Ontario Construction Contract Checker

Custom home construction in Ontario
Ontario Construction Contract CentreContract Checker
Ontario Construction Contract Checker · Renovations & Custom Homes

Upload your construction contract before you sign it

Find missing work, vague allowances, dangerous payment terms and promises that never made it onto the page — while you can still do something about them.

Checked against a construction-completeness framework built from 45+ years and 300+ Ontario custom homes. Plain English, page-and-clause specific.

Free Scan — Check My Contract How It Works
45+ yearsOntario building experience
300+Custom homes completed
2 daysTypical report turnaround
ConfidentialYour files, deleted on request
Why this exists

The argument is already written into the contract

Most construction disputes don’t start on site — they start on paper, months earlier, in what the agreement leaves out. Ontario’s consumer guidance explains why applicable renovation agreements should be in writing and warns that work left out of the contract may not be supplied. The problem isn’t finding a form. It’s knowing what’s missing from yours. Start with our Ontario Construction Contract Guide or upload your actual documents below.

Undefined allowances — “kitchen allowance $25,000” with no list of what it covers.
Front-loaded payments — money ahead of work, leaving you exposed if things stop.
Silent scope — “excavation included,” but nothing about excess soil, rock, water or backfill.
No change-order procedure — every mid-build decision becomes a negotiation.
Vague materials — “builder grade,” “paint ready,” “complete kitchen” with no specifications.
Verbal promises missing — what was said at the kitchen table never made it into writing.
No deficiency process — no holdback, no completion definition, no correction procedure.
Missing responsibilities — permits, engineering, utilities and site conditions assigned to no one.
Proof, not promises

We ran our own contract through it. It scored 5.1 out of 10.

Before we let this checker near your contract, we fed it one of ours — a real $825,000 custom-home agreement our own company wrote. We’d been using that template for years. Here’s a taste of what the builder-reviewed analysis caught:

The finish line before the starting gun

A year typo had the house completed five months before construction began — and once you fixed it, no outside completion date survived at all. Enforceable as written, not as intended.

A $95,000 contradiction

Page one said “taxes are included.” The allowance schedule said “HST not included.” Both sat in the same document for years — 13% of $825,000 hanging on which sentence a judge likes better.

Two sections, one permit bill, two payers

Section I made the builder pay for permits and levies. Section II made the owners. No tie-breaker clause anywhere — a five-figure argument pre-installed in the paperwork.

That’s what an honest checker does: it doesn’t care whose name is on the letterhead — ours included. If it grades the boss’s paper a 5.1, you can trust what it says about yours.

See What Yours Scores — Free Scan
Three levels of help

Start free. Go deeper only if your contract needs it.

1 · Free Scan

Free

AI scan · delivered by email

  • Upload your contract or quote
  • Your top 1–2 red flags, emailed to you
  • The exact questions to ask about them
  • Plus our Ontario contract checklist
Get My Free Scan

2 · Full Review

$99.99

Builder-Reviewed Contract Report — complete AI analysis, checked line by line by a named veteran Ontario builder (not a lawyer)

  • Every document analyzed, clause by clause
  • 10-category completeness scorecard
  • Allowances translated into what they actually buy
  • Scope comparison: your expectations vs. the paper
  • Full questions-to-ask list, ready to send
Start With the Free Scan

3 · Lawyer Review

from $499.99

Independent Ontario construction lawyer · billed by the lawyer

  • A real lawyer reviews your contract
  • Works from our Full Review findings
  • Legal opinion on the flagged clauses
  • Arranged on request after your Full Review
Request Lawyer Review

Levels 1 and 2 are construction-completeness and commercial-risk reviews — not legal advice. Level 3 is a legal service provided and billed directly by an independent Ontario construction lawyer.

The Full Review

What the $99.99 report contains

A structured report — not a chat answer. Every finding cites the page and clause it comes from, and a veteran builder checks every line before it’s sent.

Completeness score

Ten scored categories: scope, price certainty, payment risk, schedule, change orders, allowances, permits, insurance, warranty and termination.

Red flags, classified

Every issue tagged: critical, important, missing, ambiguous, unusual — or balanced, when a clause treats both sides fairly.

Plain-English explanations

What the clause says, why it matters on a real job site, and a practical example of what goes wrong when it’s left as-is.

Scope comparison

What you said you expected vs. what the estimate promises vs. what the contract actually commits to. This is where the money hides.

