Choose the delivery arrangement before choosing the contract form. The central questions are who engages the designers and trades, how the price is established and who carries each responsibility. A standard form is a starting point for professional review; the executed agreement, supplementary conditions and applicable law govern the project.
At a glance: compare the core arrangements
CCDC 2 — Stipulated Price
Relationship: owner and prime contractor.
Pricing: a stipulated price for the defined work, subject to the agreement’s mechanisms.
Design: typically provided through the owner’s consultants.
Owner question: are the drawings, scope and allowances sufficiently defined to compare bids?
CCDC 3 — Cost Plus
Relationship: owner and contractor.
Pricing: actual costs plus an agreed fee.
Owner question: which costs are reimbursable, what records are available and how will the forecast be controlled?
CCDC 5A — Construction Management for Services
Relationship: the construction manager provides services to the owner; the owner engages the trade contractors.
Role: advisory and administrative services, rather than the same construction obligation as 5B.
Owner question: who holds each trade agreement and how will the owner’s decisions and payments be coordinated?
CCDC 5B — Services and Construction
Relationship: construction manager and owner, covering services and performance of the work.
Pricing: cost-plus structure with specified pricing options; confirm the selected provisions.
Owner question: when and how does the price develop, and which risks remain outside any agreed limit?
CCDC 14 — Design-Build
Relationship: owner and design-builder for design and construction.
Pricing: stipulated-price design-build arrangement.
Owner question: are the owner’s requirements, performance expectations and review process sufficiently clear?
Consult the official CCDC document catalogue for the current forms and editions. The catalogue lists updated 5A/5B forms from 2025 and a 2026 design-build form. Use the edition identified in your agreement, rather than assuming every reference to a contract number means the same text.
Two related forms that are often confused
CCDC 15 is the agreement between the design-builder and its consultant; it should not be described as the owner’s consultant agreement. CCDC 17 is an owner–trade contractor stipulated-price agreement for the CCDC 5A construction-management arrangement. Check the official descriptions and have counsel confirm how the agreements fit together.
Use the comparison to ask better questions
Consider an illustrative renovation where major existing conditions remain unresolved. A stipulated price based on incomplete investigations may contain exclusions or allowances. Early services or a different pricing arrangement may help develop scope, but they do not remove uncertainty. The owner still needs a decision process, transparent records and a cost-to-complete forecast.
For a well-defined project, compare the proposed agreement with the bid documents, consultant appointments and schedule. Confirm who has authority to issue instructions, evaluate changes, certify payments where applicable and accept work. Do not rely on a marketing label such as “turnkey” to allocate those duties.
What to review with construction counsel
Scope, document precedence and supplementary conditions.
Pricing, allowances, changes, audit rights and payment administration.
Delay notices, extensions, insurance, indemnities and dispute procedures.
Design responsibilities and professional-service agreements.
Applicable Ontario payment, holdback and lien requirements.
This comparison is general planning information, not legal advice or a representation that counsel has reviewed your agreement. See our CCDC administration guide for practical questions about payments and changes.
Relate the contract to the actual work
FCC’s Clarence Street plaza describes commercial shell units for later tenant customization. That scope boundary illustrates a question to resolve in any agreement: is tenant interior work included? The public project page does not identify its private contract form.
Compare design-build and traditional delivery and contractor selection questions. Discuss your construction scope and delivery priorities with FCC, then have qualified counsel review the proposed agreements.
Updated October 28, 2026. Published by FCC Builders Canada. General project-planning information; confirm requirements with your project consultants and the relevant authorities.
