Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30

• Jurisdiction: Ontario

Construction Act

R.S.O. 1990, Chapter C.30

Consolidation Period: From December 4, 2023 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2023, c. 21, Sched. 2.

CONTENTS

Interpretation

Definitions

1 (1) In this Act,

“action” means an action under Part VIII; (“action”)

“broader public sector organization” has the same meaning as in the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010; (“organisme du secteur parapublic”)

“contract” means the contract between the owner and the contractor, and includes any amendment to that contract; (“contrat”)

“contractor” means a person contracting with or employed directly by the owner or an agent of the owner to supply services or materials to an improvement and includes a joint venture entered into for the purposes of an improvement or improvements; (“entrepreneur”)

“court” means the Superior Court of Justice; (“tribunal”)

“Crown” includes a Crown agency to which the Crown Agency Act applies; (“Couronne”)

“holdback” means the 10 per cent of the value of the services or materials supplied under a contract or subcontract required to be withheld from payment by Part IV; (“retenue”)

“home” means,

(a) a self-contained one-family dwelling, detached or attached to one or more others by a common wall,

(b) a building composed of two self-contained, one-family dwellings under one ownership, or

(c) a condominium one-family dwelling unit, including the common interests appurtenant thereto,

and includes any structure or works used in conjunction therewith; (“logement”)

“home buyer” means a person who buys the interest of an owner in a premises that is a home, whether built or not at the time the agreement of purchase and sale in respect thereof is entered into, provided,

(a) not more than 30 per cent of the purchase price, excluding money held in trust under section 81 of the Condominium Act, 1998, is paid prior to the conveyance, and

(b) the home is not conveyed until it is ready for occupancy, evidenced in the case of a new home by the issuance of a municipal permit authorizing occupancy or the issuance under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act of a certificate of completion and possession; (“acquéreur d’un logement”)

Note: On a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, clause (b) of the definition of “home buyer” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out “the issuance under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act of a certificate of completion and possession” and substituting “the issuance of material prescribed for the purpose of this clause by the regulations made under the Protection for Owners and Purchasers of New Homes Act, 2017”. (See: 2017, c. 33, Sched. 2, s. 76 (1))

“improvement” means, in respect of any land,

(a) any alteration, addition or capital repair to the land,

(b) any construction, erection or installation on the land, including the installation of industrial, mechanical, electrical or other equipment on the land or on any building, structure or works on the land that is essential to the normal or intended use of the land, building, structure or works, or

(c) the complete or partial demolition or removal of any building, structure or works on the land; (“améliorations”)

“interest in the premises” means an estate or interest of any nature, and includes a statutory right given or reserved to the Crown to enter any lands or premises belonging to any person or public authority for the purpose of doing any work, construction, repair or maintenance in, upon, through, over or under any lands or premises; (“intérêt sur les lieux”)

“land” includes any building, structure or works affixed to the land, or an appurtenance to any of them, but does not include the improvement; (“bien-fonds”)

“lien claimant” means a person having a preserved or perfected lien; (“créancier privilégié”)

“materials” means every kind of movable property,

(a) that becomes, or is intended to become, part of the improvement, or that is used directly in the making of the improvement, or that is used to facilitate directly the making of the improvement,

(b) that is equipment rented without an operator for use in the making of the improvement; (“matériaux”)

“monetary supplementary benefit” includes any contribution, remittance, union dues, deduction, payment or other additional compensation of any kind; (“avantage pécuniaire supplémentaire”)

“mortgage” includes a charge and “mortgagee” includes a chargee; (“hypothèque”, “créancier hypothécaire”)

“municipality” means,

(a) a municipality within the meaning of the Municipal Act, 2001, and

(b) a local board within the meaning of the Municipal Act, 2001 or the City of Toronto Act, 2006; (“municipalité”)

“owner” means any person, including the Crown, having an interest in a premises at whose request and,

