in articles 1683 to 1697 of the Lower Canada Civil Code (LCCC) of certain rules dealing with construction contracts, construction law had its own specificity, based on both classical French doctrine and elements of the common law. Thus, the case of Brown v. Laurie ,1 cited by the drafters of the Code as the basis for section 1688 of the LCCC, had given effect to a principle applicable in both common law and civil law: he who undertakes to build must build well and soundly.

The legislator used the language of article 1792 of the Napoleonic Code, but added in article 1688 of the LCCC the words “jointly and severally”. The intent was to put into law the decision in Brown v. Laurie which already, before codification, had established the several liability of the architect and the contractor. This several liability was confirmed in Wardle v. Bethune .2 The Privy Council in that decision recognised the specificity and severity of the law in the province of Quebec with regard to builders, while acknowledging that common law also recognises the existence of a common fault which can contribute to the same harm.

In public construction contracts, the liability of the public authority is determined by public law: Laurentide Motels v. Beauport ,3 gives us the parameters for the rules which, in public law, determine in what circumstances and to what extent the private law of liability extends to public authorities.

To establish the liability of the City of Beauport, Justice Beetz’s reasoning

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