Licences and insurance
Three Alberta licences apply to the work McAra Design + Build does. Each one is a legal requirement to do a specific kind of work — holding one is not a rating, an award, or a government endorsement of the company. You can check any of them directly with the province using the links below.
Home Inspector Lic.
Alberta is one of only two provinces that requires home inspectors to be licensed. Getting this licence means carrying errors-and-omissions insurance (insurance that covers mistakes in a report) and posting a security bond with the province.
Verify →Prepaid Contracting Lic.
A prepaid contracting licence is legally required before a business can take a deposit or sign a contract for work in your home. Getting it means posting a security bond with the province.
Verify →Residential Builder Lic.
A residential builder licence has been required for any new home building permit since December 2017. The office that issues the permit checks the licence first.
Verify →
WCB clearance and liability insurance
McAra Design + Build carries a current WCB clearance letter. WCB is the Workers' Compensation Board, the provincial system that covers workers if they're hurt on the job. The letter confirms our premiums are paid and our workers are covered. You can ask for a copy for your project.
We also carry commercial general liability insurance, which covers damage to your property caused by our work. Before work starts, you'll get a copy of the current certificate, with your name added to it as an insured party where that's required.
Warranty terms and the mandatory 1-2-5-10
Renovation work carries the terms set out on our guarantee page: a workmanship warranty, plus a longer coverage period for anything closed up behind a wall.
New homes and qualifying additions in Alberta are also required by law to carry the 1-2-5-10 new home warranty, sold by a licensed warranty provider: one year on labour and materials, two years on systems like plumbing and electrical, five years on the building envelope (the roof, walls and windows that keep water out), and ten years on the structure. This is a legal requirement that exists on its own, separate from any contractor. McAra Design + Build does not issue this warranty ourselves — a licensed provider does.
How to check any Calgary contractor's licence in 60 seconds — including ours
Most homeowners don't know these licences exist, so most never check them. Nobody hands you a certificate at the door, and a business can look well-established without holding any of the three.
Each lookup takes under a minute. Go to the Alberta registry linked above for the licence type you want to check — home inspector, prepaid contractor, or residential builder. Type in the business name or the licence number. The registry tells you whether the licence is active, and for the prepaid contracting and builder licences, whether a security bond is currently posted.
Do this before you sign anything, with any contractor. Do it with the numbers on this page and check McAra Design + Build the same way.