(a) upon whose credit, or

(b) on whose behalf, or

(c) with whose privity or consent, or

(d) for whose direct benefit,

an improvement is made to the premises but does not include a home buyer; (“propriétaire”)

“payer” means the owner, contractor or subcontractor who is liable to pay for the services or materials supplied to an improvement under a contract or subcontract; (“responsable du paiement”)

“payment certifier” means an architect, engineer or any other person upon whose certificate payments are made under a contract or subcontract; (“personne qui autorise le paiement”)

“person having a lien” includes both a lien claimant and a person with an unpreserved lien; (“titulaire d’un privilège”)

“premises” includes,

(a) the improvement,

(b) all materials supplied to the improvement, and

(c) the land occupied by the improvement, or enjoyed therewith, or the land upon or in respect of which the improvement was done or made; (“lieux”)

“prescribed” means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)

“price” means,

(a) the contract or subcontract price,

(i) agreed on between the parties, or

(ii) if no specific price has been agreed on between them, the actual market value of the services or materials that have been supplied to the improvement under the contract or subcontract, and

(b) any direct costs incurred as a result of an extension of the duration of the supply of services or materials to the improvement for which the contractor or subcontractor, as the case may be, is not responsible; (“prix”)

“regulations” means the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”)

“services or materials” includes both services and materials; (“services ou matériaux”)

“subcontract” means any agreement between the contractor and a subcontractor, or between two or more subcontractors, relating to the supply of services or materials to the improvement and includes any amendment to that agreement; (“contrat de sous-traitance”)

“subcontractor” means a person not contracting with or employed directly by the owner or an agent of the owner but who supplies services or materials to the improvement under an agreement with the contractor or under the contractor with another subcontractor and includes a joint venture entered into for the purposes of an improvement or improvements; (“sous-traitant”)

“suffers damages as a result” means suffers damages that could be reasonably foreseen to result; (“subir des dommages en conséquence”)

“supply of services” means any work done or service performed upon or in respect of an improvement, and includes,

(a) the rental of equipment with an operator, and

(b) where the making of the planned improvement is not commenced, the supply of a design, plan, drawing or specification that in itself enhances the value of the owner’s interest in the land,

and a corresponding expression has a corresponding meaning; (“prestation de services”)

“wages” means the money earned by a worker for work done by time or as piece work, and includes all monetary supplementary benefits, whether provided for by statute, contract or collective bargaining agreement; (“salaire”)

“worker” means a person employed for wages in any kind of labour; (“ouvrier”)

“workers’ trust fund” means any trust fund maintained in whole or in part on behalf of any worker on an improvement and into which any monetary supplementary benefit is payable as wages for work done by the worker in respect of the improvement; (“fonds en fiducie des ouvriers”)

“written notice of a lien” means a written notice of a lien in the prescribed form, given by a person having a lien. (“avis écrit d’un privilège”) R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 1 (1); 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table; 2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1); 2010, c. 16, Sched. 2, s. 2 (1, 2); 2017, c. 24, s. 2 (1-16), 66, 70, 71.

Capital repair

(1.1) For the purposes of clause (a) of the definition of “improvement” in subsection (1), a capital repair to land is any repair intended to extend the normal economic life of the land or of any building, structure or works on the land, or to improve the value or productivity of the land, building, structure or works, but does not include maintenance work performed in order to prevent the normal deterioration of the land, building, structure or works or to maintain the land, building, structure or works in a normal, functional state. 2017, c. 24, s. 2 (17).

Direct costs

(1.2) For the purposes of clause (b) of the definition of “price” in subsection (1), the direct costs incurred are the reasonable costs of performing the contract or subcontract during the extended period of time, including costs related to the additional supply of services or materials (including equipment rentals), insurance and surety bond premiums, and costs resulting from seasonal conditions, that, but for the extension, would not have been incurred, but do not include indirect damages suffered as a result, such as loss of profit, productivity or opportunity, or any head office overhead costs. 2017, c. 24, s. 2 (17).

When materials supplied

(2) For the purposes of this Act, materials are supplied to an improvement...