Compare Contractor Quotes: What to Check, Line by Line

Three renovation quotes for the same job can sit thousands of dollars apart, and the gap is rarely the contractor's margin. It is usually scope: an allowance set low, a permit left out, a payment schedule that asks for half up front. If you are holding bids that do not line up, the fix is to make every firm price the same written job before you compare a single total.

How many quotes to get for a renovation

Three. Ontario's home renovation rights page tells homeowners to get written estimates from at least 3 contractors, and never to accept one given over the phone or without the contractor inspecting the area. The federal Office of Consumer Affairs says to meet at least three contractors and compare their quotes, and Alberta's homeowner guidance asks for written estimates from more than one business.

Beyond four, extra bids rarely change the picture, and each one costs another site visit and another evening of comparing. Ask only firms you would hire: checking references and insurance comes before the quotes, because a low price from a firm that fails those checks is a number you cannot use.

Get every contractor to price the same scope

Quotes compare only when they price the same job. The Office of Consumer Affairs asks that every contractor estimate from the same specifications, and the CHBA's advice on renovation price quotes is to give each firm identical design and specifications. On a large renovation, the CHBA notes, the design and specifications are often a separate, paid first job, and that paid work is what makes three prices for one design possible.

A per-square-foot figure offered on the first visit is not a quote; the CHBA calls it a guesstimate. Put the scope on paper and send the same sheet to every firm.

Estimate vs quote: which number can change

A quote, also called a fixed or stipulated price, is the price of the scope written into it, and it moves only through change orders you sign. An estimate is the contractor's forecast of the price, and each of the three big provinces limits how far the final bill can run past it.

Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (s. 10) bars charging more than 10% over an estimate included in a consumer agreement, and lets you insist on the estimated price if the bill goes past it. BC's Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act sets no percentage: an estimate materially below the price later demanded is a deceptive practice, unless you expressly agreed to the higher price before the work.

Alberta's Consumer Protection Act (s. 6(2)(e)) is the tightest, at 10% over the estimate to a maximum of $100, without your express consent first. On a $45,000 estimate, that is $49,500 at most in Ontario and $45,100 in Alberta.

Each limit gives way to new work or a new price you agree to first. Ontario's rights page also says the written estimate should be part of the contract, so attach the figure you were quoted, line items and all, to the signed renovation contract.

A cost-plus quote prices the fee rather than the job, so to set it beside a fixed quote, ask for the firm's budget for the same scope and its fee in dollars on that budget.

Compare the quotes line by line

Line the quotes up in a table before you look at the totals. The example below is a bathroom in an Ontario house, priced by three firms from one scope sheet; Ontario and Calgary contractors' 2026 price lists put a gut to the studs at $30,000 to $60,000.

Allowances and exclusions

Compare allowances on what they cover, supply only or supply and installation, as well as on the amount. An exclusion is a line the price leaves out, and the common ones are engineering, disposal, conditions found behind the walls and the building permit.

Ontario says getting permits is the homeowner's responsibility and that the contract should spell it out when the contractor gets them. Alberta says the homeowner is ultimately responsible for having them before work starts, so each quote should say who applies. In Ontario, an electrical contractor's ESA licence number and the ESA permit fees belong on the written estimate.

Payments, warranty, insurance and tax

Ontario recommends a deposit of 10% or less, and Alberta's guide to hiring a contractor lists one who demands a large down payment to buy materials among those to avoid, so Quote A's 50% at signing fails both tests. The rest should follow stages you can see, less a 10% holdback kept until the lien period ends, as Ontario, BC and Alberta law requires.

The CHBA's homeowner contract guide asks for a warranty of at least 1 year on workmanship and materials, and RenoMark members give at least 2 years on all work other than minor home repair and carry at least $2 million of liability insurance. Ask each firm for its insurance certificate and a workers' compensation clearance: WorkSafeBC says a homeowner who hires an unregistered business could be held responsible for its premiums, and WCB Alberta says the same of anyone who hires a contractor without coverage.

Last, note whether each total is before or after tax: 13% HST in Ontario, 5% GST in Alberta and BC.

Why contractor quotes are so different

When three firms price one scope sheet and still land far apart, the gap usually comes from one of these.

• Allowances set low. A $1,200 tile allowance makes a quote look cheaper than one that prices the porcelain you chose, and the difference returns when you order.
• Lines left out. Permits, disposal, waterproofing or engineering are missing from one quote and included in another.
• Who does the work. A firm with its own carpenters and a site supervisor prices differently from one that subcontracts every trade, and the contractor's fee for overhead and profit runs 10 to 20% of project cost on builders' 2026 figures.
• Risk in older houses. We would budget a contingency of 10 to 20% for what is behind the walls, and 20% in a house built before 1980, so a fixed quote that prices that risk in sits above one that leaves it to you.
• How busy the firm is. A firm with a full season booked prices higher, or starts later, than one with a gap to fill.

We treat a quote 30% or more below the other two as a scope gap, not a better price, and Quote A, 36% below Quote B and 43% below Quote C, fits that pattern.

What to do when every quote is too high

If all three quotes land close together and above your budget, the price fits the scope, so change the scope rather than the contractor.

• Keep the layout. On contractors' 2026 price lists, moving a toilet or shower drain adds about $2,000 to $10,000 in a house, and moving a kitchen sink to an island $4,000 to $12,000.
• Choose your products now. A priced selection turns an allowance into a number you can cut, such as a stock vanity at $500 to $1,500 in place of a custom one at $3,000 to $8,000 or more.
• Phase the work. The Office of Consumer Affairs suggests phasing major projects, and a kitchen this year with the bathroom next runs as two smaller contracts.
• Ask each firm for priced options. A firm that knows your budget can say in writing which lines it would change, on the same scope sheet.

Leave three lines alone: the permit, the insurance and the holdback. Cutting any of them saves little and removes a protection you need once something goes wrong.