Sangha Construction Law – Blog

Date: November 2024 On November 6, 2024, the Building Ontario for You Act (Bill 126) received Royal Assent at the Ontario legislature. Bill 216 contains several important changes to the Construction Act. As a proponent of interim adjudication, especially because the Superior Court is ill-equipped to handle many construction claims, I’d like to summarize a couple …

Ontario expands the availability of construction interim adjudication! Read More »

Date: September 2024 Due to the informal nature of a lot (too many if you ask me) construction projects, there is often a question of whether or not there was a legally binding contract between the parties. A recent trial decision released by AJ Robinson discusses this very question. AJ Robinson goes through the test and …

Was there a legally binding contract between the parties? Read More »

Date: July 2024 Our firm recently received an endorsement that I thought would be useful for other construction litigators in Ontario. In this matter, the defendant had been previously ordered to pay approximately $300k following an interim adjudication. However, the defendant failed to pay the entire amount from the adjudication and instead paid a portion of …

PROMPT PAYMENT PROTECTED AGAIN!!!! – A deposit to the defendant’s lawyer’s trust account does not equate to payment of a determination Read More »

Date: June 2024 Does failing to give notice of the filing of an Adjudicator’s determination result in a party being able to enforce the Adjudicator’s determination? This week the Divisional Court released its decision with respect to the appeal of a motion decision in MGW Homes Design Inc. v. Pasqualino, 2023 ONSC 411. It was a …

A new Divisional Court decision on adjudication in Ontario! Read More »

Date: June 2024 I often get calls from contractors who want to register liens for unpaid work on projects. In many cases, contractors are of the view that lien rights expire 60-days from the last time they had been at the project working. Especially for contractors, as opposed to subcontractors, the analysis is not so simple. …

What does it mean for a contract to be terminated or abandoned? Read More »

Date: April 2024 Commencing an action in the Superior Court can be overly costly and unnecessarily complicated, especially for relatively “smaller” and less complicated claims that happen to be above the $35,000.00 Small Claims Court threshold. In my experience and through discussions with colleagues across the bar in Ontario, it seems that the Superior Court continues …

Its time to raise the Small Claims Court limit in Ontario! Read More »

Date: February 2024 Last week, the Divisional Court released what I believe to be the first decision setting aside an adjudicator’s determination on judicial review in Ontario. The claimant, a subcontractor, was unsuccessful on an adjudication where it sought to enforce the prompt payment provisions of the Construction Act against a contractor due to a failure by …

The Divisional Court opines on procedural fairness in the context of adjudications under the Construction Act!!! Read More »

Date: January 2024 Sangha Construction Law Professional Corporation was recently successful representing an owner in an adjudication where the owner received a determination in the amount of $135k. This adjudication was unique from previous adjudications I have conducted for clients in the past, because in this case, the adjudicator awarded the repayment of monies to the …

Adjudicator awards return of milestone payment on an adjudication Read More »

Date:  December 2023 This is one of the most common questions I get from contractors/subcontractors who have allegedly not been paid. Thankfully, the law is pretty clear. Understanding whether the failure to continue working on a project amounts to abandonment or repudiation in construction projects requires a clear understanding of contractual obligations. A recent Superior …

Final case review of 2023! Can I stop working on a project? Read More »

Date: December 2023 This is one of the most common questions I get from contractors/subcontractors who have allegedly not been paid. Thankfully, the law is pretty clear. Understanding whether the failure to continue working on a project amounts to abandonment or repudiation in construction projects requires a clear understanding of contractual obligations. A recent Superior Court …

Final case review of 2023! Can I stop working on a project? Read More »