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Exterior Renovation Contract Checklist for Ontario: Scope, Named Products, Unit Rates for Rot, Flashing, Schedule, the Construction Act Holdback and Prompt Payment, Warranty and Change Orders
Exterior Finishes
The Exterior Contract: If It Is Not Written Down, It Is Not in the Price, and the Crew on the Ladder Did Not Hear the Conversation
A good siding or stucco contract is a boring document about two pages long, and every line on it is a fight that somebody already had with somebody else. The scope by wall, the product by name and grade, the quantity, the unit rates for what is found behind the old siding, what goes on before the cladding, when the money moves and how much of it stays back. Ontario law supplies some of it: the written contract, the 10% estimate rule, the Construction Act holdback and its prompt-payment clock. The rest is on this list, and a contractor who will sign it is most of the way to being the right one.
The checklist
| Clause | What it should say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Parties | Contractor’s legal name, address, HST number; your name and the property address | Ontario’s consumer protection law requires it; a warranty against a trade name is a warranty against nobody |
| Scope by elevation | Each wall: what comes off, what goes on, where one material stops and the next starts | “Re-side the house” does not say whether the gables are in |
| Products | Brand, product line, profile, thickness, colour, finish; trim and corner material; membrane and flashing by name | A brand is not a grade; $2 to $6 a square foot rides on this line |
| Quantities | Net sq ft per elevation, lf of trim, lf of eave with soffit depth, opening count, waste stated | Without a quantity you cannot check a rate or a change |
| Before the cladding | Sheathing membrane, lapping and taping; sill pans, side tapes and head flashing at every opening; kick-outs at every roof-to-wall; rainscreen strapping or the reason none | The invisible 20% of the job that keeps the wall dry |
| Unit rates for what is found | Sheathing $6.50 per sq ft; framing $400 to $900 per opening; rotten fascia $18 per lf; a stated allowance, reconciled against photographs | Turns “extra if found” into arithmetic |
| Schedule | Start date, working days, weather terms, what happens if the wall is open and it rains | Stucco and stone stop below 5 C; vinyl does not |
| Payment | Deposit, draws tied to stages you can see, 10% holdback for 60 days, invoices payable within 28 days | The Construction Act; see below |
| Change orders | In writing, priced, signed by both before the work, with the 10% estimate rule noted | The law caps a final bill at 10% over the estimate without your written agreement |
| Warranty | Manufacturer’s product warranty, who registers it; written workmanship warranty with a term, 2 years minimum | The 30-year warranty is the siding, not the installer |
| Site | Bin location, protection of landscaping and the neighbour’s side, daily cleanup, nails swept with a magnet, washroom | Siding nails and a lawnmower do not mix |
| Attachments | WSIB clearance certificate, liability insurance certificate, the takeoff, the colour selection signed by you | Paper that exists before the job rather than after the accident |
The products and quantities come straight from the quote, which is why the twelve-line quote grid is done first; a quote that filled all twelve lines becomes a contract with almost no new writing.
The Construction Act: holdback and prompt payment
Ontario’s Construction Act applies to a homeowner hiring a contractor for an exterior job, not just to office towers. Two parts of it belong in the contract. The first is the holdback: you are required to keep back 10% of each payment until 60 days after the work is done, so that a supplier or a sub the contractor did not pay has that money to claim against instead of putting a lien on your house. It is not a negotiating tool and it is not optional; it is the law protecting you, and a contractor who objects to it is objecting to Ontario.
The second is prompt payment. Once the contractor gives you a proper invoice, one that says what work it is for and what period, you have 28 days to pay it or 14 days to send a written notice saying what you are not paying and why. Miss both and interest runs. So the contract should say what a proper invoice looks like and which stage it belongs to, and you should put a reminder in your phone for day 14, because “I was waiting to see if the ripple came out” is not a notice of non-payment.
The consumer protection side adds the written-contract rule for anything over $50, the 10% cap on a final bill over the estimate without your written agreement, and the 10-day cooling-off on a contract signed at your door, which the door-to-door page goes through. None of that replaces the holdback; they stack.
