Services Agreement

We're excited to work with you on your project. This contract protects both you and Green Ladder by clearly outlining what we're doing, how we'll do it, and what you can expect from us. All the specific details about your project, including what we're building, materials we're using, timeline, and pricing, are outlined in your provided estimate. This document covers the general terms that apply to how we work together. By signing your estimate, you confirm that you have read and agree to this Services Agreement. Questions? Call us at or email [email protected] ; we're here to help. Who's Involved YOUR CONTRACTOR: Green Ladder Contractors Ltd. 316 Energy Way #116, Red Deer County, AB T4E 0A7 Phone: Email: [email protected] Website: www.greenladder.ca Commercial General Liability underwritten by Tokio Marine Canada Ltd. GST Registration No.: 785188954RT0001 WCB Alberta Account No.: 10948175 Your Project Details Where we're working: As specified in your estimate. What we're doing: Your complete project scope, materials, specifications, timeline, and pricing are detailed in your estimate, which forms part of this contract. If the Contract and Estimate Conflict: If there's any conflict between what this contract says and what your estimate says, your estimate takes priority for project-specific details (scope, materials, timeline, and pricing). This contract governs the general terms of how we work together. What We're Building We'll complete all work exactly as described in your estimate; that's where you'll find every detail about materials, phases, and specifications for your project. What It Costs Your total investment is detailed in your estimate. All pricing, payment milestones, and any options you've selected are outlined there. How Payment Works You'll make payments according to the schedule in your estimate. If your estimate doesn't specify a custom schedule, here's our standard approach: 40% Deposit When you sign this contract; gets your project scheduled and materials ordered 50% Progress Payment When primary installation is complete 10% Final Payment When your project is finished and we've walked through it together Legal Holdback Requirement (Alberta Law) Alberta law requires a 10% holdback from payments to protect against potential liens from our suppliers or subcontractors. Your 10% final payment acts as this holdback and will be released 60 days after project completion, as long as no liens have been filed. Payment Details When to pay: within 7 days of receiving your invoice for each completed milestone. Reaching a milestone is what entitles us to invoice you for it; the 7 days then runs from the day you receive that invoice, not from the day the milestone was reached Late payments: interest applies at 1.5% per month (18% annually) How to pay: cheque, e-transfer, or bank draft Our Right to Suspend Work If a payment is not received within 7 days of its due date, we will notify you in writing. If payment is not received within 5 business days of that notice, we may suspend all work until the overdue amount is paid in full. Any timeline delays resulting from a payment suspension are not our responsibility. This right does not waive our right to file a builder's lien under Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. Timeline Your estimated timeline is in your estimate. What "Substantial Completion" Means "Substantially complete" is a defined idea in Alberta construction law, and we use the same test the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act uses, so this contract and the legislation say the same thing. Your project is substantially complete when it is ready to be used, or is being used, for its intended purpose, and whatever work is left could be finished or corrected for no more than 3% of the first $500,000 of the contract price, 2% of the next $500,000, and 1% of anything above that. On a $25,000 project that works out to roughly $750 of remaining work. Anything seasonal, and anything we cannot finish for reasons outside our control, comes out of that calculation. In Alberta that matters: staining that has to wait for warm dry weather, or grading and grass that has to wait for spring, does not hold up substantial completion. In plainer terms, your project is substantially complete when: The work described in your estimate is built according to the plans and specifications The work meets Alberta Building Code requirements You can use the completed space for its intended purpose Only minor deficiencies or punch-list items remain (if any) This is important because your final payment and warranty period are tied to substantial completion, not perfection of every minor detail. If Things Take Longer Than Expected Sometimes things happen that are outside our control. We won't be responsible for delays caused by weather, material shortages, permit processing, changes you request, or unexpected conditions we discover. If we hit a delay, we'll let you know right away and give you a new timeline. Permits and Inspections Who Gets the Permits: Unless your estimate says otherwise, we'll work with you to obtain the required building permits. Meeting Code Requirements: All our work meets Alberta Building Code standards and your local municipal regulations. We'll coordinate any required inspections with your local building department. Your Part: Under Alberta law, you (the homeowner) are ultimately responsible for making sure permits are in place before work starts. You'll also need to give inspectors access to your property when needed. Architectural controls, covenants and HOAs: A building permit is not the same thing as approval from your neighbourhood. Many newer subdivisions carry architectural controls, a restrictive covenant on title, or a homeowners association, and those can set their own rules on materials, colours, heights and fence styles. Getting that approval is yours, and please do it