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How to Compare Framing and Building System Quotes in Ontario: Level of Completion First, the Thirteen-Line Grid, and Three Framing Quotes for the Same House Added Up
Framing & Building Systems
Comparing Framing Quotes: Find Out What You Are Buying Before You Find Out What It Costs
Three numbers land on the kitchen table: $33,600, $81,000 and $96,000 to frame the same house. The instinct is to call the cheap one. Hold off: they are almost never quoting the same job. This page sorts quotes by level of completion first, then runs them through a thirteen-line grid, then adds up three example framing quotes until they are the same job.
Level First, Price Second
Every quote for a house structure sits at one of five levels. Mixing them up is the most expensive mistake on this page, so sort them before you look at a total.
| Level | What it is | A real published example | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1, kit or materials | What the supplier makes or ships | An Ontario SIP package seller, 2,400 sq ft, wall and roof panels delivered | $89,500 |
| Level 1, kit or materials | Same | A Quebec log kit maker, 2,544 sq ft model, log and beam kit, April 2025 list | $126,472 |
| Level 2, installed structure | Kit plus delivery, equipment and assembly | Wood framing, labour and materials, 2,400 sq ft at our $40 planning number | $96,000 |
| Level 3, closed-in shell | Structure plus roof, sheathing, wraps, windows, exterior doors | Rarely published on its own; ask for it | quoted per job |
| Level 3 to 4 | Modular house set on your foundation | An Ontario prefab cottage seller, 2,125 sq ft, delivered and installed, foundation extra | $629,500 |
| Level 4, finished house | Everything to move in, no land or site | A Simcoe County custom builder, straightforward house | $400 to $500 a sq ft |
| Level 5, complete property | Level 4 plus septic, well, hydro, driveway, permits, charges | Depends on the lot | quoted per lot |
October 2026 unless dated, before HST. The SIP package excludes assembly and the foundation; it works out to about $37 a sq ft by our arithmetic ($89,500 / 2,400). The log list does not say what each kit level includes. The modular price works out to about $296 a sq ft.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the framing contractors, suppliers and price guides we checked for this page could not agree on what framing costs, partly because they were not pricing the same thing. A Canadian proptech blog put framing with materials at $11 a sq ft; a Canadian finance guide said $30 to $60. Per house, a proptech blog had $22,000 for 2,000 sq ft and a national marketplace said up to $160,000, size not stated. Level of completion, floor area versus footprint, and what is “by others” make the gap. Budget $40 a sq ft of floor, labour and materials, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Say it bluntly: a $89,500 SIP package and a $96,000 framing quote are not $6,500 apart. The SIP package has nobody to stand the panels up, and there is no independent published price for that labour. Bring every quote to Level 4 before you compare; the kit versus finished house page shows how, and the kit to finished house calculator does the adding. The SIP page covers the panels themselves.
The Thirteen Lines
| Line | What the quote has to say | If it is missing, budget |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Level of completion | Labour only, labour and materials, closed in, or more | Nothing until you know |
| 2. Measured area | Floor area or footprint; basement, garage, porch counted or not | Recalculate at the same area |
| 3. Lumber package | Supplied or not, from whose takeoff, price held how long | $25,000 to $60,000, a finance guide, size not stated |
| 4. Roof trusses | Supplied, delivered, set; girders and hips included | $5 to $9 a ft of span per truss |
| 5. Engineered floor | I-joists or floor trusses, supplied or set only | I-joists $4 to $9 a lineal ft (thin); packages quoted per job |
| 6. Beams | Each LVL, steel or glulam beam listed, supplied and set | LVL installed $800 to $2,500 typical |
| 7. Sheathing | Walls, roof, subfloor; glued and screwed or not | Ask your yard; we do not print a sheet price |
| 8. Wraps | House wrap, taped seams, window flashing | Quoted per job |
| 9. Windows set | Installed by the framer, or “by others” | Quoted per job |
| 10. Crane or boom truck | Who books and pays, how many hours | $700 to $1,500 a day; half day $900 to $1,400 |
| 11. Engineering | Beam sizing, truss drawings, bracing on the plans | Engineer $150 to $300 an hour |
| 12. Permits | Who applies, who books the framing inspection | Your municipality’s fee |
| 13. Cleanup | Dumpster, scrap, sweeping the slab | Quoted per job |
October 2026, before HST. Truss figures are from two Canadian calculator sites; a simple gable roof of 25 to 35 trusses at 30 to 36 ft span works out to about $3,750 to $11,300 before girders, hips and delivery, our estimate. The I-joist figure is from a calculator site with no named data. The full framing numbers are on the house framing cost page.
