Construction Liens & Disputes

Construction liens are one of the most important remedies in Ontario construction disputes, but they are technical and time-sensitive. A lien may help secure payment for services or materials supplied to an improvement, while owners, contractors, and other parties may need to respond quickly when a lien is registered or threatens title, financing, payment flow, or project completion.

Our lawyers assist with preserving, perfecting, enforcing, defending, vacating, and discharging construction liens.

We help clients understand whether a lien is available, what it may attach to, what deadlines may apply, and what steps should be taken to protect their position.

Ontario’s Construction Act includes prompt payment and adjudication procedures that may apply to certain construction payment disputes. These processes can be important when payment has been delayed, disputed, or withheld, but they require careful attention to invoices, notices, timing, contract documents, and supporting evidence.

Our lawyers advise clients on prompt payment issues, notices of non-payment, adjudication strategy, adjudication materials, and responses to adjudication claims.

We help clients assess whether adjudication is appropriate, how to prepare, and how the process may affect lien rights, contract claims, negotiation, or related court proceedings.

Holdback and trust issues can become significant in Ontario construction disputes. Parties may disagree about whether holdback funds should be retained, released, reduced, or applied against alleged deficiencies, unpaid claims, set-offs, or back charges.

Trust disputes may also arise where construction funds received on a project are not properly handled or paid to parties who supplied services or materials.

Our lawyers advise clients on holdback obligations, release of holdback, trust claims, accounting issues, payment records, and competing claims to project funds. We help clients assess their rights and respond strategically.

Payment disputes are common in construction projects and can create serious financial pressure. These disputes may involve unpaid invoices, disputed invoices, delayed payment, back charges, set-off claims, holdbacks, extras, deficiencies, incomplete work, or disagreement over the scope of the contract.

Our lawyers assist clients on both sides of construction payment disputes, including parties seeking payment and parties responding to unsupported or overstated claims.

We review the contract, invoices, change orders, payment history, project communications, and work performed to assess the strength of the claim or defence and pursue a practical path toward resolution.

Construction disputes often arise when one party alleges that work was defective, incomplete, delayed, or not performed according to the contract. These issues may involve poor workmanship, incomplete finishing, failed inspections, building deficiencies, failure to follow drawings or specifications, repair costs, or disagreement over whether work was properly completed.

Our lawyers assist owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and trades with deficiency claims and defective work disputes.

We review the contract, drawings, change orders, invoices, photographs, inspection records, communications, repair estimates, and expert evidence where needed to assess liability, damages, and practical options for resolution.

Many construction disputes begin with disagreement over what was included in the original price and what should be treated as extra work. These disputes may involve oral instructions, unsigned change orders, revised drawings, site conditions, additional labour, material changes, owner-requested changes, or contractor-requested price adjustments.

Our lawyers assist with extras, change order disputes, scope of work disagreements, pricing disputes, and claims for additional compensation.

We help clients review the contract, project communications, invoices, site records, course of dealing, and conduct of the parties to determine whether the additional work is payable or properly disputed.

Construction delays can create financial and operational consequences, even on smaller projects. Disputes may arise over missed deadlines, site access problems, late materials, poor coordination, owner interference, contractor delay, trade stacking, inspection delays, weather issues, change orders, or scheduling problems.

Our lawyers assist with delay, disruption, and project interference disputes where the claim is practical and proportionate to the project.

We review the contract, schedule, correspondence, change orders, site records, payment history, and project timeline to assess responsibility for the delay and whether compensation, set-off, contract relief, or another remedy may be available.

Construction relationships sometimes break down before the project is complete. A contractor may leave the site, an owner may terminate the contract, a subcontractor may stop work because of non-payment, or the parties may disagree about whether suspension or termination was justified.

These disputes can involve unpaid invoices, lien rights, deficiencies, delay, replacement contractor costs, lost profits, and allegations of breach of contract.

Our lawyers assist clients with construction contract termination, abandoned projects, stop-work disputes, and post-termination payment claims. We help clients understand their legal position before taking steps that may affect lien rights, damages, or future litigation.

Construction projects depend on multiple parties performing their obligations, communicating clearly, and paying on time. Disputes may arise between owners and contractors, contractors and subcontractors, subcontractors and suppliers, consultants and project participants, or trades working on the same project.

These disputes often involve payment, deficiencies, delays, scope changes, back charges, termination, damaged materials, residential renovation problems, or competing versions of what happened on site.

Our lawyers assist with practical construction disputes involving owners, homeowners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, consultants, and trades. We focus on the documents, the project history, the payment flow, and the most efficient strategy for resolution.