before we order materials. If work has to be changed or removed to satisfy a covenant or an association, that is a Change Order rather than a warranty matter. Before We Break Ground Almost every job we do puts something in the ground: footings, sonotubes, fence posts, deck piles. Two things have to be settled before a shovel moves, and one of them is yours. Utility locates: We arrange the Alberta One-Call locate and we do not start digging until the marks are down. That usually takes two full business days, and it is built into our schedule rather than added to it. Private lines are different, and this part is yours: One-Call marks the utility company's own infrastructure. It does not mark anything that was installed privately on your property. That means power running out to a detached garage or shop, a gas line to a garage heater or fire pit, sprinkler and irrigation lines, an invisible dog fence, low-voltage lighting, a septic field or a private water line. Those are exactly the lines a fence post finds. Please tell us about anything you know of, and arrange a private locate for anything you are unsure about. We can point you to a private locating company. If we damage a private line that was not disclosed to us and was not marked, the repair is not ours to carry, and we will treat it as a Change Order. Property lines and boundaries: You confirm to us where your property lines are, and we build to the line you identify. If you have a Real Property Report, please give us a copy, and we will work to it. We are not land surveyors and we do not verify boundaries. If a fence, wall or structure is later found to sit over a property line or inside a required setback, moving it is a Change Order rather than a warranty matter. If there is any doubt at all about where the line runs, a survey before we start is far cheaper than moving a finished fence. If We Find Hazardous Materials Older homes hold things nobody knew were there. Asbestos in drywall compound, texture coat, flooring and insulation was normal into the 1990s, and mould and lead paint turn up as well. If we encounter or suspect asbestos, mould or lead, we stop work in that area immediately. We are not permitted to keep going, and we would not ask our crew to. Alberta occupational health and safety law requires an assessment before those materials are disturbed. Testing, and any abatement that testing shows is needed, is at your cost and gets handled through a Change Order, using a qualified abatement contractor. Your timeline extends by however long that takes, and that delay is not something we are responsible for. We know this is unwelcome news when it lands mid-project. We will tell you the moment we see it, in writing, and help you line up the right people. The Materials We Use All the specific brands, products, and finishes for your project are listed in your estimate. Everything we supply will be new, high-quality, and suitable for its purpose. If Something Becomes Unavailable: If a specified material becomes unavailable, we'll notify you in writing and suggest an equal or better substitute. We won't make any substitutions without your written approval. Changes to Your Project If you want to change the scope, materials, design, or timeline after we start, we'll document it in a written Change Order that both of us sign before we do the changed work. Each Change Order will clearly show what's changing, how it affects the price, how it affects the timeline, and any impact on warranties. Change Order Pricing: Work outside the original scope is billed at $125 per person, per hour, plus materials, unless we agree on a fixed price for the change. If We Discover Something Unexpected: Your price assumes your home's existing structure and foundation are in good shape (unless your estimate says otherwise). If we uncover hidden problems, like rot or structural issues, we'll address them through a Change Order. Important: No Verbal Orders Please don't ask our crew directly to do extra work. Our crew are not authorized to agree to a change, price one, or waive anything in this contract. Changes go through the office in writing, so it is documented and you know what it costs before it happens. If changed work goes ahead anyway: if you direct a change on site and we carry it out, that work is chargeable at the Change Order rate above, whether or not a Change Order was signed first. We will document it and invoice it the same way. This is not permission to skip the paperwork. It protects both of us: you are never billed for something you did not ask for, and we are not left absorbing the cost of something you did. If you carry out work yourself: if you perform work this contract says we will do, or alter our work, without an agreed Change Order, any additional labour, disposal or rework we incur as a result is chargeable at the same rate. What's Not Included Unless specifically mentioned in your estimate, these items are NOT part of your project price: Specialized electrical, plumbing, or HVAC work (we're happy to coordinate with licensed trades if you need these) Landscaping restoration beyond basic grading Repairs to existing structural or foundation problems (handled through a Change Order if we find them) Work required by unexpected site conditions (like bedrock or underground utilities) Engineered drawings or a structural engineer's stamp, where your municipality requires one (common on taller decks and some retaining walls). If it's needed and your estimate doesn't include it, we'll arrange it through a Change Order at cost Fees or approvals under a restrictive covenant, architectural control, or homeowners association Private utility locates for lines you or a previous owner installed Furnishings, fixtures, or decorative accessories Any work not described in your estimate Your Warranties Our Workmanship Guarantee We guarantee our labour and installation from the day your project is substantially