Renovation Contract Checklist: What It Must Include
The 14 clauses a renovation contract needs, what Ontario, BC and Alberta law requires in it, a sample payment schedule with the holdback, and how changes and estimates are priced.
A renovation contract is the document every hire ends in, and the one you reach for when something goes wrong: a vague scope, an empty allowance, a change agreed in the hallway. Ontario, BC and Alberta each set out what a consumer contract must contain. The time to close those gaps is before you sign, while every clause is still open to change.
6 sections
What a renovation contract must include
Ontario's General regulation under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 lists 16 items a contract for future work must set out, BC requires the same core before you sign, and Alberta's Act carries a list of its own. Add what the CHBA's homeowner guide to renovation contracts asks for, and a renovation contract comes down to 14 clauses.
| Clause | What it should say |
|---|---|
| Parties | Legal and business names, address, phone, GST/HST number and any licence number |
| Scope of work | Room by room, from demolition to finishes, plus a list of exclusions |
| Products and drawings | Brand, model and colour, product numbers for tile, flooring and counters, and drawings attached by date |
| Allowances | An amount, what it covers and what happens if the final choice costs more or less |
| Price and tax | An itemized price and the total, with the sales tax shown |
| Payment schedule | The deposit amount, then each payment tied to a stage you can see |
| Holdback | 10% kept back until the 55- to 60-day holdback period ends, as Ontario, BC and Alberta law requires |
| Dates | Start, substantial completion and completion, and how delays are handled |
| Permits and inspections | Who applies for each permit, who pays and who books the inspections |
| Subcontractors | The trades on the job, and that the contractor pays them |
| Changes | A written change order, priced and signed by both of you before the work |
| Insurance and workers' compensation | A liability insurance certificate and the WSIB, WorkSafeBC or WCB account, with a clearance letter in BC and Alberta |
| Warranty | The workmanship warranty period and what it covers, plus manufacturers' warranties passed to you |
| Cleanup, cancellation and disputes | Who cleans up, what you owe if you cancel after work starts, and how disputes are settled |
Scope and products: specific enough to price and check
The scope is the clause every later argument goes back to. It names what is demolished, what is built and which trade does what, then lists what the price leaves out, such as engineering or a panel upgrade.
The federal Office of Consumer Affairs asks for product numbers on carpet, tile, countertops and hardwood. The same scope, sent to every bidder, is what makes quotes from three firms comparable.
Allowances: an amount, a description and a rule
An allowance holds a place in the price for something not yet chosen, such as cabinets, tile or lighting. It needs the amount, what it covers (supply only, or supply and installation) and what happens when the final pick costs more or less, markup included.
Contract rules in Ontario, BC and Alberta
| Rule | Ontario | BC | Alberta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Must be in writing | Any home renovation contract over $50 | Contracts paid or performed later, $50 or more before tax | Prepaid contracts over $200 |
| What it must contain | 16 items (O. Reg. 17/05, s. 24); signed by both if made at your home | Disclosed before you sign, from names and dates to each payment and the cancellation policy | The s. 35 list, from names and dates to the itemized price and both signatures |
| Your copy | Delivered to you | Within 15 days, or at signing if made at your home | By the first day of work or within 10 days of signing |
| Cancel for any reason | 10 days from receipt, if made at your home | 10 days from receipt, if made in person away from its business | 10 days from receipt, if made away from its business |
| Cancel for up to a year | No copy that meets the rules | Required information missing or different from the disclosure | Required information missing, or an unlicensed prepaid contractor, if made away from its business |
| Cancel if work is late | Not begun 30 days after the start date | Not supplied 30 days after the supply date | Not begun 30 days after the start date, if made away from its business; within 1 year of signing |
| Refund after cancelling | Within 15 days | Within 15 days | Within 15 days |
Ontario
Ontario's home renovation rights page advises a payment schedule showing the deposit, plus every sub-trade and who pays it. Getting permits is your job unless the contract gives it to the contractor, and work waits until you have seen them. A contract made at your home is signed by both of you, with a "Your Rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002" statement on its first page.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2023 is not yet in force, so the 2002 Act still governs. In Toronto, any business that renovates or advertises renovation services needs a City Building Renovator licence, so put the licence number in the contract.
