Articles 2020

In this article, the author discusses the Divisional Court’s confirmation that adjudicators can determine their own jurisdiction, and the Court’s discussion on whether abandoning or terminating a contract means the contract has “ceased to exist."

This article discusses three recent Ontario court cases in the developing area of Construction Act adjudications, as well as some unanswered questions and lessons learned from the cases and the authors’ own experiences with adjudications so far.

An exciting update on the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) Construction & Infrastructure Law Section Golf Day held on September 30, 2022 as well as the continuing professional development session that followed.

General reviews are a critical component of many construction projects. Professionals engaged to carry out a general review must observe sufficient aspects of the construction to enable verification that the work has been completed with approved plans. Failure to do so, may have negative consequences for the reviewing professional.

Following the Court's decision in the SOTA Dental Studio Inc. case, the authors review the Divisional Court's treatment of the adjudicator's role and jurisdiction as set out in the interim adjudication provisions of the Construction Act.

The Gowling WLG Waterloo construction team reviews the latest Ontario Court of Appeal decision of Urban Mechanical Contracting Ltd v Zurich, which creates significant implications for the bonding sector of the construction industry.

Settlements are always preferred to litigation, but it's important to note the following procedural steps when finalizing a settlement in construction lien litigation.

An extensive review of the current and ongoing caselaw relating to whether or not a breach of trust action may be joined with a lien claim.

In SOTA Dental Studio Inc. v. Andrid Group Ltd., 2022 ONSC 2254 (“SOTA”), the Divisional Court unanimously rejected the owner’s application for judicial review of an adjudicator’s order requiring payment of outstanding invoices. The application was rejected because the applicant had neither paid the order under review, nor moved for a stay. SOTA is the first reported decision from a judicial review of an adjudicator’s decision under Ontario’s Construction Act.

Introducing the In-House Insights series, where we interview in-house lawyers on their work experiences, the difference in their responsibilities from out-house firms, and general advice. Jason Lewis is Principal Legal Counsel at WSP, one of the world's leading engineering professional services consulting firms. Since 2016-17, Jason has served as a member of the Ontario Bar Association Construction and Infrastructure Law Section Executive.