The three models
- Self-managing trades: you are the GC. Cheapest on paper (saves the 15 to 25% coordination fee), most expensive in hours, risk and re-work at trade handoffs. Wins for single-trade jobs: a roof, a floor, a fence.
- General contractor: you bring the design (or it's simple), the GC prices and runs the build. The default for defined renovations: kitchens, basements, bathrooms. The fee math is broken down in the GC cost guide.
- Design-build: one firm owns design AND construction. Costs more than a bare GC, less than architect-plus-GC separately, and eliminates the most expensive document in renovation: the beautiful drawing nobody can afford to build.
Where design-build earns its keep
The classic failure it prevents: pay a designer $8,000, fall in love with the drawings, then watch three GC bids land 60% over the design budget. Design-build prices as it draws, so the design converges on your budget instead of colliding with it. It also kills the designer-vs-builder blame game when a detail doesn't survive contact with the actual house, one throat to choke, one warranty, which matters double in old housing stock like Brantford's century homes where the house edits the design mid-build.
"The question I ask homeowners is never 'which model is best,' it's 'how many trades does your project touch and who's absorbing the surprises?' One trade: hire the trade. Defined multi-trade scope: hire a GC. Evolving design in an old house: design-build, because the design will change and someone has to own that without an invoice war."
Mitch Fraser, owner, Ontario Contracting Co.
The decision table
- 1 trade, clear scope: self-manage, keep the fee
- 2-3 trades, fixed design: GC with a fixed-price contract
- 4+ trades, structure, or permits: GC minimum; the coordination is the project
- Design still evolving, or old-house unknowns: design-build with named allowances and written change orders
Whichever path you take, the paperwork stack is identical: the contract clauses in the twelve clauses a compliant contract needs, verified credentials per the insurance and WSIB routine, and permits in the right municipal system. We quote both GC and design-build engagements; the honest recommendation of which you actually need comes free with the site visit.