The $40,260 job, paid out
The fibre cement re-side from the quote comparison page: 1,800 sq ft at $18 is $32,400, tearoff $3,600, bin $550, membrane $1,530, flashing kits $1,530, rot allowance $650. $40,260 before HST. The holdback is 10%, $4,026. Here is a payment schedule that follows the work and the law.
| Stage | Trigger | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | Contract signed, colour signed, material ordered | 10% | $4,026 |
| Draw 1 | Old siding off, rot reconciled with photographs, membrane and flashing on and inspected | 35% | $14,091 |
| Draw 2 | Siding and trim complete, walls sighted in low sun | 35% | $14,091 |
| Completion | Cleanup done, warranties and final invoice delivered | 10% | $4,026 |
| Holdback release | 60 days after completion, no liens registered | 10% | $4,026 |
| 100% | $40,260 |
Draw 1 lands at the moment the cladding inspection checklist is at its most useful, with the wall open; tie the draw to the walk, in writing, and the walk happens. HST of $5,234 goes on each invoice in proportion.
Where contracts go wrong
- The contract is the quote with a signature line. If the quote was a lump sum with “all trim”, so is the contract. Get the twelve lines into it first.
- Rot by the hour. “Time and materials for any repairs” is a blank cheque written on a day you are at work. Unit rates, an allowance, and photographs to reconcile against.
- No stage for the open wall. A schedule that goes deposit, half, final has no moment where you look at the flashing before it is covered. Put a draw on it.
- Holdback waived “because we trust each other.” The holdback is for the people you have never met: the lumber yard and the sub. Trust has nothing to do with it.
- Change orders by text message. A text that says “ok go ahead” with no price is a change order with no price. Written, priced, signed, every time, and the 10% rule behind it.
- Warranty in the wrong name. A manufacturer’s warranty registered to the contractor is his to claim, not yours. Your name, your address, your copy.
The hiring questions that come before the contract are on how to hire a siding contractor, and the same contract logic for a roof, which has fewer lines and a steeper ladder, is on how to hire a roofer. For a new house rather than a renovation, the cladding is inside the builder’s contract and the Tarion warranty, and the new-home exterior cost page is where that allowance gets pinned down.
Questions people ask
Do I have to hold back 10% on a siding contract in Ontario?
Yes. The Construction Act requires an owner, including a homeowner, to retain 10% of each payment until 60 days after the work is complete, as security for subs and suppliers who might otherwise lien the property. It is written into every contract I sign, on both sides.
How long do I have to pay a contractor invoice in Ontario?
28 days from receiving a proper invoice, or 14 days to deliver a written notice of non-payment saying what you dispute and why. After that, interest runs and the contractor has a process to follow. Put the day-14 date in your calendar.
What should a siding contract include?
Legal names and HST number, scope by elevation, products by brand and grade, quantities, the membrane and flashing spelled out, unit rates for rot, a schedule, a staged payment plan with the holdback, change orders in writing, both warranties, site terms, and the WSIB and insurance certificates attached.
Can a contractor charge more than the estimate?
Not more than 10% over it without your written agreement, under Ontario consumer protection law. Rot found behind the siding is the usual reason, and the fix is a unit rate and an allowance in the contract so the change is arithmetic, agreed in writing when it is found.
How much deposit is normal for exterior work?
About 10%, enough to order material and hold the slot. Draws then follow stages you can see. A contractor asking for half up front is financing something other than your job.
Build the contract from a real number
The exterior cladding cost calculator gives you the quantities and the unit rates that belong in the contract, line by line. If you have a contract in front of you and a pen in your hand, the $99 review reads it against this checklist and tells you what to add before you sign, usually by the next business day.
Sources and further reading
- Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990: the 10% holdback, the lien period and the prompt-payment timelines that apply to an exterior contract.
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government: the 10-day cooling-off period on a contract signed at your door, the written contract rule, estimates, and the door-to-door rules.
- WSIB clearances: where you check that the siding crew has a valid clearance certificate before anyone is on a ladder at your house.
