Does adjudication work for a floor dispute in Ontario?

Ontario's Construction Act lets a party to a contract refer a dispute to adjudication when it concerns a matter the Act prescribes or a matter both parties agree to (s.13.5(1)). Whether a floor coating job is an "improvement" covered by the Act is a question for a construction lawyer.

The Construction Act sets out the payment chain this way: an owner must pay a proper invoice within 28 days of receiving it, unless within 14 days the owner gives a notice of non-payment in the prescribed form with reasons. A contractor must pay subcontractors within 7 days of being paid. Each payer holds back 10 per cent of the price of services or materials as they are supplied. If payment stalls at any of those steps, adjudication is one way to resolve it. The Act also says adjudication cannot be started more than 90 days after the contract is completed, abandoned or terminated, unless the parties agree otherwise, so the clock matters.

Whether a dispute about the quality of the floor, rather than a payment, can go to adjudication is a legal question: get advice before you rely on it.

A few practical points for a floor dispute:

• Keep every document: the contract, the product data sheets and SDSs the contractor provided, photos before and after, and every proper invoice and notice of non-payment exchanged.
• A contractor's lien expires 60 days after the earlier of publication of substantial performance or the contract being completed, abandoned or terminated, unless the lien is preserved. If a contractor has registered a lien against your property, get legal advice promptly.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2002 does not apply to a business buying a commercial floor; its cooling-off and estimate-cap rules are for consumers acting for personal or household purposes.

For anything involving a notice of non-payment, a lien, an adjudication filing or a deficiency claim, get legal advice from a construction lawyer. This site covers floor coatings, not legal proceedings, and nothing here is legal advice.

If you are at the earlier stage of finding contractors for a new or replacement floor, the request form on this site sends your project details to local Ottawa floor coating contractors listed in the Ottawa Construction Network directory.