Ottawa General Contractors

We haven’t gotten into the actual project itself yet, but we have had a great experience with the material selection coordinator, Deirdre thus far. She has been on top of everything! She’s prompt to respond to emails and to follow through getting us what we want for our house renovation. She goes over and above to make sure things are running smoothly and that we are satisfied with the process overall. Looking forward to continuing to work with her.

Recently, CBC News Ottawa broadcast our experience with this company.

Right from the very beginning, we had serious concerns with the design, workmanship, management, and planning of the project. Numerous jobs had to be redone (tiling not straight, exterior door installation, sealing of the door frame, kitchen wall not straight, etc.). The sink cabinet was erroneously built too small; it was never fixed, we had to purchase a smaller one to fit it in. On several occasions, we had to take time off work to address issues ourselves, as the project manager would not even respond to phone calls or e-mails regarding issues that required immediate attention.

Also, sub-contracted trades were home only for minutes at a time. On numerous occasions, they told us they had to balance too many jobs at once and had to travel back and forth between projects.

In December 2018 the project was "substantially" completed. A few remaining items would be finished after the snow melted. In February 2019, OGC offered us a refund for expenses we had overpaid (door, electrical, new sink, shipping, other products) $1,350 and a "good-will gesture" of $1,000 to cover the time we had taken off work and the disappointment of ending up with a smaller sink. No conditions or requirements were mentioned. In March 2019, we accepted in writing. We thought the nightmare was over.

However, in April 2019, almost 2 months later, we were surprised with a legal agreement which OGC demanded we sign. The agreement makes the client legally bound to not say anything, ever, anywhere that could be seen as negative (verbal or written). We immediately declined to sign the agreement. OGC repeatedly indicated the outstanding work, and the money owed would only be done AFTER we sign the agreement. The company indicated "this is company policy" and that "OGC's lawyers have made it mandatory to sign."

What followed afterward was a stressful and frustrating process of numerous warnings, e-mails, registered mail letters to the President, phone calls, and legal consultations. We indicated we felt extorted and we were prepared to file a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Services regarding breach of contract. Finally, on May 9, 2019, OGC accepted to complete the work. Still, OGC involved their lawyers, who contacted us by e-mail to address the fact that we would not sign the non-disclosure agreement. We indicated that our position was firm and non-negotiable.

Our case is not about money, delays, poor workmanship or a smaller sink. This is about principles. Demanding perpetual silence in exchange for doing what has been paid for and is owed, is – in our opinion – extortion. We chose not to yield to what – in our opinion – was an extortion attempt. Following the CBC story we received numerous messages from others who signed a similar agreement with OGC. This is Canada, we expect respect towards our fundamental right of expression.
Norma and Bart

As we are coming to a mid point in my renovation project I wanted to take a moment to provide major kudos to two people who have been associated with the project and who have gone above and beyond in making it progress as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

The first is Michael our Project Manager. Michael has kept me informed and updated on every step of the construction and providing me with options and explanations while listening to my needs and wants. He has been a rock in that I feel confident that he will listen to my requests and provide me with realistic options and budgetary implications so that I am able to make educated decisions on which route I want to take. I am very grateful that we have him in place to manage the project.

The second person that I want to praise is the carpenter Matt. His work and dedication to doing things right also provides me with the confidence that the structure is being built the best way possible. For example, when he noted that when, as the approved plans called for, a wall was to be moved in order to create our walk in closet, that doing so created a weakness in the roof structure, he instantly recommended the solution rather than just going ahead as per the plans. This attitude along with numerous suggestions and explanations he has provided along the way, have again provided me with confidence that the construction will be completed correctly.

As a client, I appreciate being provided with efficient and prompt information followed by prompt follow through on the decisions made as shown by these two individuals.

I would have given more stars but for issues and delays with getting city approvals.

OGC is a very professional company and a good choice if you prefer the comfort of going with a large scale organization over an independent contractor or tradesperson. In 2017 we had them do the structural work to remove a wall and relocate wiring in our kitchen (townhouse condo). A number of issues with the structural were resolved after a few headaches and setbacks, but nothing dramatic to complain about. We wanted to save money and do a lot of the work ourselves (cabinet installation, drywall, painting) and they had no issue working with us and our schedule.

We worked with Allan and his #1 goal was to make sure we were happy. Yes, I would recommend them and may use them again in the future.

This is the second time we have used Ottawa General Contractors, which is a testament to their service. The project managers, Brad and Andrew are always present and answer questions whenever you have them. They are great at keeping you informed on your project and the contractors really care about the quality of work that they do.

From the initial quote, through the design and build, and even during an extended delay due to an unforeseen and complex project setback, OGC team members remained conscientious, considerate and professional, taking full responsibility for their work, and that of all subcontractors, and ensuring and warranting an excellent finished project.

I will start with the bottom line of my thoughts on working with OGC, which is, if asked by a friend, I would recommend them. On the whole it was a positive experience, the bathroom they designed and built for us is tasteful and well-built and they were good to work with and very professional throughout the experience. If you want some more detail I will include it below.
Sales
We started off working with Nick, who did sales and the basic design and needs with us. We had three other quotes as well and, for what it is worth, OGC was the highest bidder. But we were also very impressed with their well laid out and explained process that Nick walked us through.
Design/Materials
We started off working with Tanie, who we felt didn’t really want to listen to our wants but did help us design a practical bathroom that will be great for resale. Tanie left the company half way through the design process. She was replaced by Deirdre, who I have to give huge props to. She did an great job taking over without a ton of documentation and really helped steer the design more towards what we were looking for. She also had a lot of really practical suggestions, it was good to work with her.
Build
Michael was our project manager and Edgar of Laverne Home Improvements was the lead/owner of the sub-contractors who did the build. Both were great to work with in their own way. Michael was really good on the communication front and kept us well informed on what was going on. Edgar and his team did their best to work around us and produced a nice finished product without any real major snags. The project was on budget and on time.
Communication
As I mentioned OGC has a great process and were pretty good at communicating with us throughout. If I had one gripe it would be that they often didn’t seem to have communicated with each other. For example we had a bit of a miss communication around the bathroom door and everyone said someone else would buy it. It all got sorted out, but probably would have been easier if it was just communicated up front.
Finished product:
Looks really nice, seems to be well built. It was more expensive than we would have hoped but the costs were well inventoried for us and there weren’t surprises. Besides a few minor finishing details that didn’t get done perfectly (e.g. the grout) the work seems to be of really good quality and it seems like it will last well. We are quite pleased with it all, it really turned out better then expected.

Work was satisfactory. Planning was great. Professional sub contractors. OGC was eager to work with me to fix deficiencies in order to ensure that I was satisfied with the end product.