Our guarantee
Eight promises, each backed by how it actually works — not just that it exists.
01
Priced by an inspector, not a salesman.
Chris McAra walks your home the way he'd inspect it, checking what's behind the wall and not just the room you want changed. That walkthrough happens before anyone talks about a number, so the scope is built from what the house needs rather than from what closes a sale.
02
Fixed scope, fixed price, before we start.
The written scope lists every item and every allowance by name. Once you sign it, the price is locked — a change order only exists if you ask us to add or remove something from that list, and it's priced and signed before the change is made.
03
A finish date in the contract, not a range.
The contract states a start date and a completion date, not a window. The schedule is built backward from the completion date, accounting for material lead times and any City inspections, before the contract is signed.
04
One crew, one sequence, one point of contact.
The same person coordinates every trade — paint, floor, mechanical, cabinetry — from the walkthrough to the handover. You call one number when something changes, and the sequence is set so trades aren't waiting on each other or working out of order.
05
A home you can live in while we work.
Work areas are sealed off with dust containment, floors on the route in and out are covered, and the site is cleaned at the end of each day. You set the work window in advance, so nobody is in your home outside the hours you agreed to.
06
We fix what's behind the wall.
When moisture, ventilation or mechanical problems turn up once a wall is open, they're documented, priced and dealt with as part of the project — not covered back up. Anything found gets a written change order before it's addressed, so there's no surprise on the invoice.
07
A workmanship warranty.
If something fails because of how McAra Design + Build installed it, we come back and fix it — no invoice, no argument about whose fault it was. That applies to what's visible and to what was sealed behind a wall.
08
A weekly update, every Friday.
A photo set, a note on what got done, what's next, and where the budget stands, sent every Friday for the length of the project. You don't have to ask for it and you don't have to chase anyone for it.
We put it in writing.
- A fixed price
- agreed before we start, and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
- A completion date
- in the contract, not a range, not a best guess.
- A workmanship warranty
- if it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
Most renovation guarantees are a paragraph of conditions. Ours is three commitments you can hold us to.
New homes carry Alberta's mandatory 1-2-5-10 warranty on top of ours.
When the date credit doesn't apply
We'll say this up front rather than bury it.
The credit doesn't run if you change the scope mid-project, if a permit inspection is delayed by the City, or if we find something structural behind a wall that has to be dealt with before we can continue.
In that last case you get a written revised date within 48 hours, and the credit restarts against the new one.
How this relates to Alberta's mandatory new home warranty
New homes and qualifying additions in Alberta carry the mandatory 1-2-5-10 new home warranty: one year on labour and materials, two years on the delivery and distribution systems, five years on the building envelope, and ten years on the structure. That warranty is provided by a licensed warranty provider and is required by provincial law — it exists independently of any contractor.
The McAra Design + Build renovation warranty sits on top of that, on any project where both apply. It doesn't replace the mandatory warranty and it doesn't reduce what the mandatory warranty covers; it adds our own workmanship and behind-the-wall terms on top of the coverage the province already requires.
Questions about the guarantee
- If McAra Design + Build misses the completion date in the contract, a daily credit comes off your final invoice automatically. You don't have to ask for it or negotiate it — it's applied at handover. The credit doesn't apply in a small number of cases, and all of them are listed on this page rather than buried in the contract.
- The McAra Design + Build workmanship warranty covers failures caused by how the work was installed, including moisture, ventilation and mechanical work sealed behind a wall. It sits on top of any manufacturer's warranty on materials and appliances, which is handled separately through the manufacturer. The term is stated in your contract before work starts.
- Most renovation warranties are a paragraph of conditions with an implied out at every clause. McAra Design + Build reduces it to three commitments: a fixed price, a completion date, and a workmanship warranty. All three are stated in the contract before work starts, not explained after something goes wrong.
- No. Alberta's mandatory 1-2-5-10 new home warranty is a legal requirement on qualifying new construction and is provided by a licensed warranty provider, not by McAra Design + Build. The McAra Design + Build renovation warranty sits on top of it on projects where both apply — it adds coverage, it doesn't substitute for the coverage the province requires.
- The daily credit doesn't run if you change the scope mid-project, if a permit inspection is delayed by the City, or if McAra Design + Build finds something structural behind a wall that has to be dealt with before work can continue. In that last case, you get a written revised completion date within 48 hours, and the credit restarts against that new date.