Notice of Project and safety oversight

Before the first excavator arrives, the constructor has to tell Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development that the project exists. The Notice of Project is a short filing, but it is also the first public record of who the constructor is, and it opens a set of start-up safety duties. This lesson covers when the notice is required, what goes in it, the other items that should be on site by day one, and how an owner watches site safety without taking over the constructor's role.

Learning outcomes

• Test a project against the Notice of Project triggers in section 6 of O. Reg. 213/91.
• Explain who files the notice, when, what it contains, and how it is posted and kept current.
• List the other start-up safety items: Form 1000 registration, supervisor, emergency procedures, facilities, and the worker thresholds for a health and safety representative and a joint committee.
• Set up an owner's safety oversight routine that builds a due diligence record without directing the work.

The lesson

When a Notice of Project is required

Section 6 of O. Reg. 213/91, the Construction Projects regulation under the OHSA, sets the triggers. Meeting any one of them is enough. The Ministry's guidance lists them as:

• total expected cost of labour and materials over $50,000 (or over $250,000 for a project confined to an automobile manufacturing or assembly factory);
• erecting or structurally altering a building over two storeys or over 7.5 m high, or demolishing a building at least 4 m high with at least 30 m² of floor area;
• work on bridges, earth- or water-retaining structures over 3 m high, and silos, chimneys and similar structures over 7.5 m high;
• compressed air work, and tunnels, caissons, cofferdams or wells that a person may enter;
• a trench a person may enter that is over 300 m long, or over 1.2 m deep and over 30 m long;
• building an ice road; and any work the regulation requires a professional engineer to design.

The cost trigger catches almost every commercial building project. The Ministry has consulted on replacing it with hazard-based triggers, so check the current text of s. 6 on e-Laws before relying on any threshold.

Who files, when, and what goes in it

The constructor files, before work on the project begins. Section 23(2) of the OHSA makes notice a constructor duty, and failing to notify is an offence under s. 6 of the regulation with its own set fine. Owners should not file it themselves: an owner-named filing is evidence pointing the wrong way.

Most notices go through the Ministry's online Notice of Project service. The form asks for the constructor's legal name, business number and WSIB details; the project address or location, with GPS coordinates; the type of construction and a description; start and end dates; the expected number of workers regularly on site; the project supervisor's name; and the estimated labour and materials cost, which does not print on the copy. It also asks for the owner's name and address, whether the constructor received a designated substances list from the owner, and which designated substances may be used, handled or disturbed.

That last pair of questions links lesson 6 to this one. If the owner's s. 30 list never reached the constructor, the Notice of Project is where the gap shows.

A signed copy must be posted in a conspicuous place at the project or be available there for an inspector. If the end date moves, the Ministry's guidance asks the constructor to tell the nearest Ministry office so the record stays current.

The rest of the day-one safety file

The notice is one item in a short set of start-up obligations. The owner does not do these, but should know they exist and ask to see them:

• Registration (Form 1000). Under s. 5 of the regulation, every constructor and every employer engaged in construction completes a registration form before starting work at the project. It is not sent to the Ministry; it stays at the project while that employer is working there.
• Trench notice. Section 7 adds a separate duty to notify the Ministry about trench work. Ask how the constructor has handled it for site services.
• Supervisor. Section 14(1) requires the constructor to appoint a supervisor for a project with five or more workers at the same time, and s. 14(2) requires that the work be supervised at all times.
• Emergency procedures. Section 17 requires written emergency procedures, posted at the project.
• Facilities. Section 29 of the regulation requires toilet and clean-up facilities, and access to them.
• Worker representation. Under OHSA s. 8(1), a health and safety representative is needed where more than five workers are regularly employed and no committee is required. Under s. 9, a joint health and safety committee (JHSC) is required on a project with 20 or more workers regularly employed that is expected to last three months or more. The committee needs at least two members below 50 workers and at least four at 50 or more.

Safety oversight without becoming the constructor

Lesson 6 showed the tension. The owner wants to know the site is safe, and after R. v. Greater Sudbury (City) any owner with its own staff on site is an employer there and may need a due diligence defence. But an owner who starts directing the work risks taking on the constructor role. The answer is a routine that watches, records and raises, and stops short of instructing.

In practice that routine has four parts. Before award, check the bidders' safety records and programs and keep the review. During the work, receive a monthly safety report from the constructor with the progress report, and read it. Attend site meetings and walk the site with the constructor's superintendent, not alone with trades. When you see a hazard, raise it with the constructor in writing the same day and track the response. Serious events, such as a critical injury or a Ministry order, should reach the owner quickly; the constructor's statutory reporting to the Ministry under OHSA ss. 51 to 53 does not tell the owner anything, so the contract has to.

