Contractor Terms

1. Independent contractor status

You are an independent business. Nothing in these terms creates an employment, agency, partnership, joint venture or franchise relationship between you and BuildBids. BuildBids does not direct, supervise, schedule, inspect or control your work, your pricing or your crews.

2. Verification obligations

Registration, verification, browsing and bidding are free. To bid you must maintain: a valid registered business, an established public Google Business Profile, current commercial general liability insurance, and any licence or certification required for your trade in the jurisdiction where the work is performed.

You must supply true and complete verification information and must notify BuildBids promptly of any lapse, cancellation, expiry, suspension or material change. When insurance or credentials expire, your account moves to Action Required and bidding is disabled until valid coverage is supplied.

3. Bidding

Each bid you submit is a genuine, good-faith offer based on the information available to you. You are responsible for independently verifying all measurements, dimensions and site conditions before entering into a construction agreement. Homeowner-supplied measurements are estimates only.

Do not include contact information in public bid fields. Bids must clearly state inclusions, exclusions, taxes, deposits, duration and warranty.

4. BuildBids Success Fee

You pay nothing to join, verify, browse or bid. When a homeowner selects your bid, you owe BuildBids a success fee equal to 5% of the accepted bid amount, subject to a minimum of $100 CAD and a maximum of $500 CAD.

The fee is calculated on the accepted bid amount at the moment of selection and is displayed to you before you submit each bid. Homeowner contact details unlock once the fee is paid.

The success fee is a platform introduction fee. It is not a commission on construction work, a referral fee regulated as such, or a payment toward the construction contract.

5. Success fee earned upon connection

The BuildBids Success Fee compensates BuildBids for marketplace and introduction services. Once the Success Fee is paid and BuildBids releases the homeowner's and contractor's contact information, BuildBids' marketplace connection service is complete and the Success Fee is earned in full.

Except where required by applicable law or otherwise expressly authorized by BuildBids under these Terms, the Success Fee is non-refundable regardless of whether the homeowner and contractor subsequently enter into a construction agreement, modify the project, cancel the project or otherwise decide not to proceed.

The Success Fee remains earned whether or not the homeowner proceeds, the contractor performs the work, either party changes their mind, the parties fail to agree on final scope or price, the project is delayed, postponed or cancelled, the homeowner engages another contractor, or the parties disagree after being connected. BuildBids' paid service is the successful marketplace introduction and connection, not performance of the construction work.

A contractor may submit a refund request for review. BuildBids does not issue automatic refunds; any exception is reviewed and decided by an authorized BuildBids administrator. Full details are set out in the BuildBids Success Fee Policy.

5A. No guarantee that a construction agreement follows

BuildBids does not guarantee, warrant or promise that a homeowner will sign a construction agreement with you, that the project will proceed, that the scope or price will remain unchanged, or that any revenue will result from a connection.

The Success Fee purchases the marketplace connection — the release of verified contact information for a homeowner who selected your bid — and nothing else. You accept the commercial risk that a connected project may not proceed.

6. No circumvention

You may not solicit, encourage or accept an arrangement with a homeowner introduced through BuildBids that is designed to avoid the success fee, including cancelling a selection and contracting off-platform. Circumvention may result in immediate suspension, removal from the marketplace and liability for the avoided fee.

7. Your work and your agreement

The construction agreement is between you and the homeowner. You are solely responsible for the scope, quality, safety, code compliance, permits, workers' compensation coverage, subcontractors, warranty and completion of your work, and for all taxes on your revenue.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless BuildBids, its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, fines, penalties, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees on a solicitor and own client basis) arising out of or relating to, directly or indirectly:

(a) any work you perform, fail to perform, or perform defectively for a homeowner introduced through BuildBids; (b) property damage, bodily injury or death occurring in connection with your work; (c) your breach of any construction agreement; (d) your breach of these terms or of any representation you made during verification; (e) any lien, holdback claim or builder's lien filed in connection with your work; (f) your failure to maintain required insurance, licensing, permits or workers' compensation coverage; (g) any act or omission of your employees, subcontractors or suppliers; and (h) any claim that you misclassified workers or failed to remit taxes or statutory contributions.

This indemnity survives termination of your account and is in addition to, and not in substitution for, any other remedy available to BuildBids.

9. Insurance

You must maintain commercial general liability insurance in an amount appropriate to your trade and project size for as long as you hold an active BuildBids account, and provide certificates on request.

10. Reviews and verification signals

Homeowner reviews and BuildBids verification badges reflect verified information and marketplace activity. BuildBids does not score, rate or rank contractors. Verification can never be purchased, and advertising, subscriptions or featured placement do not affect it. BuildBids may remove reviews that violate policy.

11. Suspension and termination

BuildBids may suspend or terminate your account for expired verification, misrepresentation, circumvention, non-payment of a success fee, abusive conduct or repeated homeowner complaints. Fees already owed remain payable.