complete. A defect means workmanship that falls below the building code in force in Alberta at the time the work was performed, or below normal trade practice and tolerances for the material we used. Wear, weathering and the normal behaviour of materials aren't defects. If a covered defect turns up inside that period, we'll repair it, replace it, or pay you the reasonable cost of doing so, whichever we choose, and at no charge to you. That is the full extent of what we owe for that defect. It takes the place of any other claim you may have against us for the same thing, whether in contract, in tort including negligence, or otherwise. A repair carries the remainder of your original warranty period rather than starting a fresh one. The term depends on what we built: 2 years: decks, railings, fences, privacy screens, pergolas and gazebos, sheds, hot tub surrounds, outdoor fireplaces, retaining walls, structural framing, and interior renovations. 1 year: patios, walkways and steps, and landscape lighting. If your project covers more than one of these, each part carries its own term. The warranty document we hand you at completion states the term for your project in writing. Solid Wood Moves, and That Is Not a Defect Pressure-treated lumber is sold wet, and cedar is a natural product. Both shrink, check, cup, twist and grey as they dry and weather. That is the wood behaving normally rather than a fault in our work, so it is not something we can warranty at any point in the term. What we do warranty is how the wood was fastened, framed and installed. Stains, Sealers and Paint: 1 Year Applied finishes on exterior wood wear out. Alberta sun and freeze-thaw take a finish down in a few seasons no matter how well it goes on. We warranty the application, meaning coverage, adhesion and workmanship, for 1 year. Fading, wear and the need to recoat are maintenance, not warranty. Repairs and Work Tied Into an Existing Structure When we repair, resurface or build onto something we did not originally build, our warranty covers the new work only. It does not cover the existing structure underneath or beside it, or movement in that structure, because we did not build it and cannot stand behind how it was put together. We will always tell you what we found and what we recommend. Work of this kind carries a 1 year term on the new work. Materials You Supply or Specify If you supply a material yourself, or you choose a product after we have recommended against it, we cannot warranty that material or how it performs. We will still stand behind our installation of it. Any manufacturer warranty on a material you supplied is between you and that manufacturer. Framing for Builders and General Contractors When we frame as a subcontractor, we hand a shell to a builder who then finishes it. We warranty our framing labour to that builder for 2 years, built to the drawings we were given. We do not offer an independent structural warranty to the eventual homeowner, because we do not finish or control the completed building. On a new home, that coverage comes through the builder under Alberta's New Home Buyer Protection Act. Material Warranties The materials we supply carry their manufacturers' own warranties. We keep the purchase records on file, and if a material problem comes up we take it to the manufacturer for you and put the claim together. Manufacturers ask for proof of original purchase before they will open a claim, so it is simpler for everyone if that paperwork stays with us. What the Warranties Don't Cover Damage from misuse, neglect, or lack of maintenance Changes made by others after we're done Extreme weather or natural disasters Normal wear and tear Drainage problems or landscaping changes you make later Movement or settling in parts of your home we didn't replace Sod, topsoil, plants and anything else living, past the day we install it. Whether it takes depends on watering and care, and that part is yours Frost movement and settling where the foundation we agreed on doesn't go below frost depth, which is normal for patios, walkways, fence posts and ground-level structures on a compacted base Work we carried out the way you asked, where that differs from what we recommended, and anything that follows from it Damage from de-icing salt or chemicals, and from shovels, scrapers and snow blowers Alteration, extension, relocation or removal of our work, or of the structure it is attached to, by anyone other than us Damage from loads the work wasn't designed to carry, including hot tubs, vehicles, and storage added after we're done The condition of what's already there behind or beneath our work, including siding, sheathing, house wrap and structure. We stand behind the flashing and membrane we install. We can't stand behind what sits behind them Colour and grain variation between boards and between manufacturing lots, and small differences in gapping and alignment within the product's normal tolerances Indirect losses, like loss of use, accommodation costs, or lost income Changes or removal needed to satisfy an architectural control, restrictive covenant, homeowners association, permit or inspection. Getting those approvals is yours Efflorescence, joint sand loss, weed or moss growth, and natural colour and texture variation in pavers, natural stone and concrete products Loading, surcharge or groundwater conditions behind a retaining wall that weren't disclosed to us or included in the design Adjustment of gates, latches, hinges and other moving hardware, which is seasonal maintenance On interior work, the condition of existing substrates, subfloors, framing and services behind our finishes, and movement in flooring, trim and millwork caused by indoor humidity outside the range the material manufacturer recommends The cost of taking out and putting back work, structures, landscaping or equipment we didn't supply, where that's needed to get at a defect. Taking out