Brokerage Services
Kitchener · Waterloo · Cambridge · Guelph
Independent project oversight from first bid to final payment.
Full Project Brokerage for Southern Ontario homeowners. We write the scope, manage the bids, review the contracts, control the change orders, and walk the deficiency list at the end — so you don't have to chase paper while life is happening.
Independent · No referral fees from contractors · 1 business day response
Why hire a project broker
Most renovations don't fail at construction. They fail at the paperwork around it.
A scope nobody wrote properly. A bid nobody normalized. A change order nobody pushed back on. A deficiency list nobody walked.
Each of those is a 4-to-6-figure mistake that an experienced project manager would have caught. The trouble is that the contractor's project manager works for the contractor, the architect's project manager works for the architect, and the homeowner — the one whose money is on the line — is left to be their own.
Full Project Brokerage is the missing role. Contract Link is hired by the homeowner, has no financial relationship with the trades, and stays engaged from the first scope conversation to the day the last contractor leaves your driveway. No paperwork left unread, no decision made without a written record behind it.
What's included
The seven phases of a brokerage engagement
Click any phase to see what's done at that stage. Every phase is included in the flat engagement fee — no à la carte add-ons, no surprise scope creep.
Pre-bid scope development
We draft a written scope of work specifying materials, dimensions, finishes, exclusions, and tolerances before any contractor sees the job. Every bid that comes back is then quoted against the same document. No more apples-to-oranges comparisons, no more "as discussed" in the line items, no more renegotiating after work starts because something obvious wasn't in writing.
Multi-contractor bid management
We send the written scope to qualified contractors, receive their quotes, and present them back to you in a single normalized comparison — every line aligned, every assumption surfaced, every gap flagged. The contractor doesn't get to hide premium markup inside vague allowances when we're the ones reading the bid.
Contractor selection guidance
Every shortlisted contractor is scored against our Master Risk Engine — WSIB compliance, ESA where applicable, real licence status, lien history, online review patterns, and previous project performance where verifiable. You see the data; you make the call. We don't take referral fees from any of them, which is what makes the recommendation honest.
Contract review before signing
Before you sign, we read the contract clause by clause: payment schedule, warranty terms, deposit cap (legal max in Ontario), permits, materials specifications, allowances, change-order protocol, dispute resolution, and termination clauses. Anything unclear gets rewritten or removed. Anything missing gets added.
Change order management
The single biggest source of budget blow-up on a renovation is the unwritten change order. Our process requires every change to be written, priced, and approved before work begins — by you, not by the foreman on site. We track each one against the running budget so you always know where you stand against your contingency.
Build oversight
We hold scheduled check-ins with the contractor, document progress against the agreed milestones, verify that draw payments only release after the corresponding work is complete, and flag deviations from the scope while they're still cheap to fix. You don't have to be the one calling the foreman every week — that's our job.
Completion review and deficiency walkthrough
Once the contractor calls the job done, we walk the work with you and produce a written deficiency list — every item that doesn't meet scope, code, or finish quality. The list is signed by both sides and tied to your final payment so the contractor has a real reason to come back and finish what they started.
Who it's for
When Full Project Brokerage is the right fit
Multi-trade projects
Kitchen, bathroom, basement finish, addition, or whole-home renovation — anywhere multiple trades have to coordinate and one missed handoff costs weeks.
Real budgets on the line
Projects significant enough that the cost of independent oversight is small relative to the cost of a single missed change order or under-scoped contract.
You've been burned before
A previous renovation went sideways and you want independent eyes on everything this time — written scope, normalized bids, controlled change orders.
You don't have time to chase paper
You're working, travelling, or simply don't want to be the one calling the contractor every Tuesday. We do the chasing so you get the home, not the headache.
How it starts
From request to engagement in a week
Describe your project
Fill out the request form below with project type, timeline, and rough budget. The more context you give, the sharper our first read can be.
