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What a Home Builder Actually Does: The 49 Trades, the Permit, the Schedule, the Money and the Phone That Never Stops
Builders and contracts The builder's job From a builder
What a Home Builder Actually Does: The 49 Trades, the Permit, the Schedule, the Money and the Phone That Never Stops
People picture a builder with a hammer. I own several and rarely touch one. A house is twenty to thirty weeks, forty-odd trades and suppliers, a few thousand parts and a municipality, and somebody has to make all of it arrive in the right order. That is the job.
Short version: A home builder in Ontario is the manager of the whole project: licensed by the HCRA and enrolled with Tarion for a new home, responsible for the permit and the inspections, the estimate and the contract, hiring and scheduling the trades, buying the materials, checking the work before the inspector does, managing the money (deposits, draws, holdback, paying the subs), handling changes, keeping the client informed, and standing behind the house for the warranty years. A builder is paid through overhead and profit on the direct cost, in a fixed price or as a cost-plus percentage. A contractor who only does one trade, or who will not take out the permit, is not doing this job.
Before the first shovel
- The licence and the warranty: in Ontario a builder of a new home must hold an HCRA licence and enrol the house with Tarion; the licence is the first thing to check. How to check it.
- The lot: zoning, setbacks, the conservation authority, soil, water, septic capacity, access, where the house sits for the sun. A builder who has built in your township knows which of these bites.
- The design: working with the designer or architect to turn a plan into something that can be built for the budget, and catching the things the drawing forgot. Architect vs BCIN designer explains who draws what.
- The estimate and the contract: a takeoff of every material and every trade, allowances for what is not chosen yet, a schedule, and a contract that says who does what and when money moves. Fixed price vs cost plus is the first decision in it.
- The permit: the builder files it, in the builder’s name on a contract build, which makes the builder answerable for the inspections. How a permit happens.
During the build
- Scheduling: excavator, footings, foundation, framer, roofer, windows, plumber, electrician, HVAC, insulator, drywaller, painter, tile setter, cabinet maker, flooring, trim carpenter, and twenty more, each arriving after the one before has finished and before the inspector needs them. A week lost at framing is a week lost at every trade behind it.
- Buying: ordering materials to arrive when they are needed and not before (lumber in the rain is money in the rain), and checking what arrives against what was ordered.
- Checking: walking the site before and after every trade and before every inspection. The municipal inspector checks the Code; the builder checks everything. Building inspections lists the municipal ones; stage checklists lists ours.
- Problems: rock where the soil report said sand, a window delivered wrong, a sub who did not show, a change the client wants after the drywall. Solving them is most of the day.
- Money: collecting draws, paying forty trades and suppliers on time so they come back, holding the 10 percent holdback the Construction Act requires, and keeping the records a client is entitled to see. Who manages and pays subcontractors goes through that.
- The client: site visits, selections on time, change orders in writing, and the phone call that explains why the foundation is a week late before the client drives by and sees it.
At the end and after
The final inspections and the occupancy permit; the pre-delivery inspection with the client and the deficiency list; the orientation on how the house works; the warranty years, which on a Tarion home are one, two and seven, and on ours seven for materials and workmanship. A builder who is still in business in year six is a builder who priced the job to be. Tarion’s coverage explained and the final walkthrough cover the hand-over.
How a builder gets paid
On a fixed-price contract the builder’s overhead and profit are inside the price and the builder carries the risk of being wrong. On cost plus, the client pays the actual costs plus a stated percentage (we have used 10 percent overhead and 15 percent profit on direct cost for decades) and sees every invoice. Either way the margin is what pays for the office, the trucks, the estimating that did not win, and the warranty. Why construction costs what it costs explains where it goes.
Builder, contractor, general contractor
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Home builder | Builds complete new homes; licensed by the HCRA, enrolled with Tarion; usually the general contractor too |
| General contractor (GC) | Manages the whole project and the trades, new build or renovation; may or may not be a licensed builder (renovations do not need the HCRA licence) |
| Trade contractor / sub | One trade: the framer, the plumber, the roofer; works for the GC |
| Owner-builder | You, acting as the GC on your own house; legal, exempt from Tarion if you live in it, and a full-time job |
How to find the best builder and finding a reputable one are how to hire the person described on this page.
Related guides on this site
Sources and further reading
Questions people ask
What does a general contractor do on a custom home?
Manages everything from the permit to the occupancy certificate: estimating and the contract, hiring and scheduling every trade, buying materials, checking the work, dealing with inspectors and problems, managing deposits, draws, holdback and payments to subs, handling changes, keeping the client informed, and carrying the warranty.
What is the difference between a builder and a contractor?
A home builder builds complete new homes and must be licensed by the HCRA and enrolled with Tarion; a general contractor manages a project and its trades (new build or renovation) and may not need the builder licence; a trade contractor does one trade under the GC.
How does a home builder get paid?
Through overhead and profit on the direct cost: built into a fixed price, or added as a stated percentage on a cost-plus contract where the client sees the invoices. Payment comes in a deposit and stage draws, less the 10 percent Construction Act holdback.
Who pulls the building permit, the builder or the owner?
On a contract build, the builder, in the builder's name, which makes the builder responsible for the inspections. An owner pulls it only when acting as their own general contractor.
Building in Simcoe County or on Georgian Bay?
We are ICFhome.ca, a family builder in Tiny Township with 45 years of custom homes behind us. Pick the path that matches where you are.
Reviewed and updated October 2026. Costs are Ontario ranges, not quotes; code references are to the Ontario Building Code in force at that date.
Great introduction about home builders and their job! Keep sharing with us.
It’s so cool that the home builder oversees the entire construction phase because that means it’ll be organized. Having one person see the project through is a good idea. They’ll be able to communicate with everyone and make sure it comes out right.
Thanks for mentioning that if a builder doesn’t take the time to sit down and talk with you about your custom home project then that could be a red flag. My wife and I are thinking of hiring a contractor next month because we’re contemplating building our dream home on a mountainside in the near future. I think it’s a good investment to hire a reputable professional that will sit down and go over our project with us if we decide to build the house.
I am glad the builder will let the right municipal departments know when a house is ready for inspection. I want to hire a builder that will be with me from the day we break the ground to the day they say inspections can be done. That would help me feel great about the whole process.
I appreciate you helping me with the home builder, and they are a supervisor who oversees the work of dozens of skilled artisans and professionals, including carpenters, architects, engineers, plumbers, electricians, painters, and landscapers. My husband and I like to hire a home builder for our new house here in Bega. We wanted to ensure that someone would see through everything that needed to be done while constructing our new house.