and reinstating our own work is covered Work put to a use it wasn't designed or quoted for, including a change from residential to commercial use, or to a short-term rental Moving a fence, wall or structure later found to sit over a property line or inside a setback. We build to the line you identify, and we are not land surveyors Matching a Repair When we repair or replace part of the work, we'll match what's there as closely as we reasonably can, but we can't promise an exact match. Wood and composite weather and fade with age and sun, and manufacturers change and discontinue colours. A visible difference between new material and weathered material isn't a defect. Letting Us In, and Stopping the Damage Please give us reasonable access to look at the work and carry out any warranty repair, and take reasonable steps to stop things getting worse once you've noticed a problem. We're not responsible for damage that gets worse after you've noticed it, or for a claim we weren't given a fair chance to look at. Your Warranty Starts When the Project Is Paid Your warranty takes effect once the contract price and all approved change orders have been paid in full, other than any amount you're withholding in good faith for a deficiency we haven't yet put right. The Warranty Is Yours, Not the Property's This warranty is given to you, the customer named on the contract. It does not transfer to a new owner if you sell the property. How to Get Warranty Service Contact us in writing as soon as you notice a problem, and give us a fair chance to come and look at it before anyone else works on it. We'll acknowledge your claim promptly and fix anything that's covered within a reasonable time. Repairs someone else makes before we've had that chance aren't covered. Green Ladder Contractors Ltd. 316 Energy Way #116, Red Deer County, AB T4E 0A7 [email protected] Include a description of the issue and photos if possible. Insurance and Licensing We carry: Commercial General Liability underwritten by Tokio Marine Canada Ltd.: $2,000,000 per occurrence, $5,000,000 general aggregate, including products and completed operations, non-owned automobile, and employer's liability WCB (Workers' Compensation) coverage for our team We'll provide proof of all this upon request or before we start work. Your Insurance: You need to keep your homeowner's insurance current for the whole project, and you need to tell your insurer that construction is happening before we start. Please do actually make that call. Many policies limit or exclude cover on a property under renovation unless the insurer has been told, and you do not want to discover that afterward. You may also need to adjust your coverage to reflect your home's increased value once we're done. Materials on site: Once materials are delivered to your property they are in your care, and the risk of theft, vandalism or damage sits with you rather than with us. That is simply because it's your property, you control who has access to it, and your insurance is the policy that covers things sitting on your land. We do our part: we store materials sensibly where you've asked us to, we take reasonable care of them, and we don't leave more on site than a job needs. What we can't do is turn an open yard into a locked compound. If material is stolen or damaged after delivery and it wasn't down to us, replacing it goes through a Change Order. Work in progress: Everything we build becomes part of your property as it goes up, so from the first footing onward the work is covered by your property insurance in the same way the rest of your home is. If it is damaged or destroyed before we finish, by fire, storm, flood or anything similar, that is a claim on your policy, and rebuilding it is a Change Order. The exception, and it's an important one: if the loss was caused by our negligence or by something we did wrong, it's ours. That is exactly what our $2 million liability insurance is for, and we're not trying to sidestep it here. Your Right to Cancel Buyer's Right to Cancel You may cancel this contract from the day you enter into the contract until 10 days after you receive a copy of the contract. You do not need a reason to cancel. If you do not receive the goods or services within 30 days of the date stated in the contract, you may cancel this contract within one year of the contract date. You lose that right if you accept delivery after the 30 days. There are other grounds for extended cancellation. For more information, you may contact your provincial/territorial consumer affairs office. If you cancel this contract, we have 15 days to refund your money and any trade-in, or the cash value of the trade-in. To cancel, you must give notice of cancellation at the address in this contract by a method that will allow you to prove that you gave notice, including registered mail, fax, or personal delivery. If You Cancel After We've Started If you cancel after we've already ordered materials or started work (after the 10-day period above): You'll pay for work we've satisfactorily completed You'll pay for materials we've already ordered or received that can't be returned We'll refund any amount you've paid beyond those costs We may keep a reasonable amount for restocking fees, supplier cancellation charges, and admin costs (we'll document and show you these) Our Right to Stop or End the Work We would rather finish every job we start, and we almost always do. But we need a way out of a situation that has stopped working, in the same way you have one above. If any of the following happens, we will tell you in writing, describe the problem plainly, and give you 5 business days to put it right: A payment is overdue, as set out in Our Right to Suspend Work above You direct work outside the signed scope, or carry out scope yourself, without an agreed Change Order You will not sign a Change Order for work you directed and accepted We are denied safe access to