Design, permits & management

General contractor

The only trade on a renovation that needs no licence, coordinating a dozen that do. What you are buying is sequencing, supervision and one person answerable for the whole thing — which is worth real money when it is done well, and is the single most expensive thing to get wrong.

Also called: GC · Renovation contractor · Design-build contractor · Project manager

Licensed work

There is no general contractor licence in Ontario

This surprises most homeowners, so it is worth stating plainly. HCRA licenses builders of new homes and substantial rebuilds; the compulsory trades are licensed individually — an electrical contractor holds an ECRA/ESA number, a gas fitter is TSSA-registered, a plumber holds a Certificate of Qualification. But for renovation work, anyone may call themselves a general contractor with no licence, no exam and no insurance requirement. What you can check instead: their WSIB clearance, their liability certificate from the broker, that the licensed trades they use hold their own credentials, and — more telling than any document — three finished jobs and the people who paid for them.

Scope

What the work is—and what it isn’t.

Most disputes begin with an exclusion nobody read. Confirm both columns against any quote you receive before comparing prices.

Normally included

Sequencing and scheduling every trade so they arrive in the right order
Pulling the building permit in their own name and managing the inspections
Daily site supervision and coordination between trades
Ordering, receiving and storing materials
Protecting the rest of the house — dust barriers, floor protection, containment
Site cleanliness and waste removal throughout, not only at the end
One point of contact, and one point of warranty when something fails

Normally excluded

Design, drawings and permit sets, unless the quote says design-build
Structural engineering and the stamped drawings a permit needs
Permit fees themselves — usually charged through at cost
Your selections: tile, fixtures, hardware, appliances, unless an allowance is stated
Anything found once walls are open, which is what the contingency is for
Committee of Adjustment, minor variances and any approval beyond the building permit

What moves the price

Why two quotes for the same room differ.

These are the decisions and conditions that actually drive cost on this trade. Understand them and a wide spread between quotes usually explains itself.

01
How they charge, which matters more than the headline number. Fixed price puts the risk on them and costs more for that reason. Cost-plus-percentage puts the risk on you and quietly rewards spending more. Cost-plus-fixed-fee removes that incentive. Construction management is a fee to coordinate trades you contract directly.
02
Whether they self-perform anything or subcontract all of it. A GC with his own carpenters controls schedule better; one who brokers every trade is exposed to everyone else's calendar.
03
How many trades and how many handoffs. Cost climbs with the number of times work has to stop and wait for someone else.
04
Duration, because a GC's overhead is time-based. A job that drifts costs more even when nothing changes.
05
How well the scope was defined before anyone started. This is the largest single driver and the one entirely within your control.
06
Occupancy. Working around a family living in the house is slower than working in an empty one, and should be priced that way.
07
Whether permits, engineering and disposal are in the number or extra.

Cost ranges

What it costs in Halton.

Cost ranges for this trade have not been published yet.

Rather than repeat a national average that means nothing in Halton, this table stays empty until the figures are ones I have priced myself. The cost drivers above are the part that matters most anyway—they explain why the numbers vary.

If you want a real number for your property, that is what the walkthrough is for.

Book a free walkthrough →

Before you sign

What the quote must contain.

If any of these is missing, ask for it in writing before you compare prices. A quote that cannot answer these questions is not a quote—it is an estimate wearing a suit.

Which fee structure it is, named plainly — fixed price, cost-plus-percentage, cost-plus-fixed-fee, or management fee
If cost-plus: what the percentage applies to, whether it applies to change orders, and whether there is a cap
A trade-by-trade breakdown, not one number at the bottom
Confirmation that they pull the permit, in their own name
A written schedule with a start date and a substantial completion date
How change orders are priced and approved — in writing, before the work proceeds
A payment schedule tied to completed milestones, never to calendar dates
How holdback is handled
Their WSIB clearance and liability certificate, plus confirmation that subtrades carry their own
Warranty duration, and what it actually covers
Who is on site each day, and how you reach them

Walk away

Red flags on this trade.

None of these are matters of taste. Each one has a specific consequence, and each is visible before you commit any money.

Asks you to pull the permit — that moves code responsibility to the person least able to carry it, and takes them off the inspection record
Cost-plus with no cap and no open books
Cannot or will not name the subtrades
Wants a large deposit before anyone mobilises
No written schedule, or a verbal one that changes each time you ask
A discount for cash
Says subtrades are covered by his insurance, without evidence
Will not put change orders in writing before doing the work
One number, no breakdown — you cannot compare it to anything, which is usually the point

Before the final payment

The permit is closed and the final inspection passed — get the document, not a verbal assurance
ESA certificate of inspection for any electrical work
A written deficiency list agreed before the final payment is released
Warranty terms in writing, with a start date
Manuals, warranties, paint codes and leftover material handed over
Lien holdback period respected before the last payment leaves your hands

Agree a written deficiency list before releasing the last payment. It is the only leverage that survives the end of a job.

If you are selling

What this does to a sale.

A whole-home renovation with closed permits and a folder of documentation is an asset at sale — it answers half the questions a cautious buyer would otherwise turn into conditions. The identical work with no paperwork is a discount, and sometimes a failed deal. GC-managed jobs are where that documentation most often exists, and where it most spectacularly does not.

Ready to hire

I’ll give you one or two names, not a directory.

Contractors on the bench supply current WSIB, liability insurance and licence documentation, and I have walked their finished work. No referral fee is accepted from any of them.

Request an introduction See the vetting standard →

Also worth reading

Reading a quote & protecting yourself→All trades and specialties→Free renovation walkthrough→

A straightforward first conversation

Thinking about general contractor?

Tell me where you are in the process. We’ll discuss the property, the market, and the questions that matter most to you.

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