Ontario's 2026 Construction Act Changes: What Contractors Need to Know About Documentation
March 17, 2026
Ontario’s Construction Act just changed. On January 1, 2026, the most significant amendments since the Act’s 2018 overhaul took effect under Bill 60. Every general contractor, subcontractor, and project owner in the province needs to understand what shifted — and how to protect themselves under the new rules.
The changes affect holdback release, lien preservation, adjudication scope, and termination procedures. What they all have in common is this: documentation matters more than ever. And the contractors who can prove what happened on-site — with timestamps, dates, and visual evidence — are the ones who will come out ahead in disputes.
Here is what changed, what it means for your projects, and how continuous visual documentation from construction cameras creates the evidence trail you need.
What Changed on January 1, 2026
Mandatory Annual Holdback Release
Previously, the annual release of holdback was optional and applied only to contracts exceeding $10 million. Under the amended Act, annual holdback release is now mandatory for all eligible contracts.
This means owners must release holdback funds on an annual basis, provided the statutory conditions are met. For contractors, this accelerates cash flow — but it also means you need to demonstrate that the work triggering each annual release was actually completed on schedule.
If a dispute arises over whether a milestone was reached by a certain date, the contractor who can point to timestamped visual records of the work has a decisive advantage.
Expanded Lien Preservation Rules
The amendments refine lien preservation timelines and processes. Contractors and subcontractors must pay close attention to the updated deadlines for preserving and perfecting liens, as the windows have shifted.
Under the new rules, precise documentation of when work was substantially performed — or when the last services or materials were supplied — is critical. A lien preserved one day late is a lien lost. Visual evidence showing exactly when work occurred on-site removes ambiguity from these determinations.
Broader Adjudication Scope
Ontario’s adjudication process, administered by the Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts (ODACC), has expanded in scope. More categories of disputes are now eligible for interim adjudication, and the process is designed to deliver binding interim decisions within tight timelines — typically 30 to 40 days.
Adjudicators review written submissions, supporting documents, and evidence. Parties that can submit clear, timestamped visual evidence of site conditions, work progress, and material deliveries are better positioned to support their claims. Timelapse footage showing day-by-day progress is exactly the kind of evidence that strengthens an adjudication submission.
New Notice of Termination Requirements
The amended Act introduces new requirements around notices of termination. Owners and contractors must follow specific procedures when terminating contracts, including formal notice obligations.
When termination disputes end up in adjudication or litigation, the question often comes down to what work was completed before the termination date and what the site conditions were at that point. Continuous camera documentation provides an objective, third-party record of exactly what the site looked like on any given day.
Why Visual Documentation Matters More Under the New Act
The common thread across all four major changes is evidence. The amended Construction Act creates more opportunities for disputes to be resolved through formal processes — adjudication, lien proceedings, holdback disputes — and in every one of those processes, the party with better documentation wins.
Proving Milestone Completion for Holdback Release
With mandatory annual holdback release, the question “Was this work completed by this date?” will come up more frequently. A project manager’s email saying “we finished the structural pour on March 15” is one thing. A timelapse video showing the pour happening on March 14 and 15, with automated timestamps, is another.
Construction cameras capture frames at regular intervals — typically every 5 to 15 minutes during working hours. This creates a continuous visual record that can be reviewed to confirm exactly when specific work activities occurred. When combined with automated progress reports, this documentation package is difficult to dispute.
Supporting Lien Preservation Claims
Lien rights depend on precise dates. When was the last day services or materials were provided? When was the contract substantially performed? These questions determine whether a lien was preserved within the statutory window.
Camera footage with embedded timestamps provides objective evidence of the last day work occurred on-site. This is particularly valuable for subcontractors whose lien preservation window starts from their last day of work — not the general contractor’s.
Strengthening Adjudication Submissions
The ODACC adjudication process moves fast. Parties typically have 30 days from the notice of adjudication to submit their response, including all supporting evidence. There is no time to reconstruct what happened six months ago from memory and scattered photos.
Contractors using continuous site cameras have their evidence ready to go. They can pull footage from any date, generate side-by-side comparisons showing progress between two points in time, and submit timestamped visual proof that supports their position. This is the kind of evidence that shifts adjudication outcomes.
Documenting Site Conditions at Termination
When a contract is terminated, the state of the site at the termination date becomes a central fact in any subsequent dispute. How much work was completed? What was left unfinished? Were materials on-site?