the work area, or the site becomes unsafe The condition of the property was misrepresented to us, or a known hazard was not disclosed If it is put right inside those 5 business days, we carry on as normal and that is the end of it. If it is not, we may suspend work. If it stays unresolved after that, we may end this contract on written notice. If we end the contract this way, you pay for the work we completed up to that point, for materials we ordered or received that cannot be returned, and for our reasonable costs of packing up and leaving the site. Anything you have paid beyond that, we refund. We do not charge a penalty for ending a contract, only what we are genuinely out of pocket, and we will document it and show you. This does not affect our rights under Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. Conduct toward our crew is different, and there is no waiting period. Alberta's occupational health and safety law requires us, so far as is reasonably practicable, to make sure none of our workers are subjected to harassment or violence at a work site. That is a duty we owe our people by law, not a courtesy we can trade away in a contract. If anyone at the property behaves abusively toward our crew or our subcontractors, or puts them at risk, we may remove our people from the site immediately, with no notice period and no opportunity to cure, and we may end this contract on written notice afterward. Our own Violence and Harassment Prevention plan says the same thing, and our crew are instructed that they can stop work and leave a site if they reasonably believe they are in danger. We will always tell you what happened and why. If that duty and this contract ever pull in different directions, the duty comes first. We May Decline to Start the Next Stage Separately from anything above, we are not obliged to begin a further phase of the work while a payment is overdue, or while a Change Order for work you directed and we have already carried out is unsigned or unpaid. This is not us stopping work and it is not a penalty. It simply means the next stage does not start until the outstanding item is dealt with, in the same way materials are not ordered before a deposit clears. There is no notice period attached to it, because nothing is being taken away from you. Work already underway continues, and once the outstanding item is resolved we pick up where the schedule left off. Any delay that results from it sits with you, not with us. Nothing in this section reduces your own cancellation rights set out above. When Unexpected Things Happen Neither of us is responsible if we can't meet our obligations due to things completely outside our control, like severe weather, natural disasters, pandemics or government lockdowns, government orders, labour strikes, material shortages, or transportation delays. If something like this happens, we'll let you know right away and do our best to work around it. If the delay lasts more than 60 days, either of us can end this contract, and you'll pay for work completed up to that point. If We Disagree About Something First: Let's Talk It Through If a dispute comes up, we'll first try to work it out through honest conversation. Either of us can start that conversation by describing the issue in writing. Next: Mediation If we can't resolve it within 14 days, we'll bring in a neutral mediator in Alberta to help us find a solution. We'll split the mediation costs equally unless the mediator decides otherwise. For a Payment Dispute: Adjudication If the disagreement is about money owing under this contract, either of us may refer it to adjudication under Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act by serving a notice of adjudication. Adjudication is a statutory process, it is much faster than mediation or court, and neither of us is able to contract out of it. An adjudicator's determination binds us both, and either of us can still take the underlying dispute further afterward. Using it does not affect the steps above or below. Last Resort If mediation doesn't resolve it, either of us may take the matter to the Alberta courts. Civil claims up to $100,000 are heard in the Alberta Court of Justice, which is designed to be used without a lawyer and covers the great majority of what we build. You may also choose binding arbitration instead, before an Alberta arbitrator, if you would rather. That choice is yours alone and it is yours to make after a dispute has arisen, not now: nothing in this contract commits you to arbitration, and we will not ask you to arbitrate against your wishes. If you do choose it, we'll split the arbitrator's fee equally unless the arbitrator decides otherwise. In any of these, the prevailing party may seek recovery of reasonable legal fees. None of this affects anyone's rights under Alberta's construction lien laws. Responsibility What We're Responsible For: Claims, damages, or expenses that result from our negligence or intentional misconduct, our breach of this contract, our failure to follow laws or regulations, or injuries or property damage caused by our work. What You're Responsible For: Claims that result from your negligence or intentional misconduct, misrepresenting your property's condition to us, not telling us about known hazards, or interfering with our work. Except for cases involving bodily injury, death, fraud or wilful misconduct, neither of us can be held liable for more than the total contract price. Access to Your Property We'll need reasonable access during normal working hours (typically 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday to Saturday, respecting local noise bylaws) and any other times we agree on. Please help us work efficiently by keeping the work area clear of personal items, pets, and obstructions; removing or protecting anything that could get damaged during construction; giving us access to water and electricity; and showing us where