Discovery call
Within one business day we respond to schedule a 30-minute discovery call. We listen, we ask the questions a contractor wouldn't, and we tell you honestly whether brokerage is the right fit.
Scoped engagement proposal
If it's a fit, you receive a flat engagement fee with the scope of work spelled out — every phase, every deliverable, every milestone. No ambiguity, no scope creep.
How it's priced
A flat engagement fee — never a percentage of your project.
Full Project Brokerage is scoped and priced per engagement, not as a fixed-price product. After the discovery call, you receive a clear flat number with no ambiguity about what's included.
Most engagements are structured as a single project fee. Longer builds with milestone-based draw schedules can be structured around those draws so payment flows alongside progress.
We never take a percentage of your project budget — that creates the wrong incentive on every change order. A flat fee aligns us with you, not with how much the build expands.
Pricing depends on project complexity, number of trades, and total timeline. The discovery call gives us what we need to scope it.
No commitment. The discovery call is free and the engagement only starts if both sides agree it's the right fit.
Request a discovery call →Brokerage vs Quote Review
Not every project needs full brokerage
If you already have a contractor quote in hand and just want a second opinion before you sign, the Quote Review tiers are the right tool. Brokerage is for the bigger picture.
One-time analysis
Quote Review tiers
$49 · $197 · $397 CAD
One-time, 48-hour delivery
- You already have a contractor quote
- Single project, single decision moment
- You want red flags + clarifying questions
- You'll handle the contractor conversation yourself
Ongoing engagement
Full Project Brokerage
Flat engagement fee
Scoped after a discovery call
- Pre-bid scope written before contractors see the job
- Multiple trades, multiple decisions, full lifecycle
- We manage the contractor conversation, not you
- Engagement runs through to deficiency sign-off
Service area
Renovations and builds across Waterloo Region and Guelph
Full Project Brokerage engagements run in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph, plus surrounding communities. We're on-site for milestone walkthroughs and remote for everything else, so geography rarely changes the engagement structure.
- Kitchener
- Waterloo
- Cambridge
- Guelph
- Elmira
- St. Jacobs
- New Hamburg
- Ayr
- Breslau
- Fergus
- Elora
- Puslinch
Frequently asked questions
The Quote Review tiers ($49 / $197 / $397) are one-time audits of a single contractor document you already have. Full Project Brokerage is ongoing engagement across the entire project lifecycle — from writing the scope of work before any contractor quotes the job, to reviewing the final deficiency list before your last payment is released.
No. Contract Link has zero financial relationship with the trades. We're paid by the homeowner only, and that's what allows our recommendations to be fully independent.
Per engagement, as a flat fee scoped after a short discovery call. Pricing depends on project complexity, number of trades, and timeline. Longer multi-stage builds can be structured around a milestone-based draw schedule so payment flows alongside progress. We never take a percentage of your project budget.
When the project involves multiple trades, has a budget significant enough that mistakes cost more than oversight, or when you simply don't have the time or experience to chase paperwork weekly. Brokerage pays for itself the first time a change order is denied, a deficiency is caught at handover, or a quote is normalized against a written scope.
From the day the discovery call ends to the day the final payment is released to the contractor. Most engagements run 8 to 26 weeks depending on project size. We stay engaged until your last contractor is off-site and the deficiency list is signed off.
Those four cities are our primary service area. We also handle projects in surrounding communities — Elmira, St. Jacobs, New Hamburg, Ayr, Breslau, Fergus, Elora, and Puslinch.
Request a brokerage call
Describe your project. We'll respond in one business day.
Tell us what you're building, your rough timeline, and where you are in the decision. We'll get back to you with an honest read on whether Full Project Brokerage is the right fit — and what the engagement would look like if it is.
Every request is answered by Daniel directly. No call-centre, no auto-replies.
The discovery call is free and carries no commitment in either direction.
If brokerage isn't the right fit, we'll point you to the right tier or service — even if that's not us.