Three Example Quotes on the Grid
This is a made-up example. A two-storey house, 1,200 sq ft footprint, 2,400 sq ft of floor, engineered floors, two LVL beams, a simple gable roof of 30 trusses at a 32 ft span. Three fictional framers quote it, priced with the ranges on this page.
| Line | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price on paper | $33,600 | $81,000 | $96,000 |
| Level | Level 2, labour only | Level 2, labour and materials | Level 2, plus wraps and windows set |
| Lumber, sheathing, engineered floor | By owner: add $42,500 allowance | Included | Included |
| Trusses | By owner: add 30 x 32 x $7 = $6,720 | Included | Included |
| Two LVL beams | In the lumber allowance | Not listed: add 2 x $1,650 = $3,300 | Included |
| Boom truck, half day | Not listed: add $1,150 | “By others”: add $1,150 | Included |
| Wraps, windows set, dumpster | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Same priced scope | $83,970 | $85,450 | $96,000 |
Example only. The lumber allowance is the middle of the finance guide’s $25,000 to $60,000, which does not say what it covers; the truss rate is the middle of $5 to $9; each LVL is the middle of $800 to $2,500; the boom truck is the middle of $900 to $1,400. A: $33,600 + $42,500 + $6,720 + $1,150 = $83,970. B: $81,000 + $3,300 + $1,150 = $85,450. C: $96,000.
A went from cheapest by $47,400 to $1,480 under B. And A has the widest swing: at the ends of the lumber range it is $66,470 or $101,470. Until A’s lumber has a real takeoff and a yard price, A is a guess.
C is $10,550 over B, but C includes the wraps, setting the windows and the dumpster, which we could not price from published sources. Ask A and B to price those three in writing. If B comes in under $96,000 with them, B is your framer, subject to the paper on the hiring page.
Rural lots add a line nobody writes down: can the truss truck and the boom truck get to the house? On Georgian Bay lots, that is the site work GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca does.
Reading the Grid
- Send everyone the same package: plans by date, truss layout, floor system, beam list.
- Write the level in the first row. If two quotes are at different levels, stop and bring them up to the same one before anything else.
- Put the same allowance in every column. Use the middle of the range, and say so.
- Look at the engineering line. Trusses need sealed shop drawings and beams need sizing; someone has to supply them, and a quote that never mentions them is not cheaper, it is earlier.
- A blank counts as zero. If it is not written, assume it is not in the price.
The same grid works on building system packages. For a SIP, log, timber frame or modular quote, line 1 does most of the work: what level is it, and what is it missing to reach Level 4?
The Grid Is Free; the Review Is $99
Most of the time the grid answers it with a pencil and a coffee. The $99 review is for the rest: two quotes a few thousand apart with different wording, a building system package next to a framing quote, or a line you cannot tell is in or out. I read up to three framing, structural, SIP, log, timber frame or modular quotes, put them on the grid at the same level, and write down what each one left out and what I would ask. I build ICF houses, and I say so; the review reads every system on the same terms. We do not sell framers, we do not send your plans to suppliers, and we take no referral fees.
Questions people ask
Why are framing quotes for the same house so different?
Because they rarely cover the same job. One is labour only, one includes the lumber and trusses, one includes the crane and the windows. Published figures run from about $11 to $60 a sq ft for labour and materials. Bring them to the same level and the same scope first.
What should a framing quote include?
The level of completion, the measured area, the lumber package, trusses, engineered floor, beams, sheathing, wraps, whether windows are set, the crane, engineering, who handles the permit and inspection, and cleanup.
Can I compare a SIP package price with a framing quote?
Not directly. A SIP package is usually Level 1, panels delivered, with no assembly and no foundation. A framing quote is Level 2, an installed structure. Bring both to Level 4, the finished house, before you compare.
Is the cheapest framing quote a bad sign?
Usually it is an incomplete one. Price the missing lines with the same allowances and compare again. If it is still cheapest and the paper checks out, take it.
Bring every quote to the same house
The building system comparison calculator puts the same house as wood frame, SIP, ICF, log, timber frame and modular, all at Level 4, with sourced ranges, so you can see which quotes are even in the right neighbourhood. If the grid still leaves a question, the $99 review reads up to three quotes and writes down what each is missing.
Sources and further reading
- Residential building permit requirements (Clarington): truss shop drawings sealed by a Professional Engineer, and when professional design is needed outside Part 9.
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government: written contracts, estimates and the cooling-off rules for work done at your home.
- GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca: site work, truck and crane access, and foundations on Georgian Bay lots.