BC
BC rewrote its consumer contract rules from August 1, 2026, in the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. Most renovation contracts are future performance contracts, so the contractor discloses the terms, including each payment and its cancellation and refund policy, before you sign.
A contract made in person at your house is also a direct sales contract: you get your copy on the spot, and if the contractor requires a down payment above the lesser of $100 and 10% of the price, the contract does not bind you.
Alberta
Alberta's Consumer Protection Act (s. 35) sets the contents of a contract made away from the contractor's business, prepaid contracts over $200 must meet the same list, and a contractor that sells at your home and takes money before the work needs a prepaid contracting licence. Alberta's contract checklist adds three habits worth copying anywhere: write "NA" in every blank, initial every handwritten change, and approve changes in writing with a signed statement of the cost.
A sample renovation payment schedule
"There is no single standard model for payment," the CHBA guide says, and its examples tie progress payments to stages such as a poured foundation. Ontario's homeowner page recommends a deposit of no more than 10%. On a $60,000 mid-range kitchen, before tax, with the deposit credited against the first invoice and 10% of each stage held back:
| Payment | Released when | Work invoiced | Held back (10%) | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Deposit | The contract is signed | $0 | $0 | $6,000 |
| 2. Rough-in | Demolition done; plumbing and electrical rough-in inspected | $21,000 | $2,100 | $12,900 (deposit credited) |
| 3. Cabinets and counters | Cabinets installed, counters set | $15,000 | $1,500 | $13,500 |
| 4. Substantial completion | Kitchen usable; final inspections passed | $18,000 | $1,800 | $16,200 |
| 5. Completion | Deficiency list signed off | $6,000 | $600 | $5,400 |
| 6. Holdback release | Lien period over, no lien on title | $0 | $0 | $6,000 |
| Total | Six payments | $60,000 | $6,000 | $60,000 |
The final payment and the holdback are different money. The $5,400 at completion pays for the finished deficiency list; the $6,000 held back answers for trades and suppliers your contractor did not pay, and is released once the lien deadlines pass: after 60 days in Ontario and Alberta, and 55 in BC.
Change orders: how changes get priced and signed
A change order amends the contract for work added, removed or swapped after signing. The CHBA guide says each one should be signed by you and the contractor, and that extras may carry a premium and scaling back a charge on the cancelled work, so the contract sets that pricing before any change happens.
Estimates, fixed prices and what a contractor can charge
The CHBA calls the all-inclusive stipulated fixed cost contract the most common type, with cost-plus contracts used mainly on larger projects. Where the contract includes an estimate, Ontario's Consumer Protection Act (s. 10) bars charging more than 10% over it, so Ontario advises making the written estimate part of the contract. Alberta's Act (s. 6(2)(e)) treats charging more than 10%, to a maximum of $100, over an estimate as an unfair practice.
Before you sign
The contract is the last step of hiring, after the reference, insurance and licence checks, and Ontario advises a lawyer's review on major work.
Common questions
Is there a renovation contract template in Canada?
Standard forms exist: the Canadian Construction Documents Committee publishes CCDC 2, a stipulated price contract, and CCDC 3, a cost plus contract. A renovation contractor will often bring its own form instead; check it against the 14 clauses above.
Does a renovation contract have to be in writing in Ontario?
Yes, any home renovation contract worth more than $50 must be in writing in Ontario and delivered to you. Without a copy that meets the rules, you can cancel within one year.
Can I cancel a renovation contract after signing it?
Yes, within 10 days of receiving your copy if you signed it at home, in Ontario, BC and Alberta, with a refund due within 15 days. A contract negotiated and signed at the contractor's office has no cooling-off period, but in Ontario and BC missing required terms or a start more than 30 days late still lets you cancel. Alberta gives both rights only on a contract made away from the contractor's business, for 1 year from signing.
Who is responsible for the building permit, me or the contractor?
The responsibility is yours in Ontario and Alberta, though the contractor can apply for you. Ontario asks that a contractor who gets the permits say so in the contract, and Alberta says the homeowner is ultimately responsible for having them before work starts.
What if the contractor does not start on the date in the contract?
You can cancel if work has not begun 30 days after the start date, or the supply date in BC; in Alberta only on a contract made away from the contractor's business, within 1 year of signing. In all three, the right ends once you let the work begin after the 30 days.
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