Questions to ask

The exact clarifying questions to put to the other party before signing — in writing, so the answers become part of the record.

Lawyer flag, when needed

If something needs a legal opinion, the report says so plainly — that’s what Level 3 is for.

Sample finding · Missing scope

Quotation, p.2: “Foundation excavation included”

The quotation includes excavation but is silent on excess-soil removal, imported stone, dewatering and backfill compaction. On a typical rural lot these run $8,000–$25,000 — and when they’re not in the contract, they arrive as extras after the hole is already dug.

Ask before signing: “Does the excavation price include soil disposal, imported granular, dewatering if we hit water, and compacted backfill? If not, what are the unit rates?”

Simple on purpose

How it works

1

Upload your documents

Contract, quotation, drawings, schedules — PDF or Word. Tell us in a few sentences what you believe is included.

2

Free Scan lands in your inbox

Your top 1–2 red flags with the questions to ask — usually within one business day.

3

Go deeper if you need to

Order the Full Review for the complete Builder-Reviewed Contract Report, or request the lawyer review for a legal opinion.

Start here — free

Get your free contract scan

Homeowner or contractor, renovation or custom home — upload what you have. Unsigned drafts are ideal; that’s when this helps most.

Upload for your Free Scan

Your email, whether you’re a homeowner or contractor, and your documents — that’s all we need to start. Add a line about what worries you most, if you like.

Consent

Your documents are treated as confidential, used only to prepare your report and deleted on request. Before uploading, read our Privacy Policy and Legal Disclaimer. Levels 1 and 2 review construction completeness and commercial risk — not legal rights or remedies. BuildersOntario is not a law firm. Where a legal opinion is needed, we’ll say so and connect you with an independent Ontario construction lawyer.

Common questions

Before you upload

Is this legal advice?
Levels 1 and 2 are not — they’re construction-completeness and commercial-risk reviews from a builder’s side of the table: missing scope, vague allowances, risky payment structures, undefined procedures. Level 3 IS a legal service — provided and billed directly by an independent Ontario construction lawyer.
Who checks the Full Review?
AI performs the first structured analysis. Every Full Review is then checked line by line by a named veteran Ontario homebuilder working under the BuildersOntario framework. The report identifies the reviewer and their experience. Reviewers are builders, not lawyers, and have no financial interest in the contract being reviewed. Nothing is sent as a raw AI answer.
What does the Free Scan actually give me?
Your top one or two red flags from your actual documents, with the exact questions to ask about them — delivered by email. It’s a real sample of the Full Review, not a teaser count.
How long does it take?
Free Scans usually within one business day; Full Reviews within about two. If yours will take longer — big document sets do — we’ll tell you up front.
What happens to my files?
They’re used only to produce your report and are deleted on request. Contracts contain names, addresses and prices, so please read our Privacy Policy before uploading.
I’m a contractor — is this for me too?
Very much. We check your agreement for the gaps that cost contractors money: unpaid extras, undefined completion standards, missing change-order procedures, owner-supplied-material risk and payment terms that don’t match your cash flow.
Ontario Construction Contract Centre

Understand the contract before you upload it

These live guides explain the clauses and construction details most often flagged in a review. Each guide links back to the Contract Centre and to this checker.

Ontario Construction Contract Guide The central guide to scope, price, payments, schedules, changes, warranties and termination. Start at the hub → What a Good Contract Should Include Review the essential sections and clauses before comparing your agreement. Read the checklist → Builder Allowances Explained See what allowances cover, what they often exclude and how overages should be handled. Check the allowances → Included vs. Excluded Compare a builder’s quotation against the work, materials and responsibilities you expect. Compare the scope → Payment and Draw Schedules Understand milestone payments, lender draws and why payments should follow measurable progress. Review payment stages → Ontario Construction Liens and Holdback Learn why homeowners can face lien exposure and why the contract must account for holdback. Read the Ontario guide → Free Ontario Contract Template Use the template as an educational starting point, then have the final agreement professionally reviewed. Open the template → If the Builder Stops or Fails Understand deposits, unfinished work, subcontractors, materials and the documents you may need. Prepare for the risk → Ontario Consumer Guidance Read the province’s current information about written renovation contracts and consumer rights. Open Ontario.ca →

A better contract doesn’t create mistrust

It prevents two honest people from remembering the same conversation differently. Start with the free scan.

Get My Free Scan