Some of Ontario's biggest builders warn that legislation forcing smaller contractors to get paid more quickly will disrupt the industry and make home renovations more expensive.

A group called the Fair Payment Reform Ontario coalition warned Tuesday of wide-ranging unintended consequences of Bill 69, which is winding through the legislature.

The group wants the Ontario government to hold off on the legislation and carry out a review of the building industry's legal requirements and practices.

The coalition said the Prompt Payment Act would seriously disrupt the way the construction industry operates, raising the costs of construction and home renovation projects.

"The motives behind Bill 69 are well intentioned, but, in its current form, Bill 69 is seriously flawed, and goes well beyond its intended purpose to ensure tradespeople are paid on time," said Chris Gower, executive vice-president of PCL Construction.

"If this bill were to pass without major amendments it would mean fundamental changes to the way the construction industry operates. Simple activities such as homeowners or contractors tying payment to performance, or holding back a portion of pay until work is satisfactorily completed, would no longer be allowed. The end result would be higher construction costs, especially for major infrastructure projects funded by the taxpayer."

Besides PCL, the group includes Eastern Construction, ACS Infrastructure Canada, Carillion, Dragados Canada, EllisDon, Bird Construction and Aecon. These companies are involved in many hospital, transit and other infrastructure projects across Ontario.

Liberal MPP Steven Del Duca introduced Bill 69 to help smaller contractors collect payments in a more timely fashion. Currently, large contractors don't have to pay their subcontractors until an entire project is complete, which can take years. For small shops, floating the costs of weeks of labour and materials for that long just isn't feasible, the industry says.

The bill has passed second reading and is scheduled to move through committee this month and early April.

"We fully support the principles behind Bill 69 - subcontractors should be paid promptly for good work," Glover said. "However, because Bill 69's reforms are so wide-reaching, the more appropriate mechanism for this discussion is a legal review with industry, rather than a Private Member's Bill that does not adequately anticipate the bill's consequences."

Last week, the Ontario General Contractors Association withdrew its support for Bill 69, saying it has too many deficiencies.

“We still support the vision of prompt payment, there’s no question that we do,” said the group's president Clive Thurston. "In the end, the efforts being made to simply drive this through without addressing the major issues that exist with it was unacceptable to our members."

Builders warn Bill 69 will make renovations more expensive

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