A construction camera operating continuously captures the site condition on the termination date — and every day before and after. This removes the “he said, she said” dynamic that plagues termination disputes.
How Construction Cameras Create Compliant Documentation
Not all documentation is created equal. For visual evidence to be useful in adjudication, lien proceedings, or holdback disputes, it needs to meet certain standards.
Automated and Continuous
Manual site photos taken by a superintendent are better than nothing, but they are selective. A superintendent photographs what they think is important. A construction camera captures everything, at regular intervals, without gaps. This continuous record is harder to challenge because it was not curated by a party with an interest in the outcome.
Timestamped and Geotagged
Every frame captured by a construction camera includes metadata — date, time, camera location, and camera angle. This metadata is embedded automatically, not added after the fact. In legal proceedings, this makes the evidence more credible than photos from a smartphone where the timestamp could be questioned.
Stored Securely with Chain of Custody
Camera footage uploaded to a cloud platform maintains a clear chain of custody. The footage is stored in its original form, with access logs showing who viewed it and when. This chain of custody is important if the evidence is challenged in adjudication or court proceedings.
Accessible on Demand
When an adjudication notice arrives, you have days — not weeks — to assemble your evidence. If your site documentation is scattered across individual phones, email threads, and shared drives, pulling together a coherent submission is a scramble. With a centralized camera platform, you can pull footage from any date range and generate progress comparisons in minutes.
Best Practices for Construction Act Compliance Documentation
Set Up Cameras Before Work Begins
The most valuable footage captures the site from day one. Mobilization, site preparation, excavation — these early stages often become the subject of delay claims months or years later. Install cameras as part of your mobilization checklist, not as an afterthought after problems arise.
Capture All Active Work Zones
A single camera covering the main elevation is a good start, but disputes often involve specific work areas — a particular floor, a mechanical room, a section of road. Position cameras to cover as many active zones as your project scope requires. For large sites, multiple camera angles are standard.
Maintain Continuous Operation
Gaps in footage create gaps in your evidence. Ensure cameras remain operational through power outages, connectivity issues, and extreme weather. Solar-powered camera systems with cellular backup provide the most reliable uptime in Canadian construction conditions. The ROI of maintaining continuous camera coverage far exceeds the cost of the equipment.
Pair Visual Records with Written Reports
Camera footage is most powerful when paired with written progress reports, daily logs, and meeting minutes. When your written report says “structural pour completed on schedule” and your camera footage shows the pour happening on that exact date, your documentation package is bulletproof.
What This Means for Your Next Project
The 2026 amendments to Ontario’s Construction Act are not going away. If anything, the trend toward faster dispute resolution, mandatory holdback procedures, and expanded adjudication will continue. Contractors who invest in proper documentation infrastructure now are positioning themselves for every project going forward.
The cost of a construction camera system is a fraction of what a single lien dispute or adjudication costs in legal fees — and the documentation it produces protects you across every aspect of the amended Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is camera footage admissible in ODACC adjudication proceedings?
Yes. ODACC adjudicators accept documentary evidence including photographs, video recordings, and visual progress documentation. Timestamped camera footage with embedded metadata is considered strong supporting evidence because it is automated and contemporaneous — meaning it was created at the time the events occurred, not reconstructed later.
How long should I retain construction camera footage under the new rules?
The Construction Act’s limitation periods for liens and claims vary, but a safe practice is to retain footage for at least two years after substantial performance of the contract. For public-sector projects subject to the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive, documentation retention requirements may extend to seven years.
Can camera documentation help with prompt payment disputes?
Yes. Ontario’s prompt payment framework requires owners to pay invoices within 28 days unless a notice of non-payment is issued with reasons. Camera footage can verify that invoiced work was actually completed, supporting the contractor’s position in prompt payment adjudication.
Do I need special cameras, or will security cameras work?
Construction-specific cameras are designed for jobsite conditions — weatherproof housings, wide-angle lenses, cellular connectivity, and automatic timelapse generation. Standard security cameras can capture video, but they typically lack the timestamped metadata, cloud storage, and progress reporting features that make documentation useful for Construction Act compliance. See our guide on the differences between construction cameras and security cameras.
Ontario’s Construction Act changes raise the bar for documentation. Contractors who rely on memory, scattered photos, and manual logs will find themselves at a disadvantage when disputes arise. Continuous visual documentation from construction cameras provides the timestamped, objective evidence that the amended Act demands.