we can store materials and place waste bins. Please give your neighbours a heads-up about the upcoming construction. If we arrive and cannot work: We schedule a crew to your job for specific days, and a day lost cannot be filled at short notice. If our crew turns up and cannot start because access was blocked, the area was not cleared, a decision we were waiting on had not been made, or the site was unsafe, we will call you first and try to make the day work. If it cannot be saved, that time is billed at $125 per person, per hour, with a two hour minimum, and your timeline moves accordingly. This is rare and it is not something we want to charge. It is here so the cost of a lost day does not simply land on us. Construction work unavoidably involves some noise, dust, debris, and temporary inconvenience. We'll do everything reasonable to minimize disruption, but we can't eliminate it completely. For everyone's safety, please keep pets and children away from the work area. Keeping Things Clean We'll keep your worksite reasonably clean and safe throughout the project, removing hazardous materials and debris at the end of each workday. When we're done, we'll: Remove all construction debris and unused materials Haul everything to a licensed disposal facility (recycling what we can) Sweep and clean the work area Do final touch-ups as specified in your estimate Walk through the completed project with you If there's anything you want to keep (like salvaged wood or old fixtures), just let us know where to leave it. Working with Subcontractors We sometimes bring in qualified subcontractors (like electricians, plumbers, or other specialists) to handle portions of your project. We remain fully responsible for all their work as if we'd done it ourselves. We pay all subcontractors and suppliers directly; you'll never receive a bill from them. All our subcontractors are properly licensed, insured, and qualified for their work. Who runs safety on the site: Where two or more employers work a site at the same time, Alberta occupational health and safety law requires one of them to be the prime contractor, responsible for coordinating everyone's safety. For the work under this agreement, Green Ladder is the prime contractor. We take that on, and it is part of what you are paying for. If you bring in your own trades: If you engage other contractors to work at the same time as us, tell us before they start. We will either coordinate with them as prime contractor, or agree in writing that someone else takes that role. What we cannot do is have two crews on site with nobody holding it. If your trades are on site without our knowledge, we are not responsible for coordinating their safety or for delays and damage they cause, and it may mean we pause our own work until the site is sorted out. Photos of Your Project We may take photos during and after your project for documentation and warranty records. We may use photos of your completed project (without identifying information) in our portfolio, website, social media, print ads, and publications. We won't use your name without permission, share your specific address, or show photos with you or your family without permission. By signing your estimate, you consent to the marketing use of project photos as described above. Confidentiality We won't share the financial details of this contract with anyone except when required by law or court order, for insurance purposes, for financing purposes, with our professional advisors (lawyers, accountants), or with government agencies for permits or licensing. Legal Details Governing Law: This contract is governed by Alberta law and federal Canadian law. Any legal matters will be handled in Alberta courts. Complete Agreement: This contract, along with your attached estimate and any signed change orders, is our complete agreement. It replaces any previous discussions, emails, or verbal agreements about this project. If Part of This Contract Isn't Valid: If a court finds any part of this contract unenforceable, the rest of it still applies. Changes to This Contract: Changes are only valid if we both sign them in writing. Verbal changes don't count. Official Notices: Any official notices must be in writing and delivered by hand, registered mail, email, or courier. Emails are considered received the next business day if sent before 5:00 PM. Electronic Signatures and Delivery: We both agree that this contract, your estimate and any Change Order may be signed and delivered electronically, and that an electronic signature has the same effect as a signature on paper. Alberta's Electronic Transactions Act gives it that force where the signer has consented to sign electronically, and that consent is recorded alongside your signature when you accept. Where We Send You Notices: Any notice we send you goes to the email and mailing address shown on your estimate. Please tell us in writing if either changes, because a notice sent to the address on your estimate counts as delivered. Assignment: Neither of us can hand this contract to someone else without the other agreeing in writing. If you sell the property before the work is finished, this contract does not automatically move to the new owner, and you remain responsible under it until we all agree otherwise in writing. We may assign this contract to a company that takes over our business, and if we do, everything in it still applies. Independent Contractor: Green Ladder is an independent contractor, not your employee or partner. We handle all our own taxes, workers' compensation, and business obligations. Currency: All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars (CAD). Business Days: Monday to Friday, not including Alberta statutory holidays. This contract is governed by Alberta's Consumer Protection Act and Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. We recommend having it reviewed by a licensed Alberta lawyer before use