A design-build agreement is a single contract under which one company, the design-builder, takes responsibility for both designing and constructing your project. You deal with one accountable party instead of hiring an architect or engineer first and a separate contractor later.
In Ontario, most design-build projects run on a standard form from the Canadian Construction Documents Committee, and that form changed this year. The CCDC released CCDC 14 (2026), a new edition of its Design-Build Stipulated Price Contract, and a brand new CCDC 32 for progressive design-build. At the same time the Construction Act, the provincial statute that governs payment, holdback, and liens on every construction project, was amended on January 1, 2026. If your understanding of design-build predates this year, it is out of date on two fronts at once.
This guide explains how design-build works, what the 2026 CCDC forms changed, how the current Construction Act affects your money and your deadlines, the risks we see owners run into, and how we review these contracts before you sign.
What is a design-build agreement?
A design-build agreement combines design and construction into one contract with one accountable party. Instead of signing one contract with a designer and another with a builder, you sign a single contract with a design-builder who is responsible for both the drawings and the work that follows from them.
That single point of responsibility is the entire idea. When the design and the construction sit with the same party, you have one company to hold accountable if something does not line up, rather than an architect and a contractor pointing at each other. A design-builder is the firm that carries both roles.
The roles are clear on paper. You, the owner, provide the project requirements and the approvals. The design-builder controls the design and the work, and engages the consultants and subcontractors. CCDC 14 also names a Consultant, a Payment Certifier who approves payments, and sometimes an Owner’s Advisor who looks out for your interests.
How is design-build different from the traditional approach?
In the traditional method, often called design-bid-build, you hire a designer first. Once the drawings are finished you put the work out to bid and hire a contractor to build what was designed. Three steps, two separate contracts, and the design risk stays with you.
Design-build collapses those steps. The design-builder prices the project and carries the design risk, so construction can begin before every drawing is final. That can shorten the schedule and give you a single price early. The trade is control. You are buying an outcome you defined rather than directing each design decision along the way.
What is CCDC 14, and what changed in the 2026 edition?
CCDC 14 is the standard prime contract between an owner and a design-builder for a single fixed price, published by the Canadian Construction Documents Committee. For more than a decade the 2013 edition was the default. In 2026 the CCDC replaced it with CCDC 14 (2026), and the changes are real.
The 2026 edition reworks how design risk and project administration are handled. It adds clearer rules for who owns the design documents and protects the copyright in those deliverables, so an owner cannot freely alter the drawings the design-builder produced. It introduces a Ready for Takeover milestone, bringing design-build in line with the approach already used in the CCDC 2 stipulated price contract. And it expands the rules for situations where you bring your own consultants or design to the table, an area the 2013 form barely addressed.
Two practical points carry real weight. First, a CCDC document is only the genuine, unamended form if the cover page carries a CCDC copyright seal. A copy without the seal is a copyright infringement and may not match the form you think you are signing. Second, almost nobody signs the standard form untouched. The clauses that decide who carries risk usually live in the supplementary conditions, the custom terms added to the back of the standard form. That is exactly what you want a lawyer reading closely.
What is CCDC 32, the new progressive design-build contract?
Alongside the new CCDC 14, the CCDC introduced CCDC 32, a progressive design-build contract. It is built for projects where you do not want to lock in a final price before the design is developed enough to price it more accurately.
Under CCDC 32 the project runs in phases. During an early development phase the design-builder provides design and preconstruction services while the design, the price, and the schedule take shape together. The contract is organized around project gates. At each gate the design-builder submits a proposal, and you decide whether to proceed, ask for changes, or stop. If the numbers do not work, you have an off ramp before you commit to construction. Once you accept the final proposal, the project moves into the construction phase on a fixed price basis and behaves much like a traditional design-build contract from there.
The CCDC also updated CCDC 15 and added CCDC 33, the service contracts between the design-builder and its consultants that sit underneath CCDC 14 and CCDC 32. You will not sign those, but your design-builder will, and they affect who carries design liability if a drawing turns out to be wrong.
So which one. If you know your scope and want price certainty up front, CCDC 14 fits. If your project is complex or still taking shape, CCDC 32 lets you develop the price collaboratively and keep an exit.
Which delivery method fits your project?
The right contract depends on how settled your design is and how much control you want to keep. This is the comparison we walk owners through.
| Consideration | Traditional design-bid-build (CCDC 2) | Design-build, fixed price (CCDC 14, 2026) | Progressive design-build (CCDC 32) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who carries design risk | You, the owner | The design-builder | The design-builder, after the development phase |
| When you get a firm price | After the design is complete, at the bid stage | Early, before the full design is drawn | Developed in stages, fixed at the final proposal |
| Your control over design detail | High | Lower, you set the requirements and approve | Moderate, you shape it at each gate |
| Speed to start building | Slowest, design finishes first | Fast, design and construction overlap | Moderate, construction starts after the gates |
| Best suited to | Well defined projects where you want to control the design | A defined scope where you want one price and one accountable party | Complex or evolving projects where you want an exit before committing |
A short rule of thumb. The more certain you are about what you want, the more design-build rewards you. The less certain you are, the more a progressive model protects you from pricing a project before anyone can price it honestly.