Contract remedies sit between the two zones. An owner may have rights to require removal of a person, or to suspend work, and the Sudbury court noted the City had not used such rights. Using them when warranted is legitimate, but do it through the contract and the constructor, with legal advice, rather than by instructing people on site.

Northgate worked example

Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) is the constructor for the Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) in Vaughan, as the owner's Supplementary Conditions and lesson 6 set out. The trigger check in Figure 1 takes a minute: a $34,950,000 Contract Price and a building with 9.75 m clear height each require a Notice of Project on their own. Mobilization is Monday, March 1, 2027, and the kickoff in lesson 3 set a target to file by Friday, February 19, 2027.

The owner's representative tracks the start-up safety file as part of the mobilization checklist from lesson 5:

When Halvorsen sends its draft notice, the owner's representative checks three things before mobilization: the owner's legal name and address are right, the form says a designated substances list was received from the owner, and the end date matches the contract. Halvorsen's forecast in Figure 2 peaks at 62 workers in October 2027, so the owner's representative asks at the February site meeting how Halvorsen will grow the committee to four members before September.

The Supplementary Conditions require a monthly safety report with each progress report, covering hours worked, incidents, Ministry visits and orders, and committee minutes. They also require notice to the owner's representative within 24 hours of any critical injury, work refusal or Ministry order. Racking adds one more step: before Monday, January 17, 2028, the racking installer completes its own Form 1000 and Halvorsen's orientation, and Halvorsen tells the Ministry office if its end date has moved.

Owner's move

Demand a copy of the filed Notice of Project before mobilization, plus monthly safety reporting and 24-hour notice of serious events in the Supplementary Conditions.

Check the notice against the contract: owner details, constructor, dates, and the designated substances answer. Check that Form 1000s, the supervisor appointment and emergency procedures exist before day one.

Reject owner-filed notices, owner staff instructing trades, and any start date that arrives before the notice is filed.

Common mistakes

1. Treating the notice as paperwork. It names the constructor in a public filing. If it names the wrong party, fix it before work starts.
2. Not checking the designated substances answer. A "no list received" answer points to a gap in the owner's s. 30 duty.
3. Forgetting the end date. When the project runs longer, or a post-takeover contractor extends site work, the record should be updated.
4. Owner site walks without the constructor. They create pressure to instruct trades directly and weaken the owner's position.
5. No owner reporting clause. Statutory reports go to the Ministry, not the owner.

Quick quiz

1. Under O. Reg. 213/91 s. 6, which single fact is enough to require a Notice of Project for a new warehouse?

   1. More than 10 workers on site
   2. Labour and materials expected to cost over $50,000
   3. A building permit was issued
   4. The owner hired a consultant

2. Who must file the Notice of Project?

   1. The owner
   2. The architect
   3. The constructor
   4. The municipality

3. What happens to a completed Form 1000 registration?

   1. It is filed online with the Notice of Project
   2. It is kept at the project while that employer works there
   3. It is sent to WSIB
   4. It is attached to the building permit

4. A project will last 13 months with 20 or more workers regularly employed for most of it. What does OHSA s. 9 require?

   1. Only a health and safety representative
   2. A joint health and safety committee
   3. Nothing, because a constructor is named
   4. A second Notice of Project

5. The owner's PM sees a worker at an unguarded floor opening. What is the best owner response?

   1. Tell the worker how to rig a guardrail
   2. Ignore it, since safety is the constructor's job
   3. Raise it with the constructor's superintendent at once, confirm in writing and track the response
   4. Stop all work on site personally

Key terms

Notice of Project

The constructor's notice to the Ministry, before work begins, of a project that meets a trigger in s. 6 of O. Reg. 213/91. A signed copy is posted or kept at the project.

Form 1000

The registration form each constructor and employer completes before starting work at a project, kept on site.

Joint health and safety committee (JHSC)

A committee of worker and management members required on projects with 20 or more workers regularly employed and lasting three months or more.

Health and safety representative

A worker selected to represent workers on health and safety where more than five are regularly employed and no committee is required.

Safety oversight record

The owner's file showing how it chose the constructor, monitored safety and raised hazards.

References

1. Government of Ontario, O. Reg. 213/91: Construction Projects, ss. 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 29 (e-Laws).
2. Government of Ontario, File a work notice (updated April 1, 2026).
3. Ministry of Labour, Notice of Project requirements and Notice of Project help guide.
4. Ontario Court of Justice, Set fines, Schedule 67.1 (O. Reg. 213/91).
5. Government of Ontario, Guide for health and safety committees and representatives (updated August 17, 2026).
6. Government of Ontario, Constructor guideline (updated August 13, 2026).
7. Government of Ontario, Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, ss. 8, 9, 23, 51 to 53 (e-Laws).
8. OHS Insider, Ontario eases construction Notice of Project filing rules (proposed changes).

Verified on November 4, 2026.