Ontario Construction Act Changes: Proper Invoices And Housekeeping

Bill 216: Building Ontario For You Act (Budget Measures) has significantly amended Ontario's Construction Act ("the Act").¹ The amendments, which are not yet in force, fall under three categories: payment of holdback, adjudication and a range of other miscellaneous matters.

You can access our article on the amendments relating to the payment of holdback here, and the amendments relating to adjudication here.

This article focuses on the third category: changes to the "proper invoice" provisions and other significant amendments to the Act.

Key Takeaways

• Owners should ensure that invoices are being reviewed within 7 days so they can be in a position to provide notice in writing to contractors if there are deficiencies in that invoice. Parties can no longer make retroactive challenges to contractor invoices in adjudications under the Act on the basis that the invoice in issue was not a "proper invoice" unless they raised those deficiencies within 7 days of