How the Construction Act shapes your design-build project
This is the part most design-build explainers skip, and it is where Ontario projects actually run into trouble. The Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, governs payment, holdback, liens, and dispute timelines on your project no matter which CCDC form you sign. It was significantly amended on January 1, 2026 through Bill 216 and Bill 60, so even recent advice may be stale. Here is what affects you, current as of June 2026. Confirm the specifics before you rely on them, because forms and timelines change.
Holdback and the new annual release
You must hold back 10 percent of each payment you make to the design-builder. That money is security for the trades and suppliers further down the chain if they go unpaid. The major 2026 change is timing. On projects that run longer than a year, you can no longer keep the holdback until the end. You must release the accrued holdback every year.
The mechanics are strict. You publish a notice of annual release of holdback within 14 days of each contract anniversary, then pay the accrued holdback no earlier than 60 days and no later than 74 days after that notice. The design-builder then has 14 days to pass it down the chain. You can no longer use a notice of non-payment to keep holdback back for deficient work, and set-off against holdback is now allowed only where the contract is terminated or abandoned. For contracts entered into before January 1, 2026, the first annual release is deferred to the second anniversary after that date, so a contract signed in March 2025 reaches its first annual release in March 2027.
Prompt payment and the seven-day invoice trap
Once the design-builder sends you a proper invoice, the clock starts. You generally must pay within 28 days unless you deliver a notice of non-payment. The 2026 amendment added a sharp deadline for owners. If you believe an invoice is deficient, you must say so in writing within 7 days. Miss that window and the invoice is deemed proper, and the payment clock runs whether the paperwork was perfect or not. Owners used to reject invoices late to buy themselves time. That move no longer works.
Adjudication when a dispute comes up
The Act gives both sides a fast dispute process called interim adjudication, run through the Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts, known as ODACC. It is quick, the decision binds the parties for now, and the money moves while any court case continues later. As of 2026 you generally have up to 90 days after the contract is completed, abandoned, or terminated to start one, and the range of disputes you can adjudicate has widened to include matters like changes to scope, price, and time. You can use an adjudicator from the ODACC roster or jointly pick a private adjudicator, who carries a minimum charge set by regulation at 1,000 dollars per hour.
The design lien you might not expect
Design-build bundles professional design into the contract, and the 2026 amendments added a point that catches owners off guard. Where you have retained holdback for the supply of a design, plan, drawing, or specification and the project does not go ahead, the firm that supplied that design work can have a lien against your interest in the property, unless you can show the land’s value was not increased. In plain terms, paying for design that never gets built does not automatically make the lien risk disappear.
What are the biggest risks for an owner?
Design-build solves the coordination problem of the traditional model, but it concentrates risk in new places. These are the four we flag most often.
- Less control over the design. You set the requirements and the design-builder makes the detailed choices. If your requirements are vague, you get the design-builder’s interpretation, not yours. A detailed statement of requirements is your main lever.
- The fixed price is only fixed against the agreed scope. Change the scope and the price changes through change orders. Owners who treat the stipulated price as untouchable are surprised by the first change order.
- You are betting on one company. Choose the wrong design-builder and you have bundled your design and construction risk into a single party that may not deliver. Due diligence on track record, references, and finances matters more here than in a traditional project.
- The standard form is only a starting point. The supplementary conditions decide who really carries delay, design errors, and cost overruns. Read them with a lawyer, because that is where risk quietly shifts onto you.
Indemnities and limits of liability deserve particular attention, since they decide who pays when something goes wrong. Our note on indemnity clauses explains how those provisions work in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer if we are using the standard CCDC 14 form?
The standard form is the easy part. The terms that decide who carries risk are almost always in the supplementary conditions added to the back of it, and those are not standard at all. A review focuses on those custom terms, the statement of requirements, and how change orders and payment are handled. That is usually where a problem is cheapest to fix, before anyone signs.
Is a design-build contract cheaper than hiring an architect and a contractor separately?
Not always, and price is not the main reason to choose it. Design-build can save time because design and construction overlap, and it gives you one party to hold accountable. It can also reduce your control over design choices, and the single price reflects the design-builder pricing its own risk. Whether it costs less depends on your project, the market, and how clearly you define what you want.
Can the fixed price in CCDC 14 actually change?
Yes. The stipulated price is fixed against the agreed scope, not against everything. If you change the scope, add work, or hit a genuinely unforeseen condition the contract accounts for, the price changes through a change order. The way to protect your budget is a detailed statement of requirements and a clear change order process, both settled before you sign.
What is the difference between CCDC 14 and CCDC 32?
CCDC 14 sets a single fixed price up front, which suits a project with a defined scope. CCDC 32, introduced in 2026, is a progressive model. The design and price develop together through a series of project gates, and you can exit before committing to construction if the numbers do not work. CCDC 32 fits complex or evolving projects where pricing the whole job at the start would be guesswork.
How does the 2026 annual holdback release affect a homeowner doing a build?
If your project runs longer than a year, the annual release rules can apply, which means publishing a notice and releasing accrued holdback on each contract anniversary rather than only at the end. Even on a short renovation, the basic rule still bites. You are generally required to hold back 10 percent, and paying a contractor in full without it can leave you exposed if a subtrade goes unpaid. Many homeowners do not know this until it is a problem.
The information provided above is of a general nature and should not be considered legal advice. Every transaction or circumstance is unique, and obtaining specific legal advice is necessary to address your particular requirements. Therefore, if you have any legal questions, it is recommended that you consult with a lawyer.
