Converting my Orleans dining room to a bedroom: what belongs in the quote?

A main-floor bedroom conversion in Orleans falls under City of Ottawa rules. If the work involves adding, moving or removing walls, or changing a doorway, the City's permit list includes those as work that requires a permit, so that question needs to be settled before anything is quoted.

Here is what a complete quote for this job should cover.

• Demolition and disposal: removing any built-in furniture, shelving or flooring that will not stay.
• Wall work: framing any new walls, removing any existing ones, and patching the ceiling and floor where walls come out. If a wall being removed is load-bearing, that is a structural alteration, also on the permit list, and the quote should spell out what the structural work involves.
• Door work: adding or widening a doorway if the room does not already have one that suits the use, or relocating one. The Ontario Building Code sets a minimum door size of 760 mm for most rooms in a house. Widening a doorway in a non-load-bearing wall runs roughly $500 to $2,500 per door based on published 2025-26 prices; a load-bearing wall costs more.
• Electrical: if any outlets, switches or lighting change, the quote should say who handles any electrical permit.
• Flooring: new flooring does not require a City permit, but the quote should say what happens at the threshold between rooms, whether existing flooring is being matched or replaced, and who supplies materials.
• Finishing: patching drywall, painting, baseboard and trim work where walls were opened or added.
• Permits: the quote should state which permits the contractor will apply for, and the City's permit fee for alterations is $12.75 per $1,000 of construction value, with a minimum of $117, so that cost belongs in the total.
• Cleanup and waste removal.

A few things to confirm in writing before signing. Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, if the contractor gives you an estimate, the final bill cannot exceed it by more than 10 per cent. The Construction Act requires you to hold back 10 per cent of the price as work proceeds; ask a lawyer about when it is safe to release that amount on a job of this size.

Ask the contractor in writing whether any of the walls in that dining room are load-bearing, and what the structural work will involve, before the quote is finalised.