Post your renovation or repair job, free. Up to three verified HRM contractors bid on it — itemized, HST shown, no more than 25% up front. You compare them on one page and choose. Or ask Matthew which one to take.
Max three bids per job. No pile-on, no pay-to-play, no one gets your number until you say so.
→ the cheap one leaves out $700 of disposal. Second bid is the level one.
Bid check by MatthewUp to 3 bidders per job
Pay-per-lead sites send your job to five or more contractors. Three means each one actually wants it.
$0 to post, $0 to get bids
You pay only if you want Matthew's verdict on the bids. Contractors pay nothing to join or to bid.
Every bid in the same format
Itemized, HST shown, 25% or less up front, start and finish, warranty in writing. Like with like, finally.
The same person who reviews quotes for homeowners reads your job first, so every contractor prices the same thing — and contractors get jobs that were posted, not browsed.
These are the member rules, and the bid form won't accept a bid without them. They're the same points the 20-Point Check flags on quotes from anywhere else.
Homeowner-paid where the advice is, success-fee-only where the work is. Nobody pays for leads, listings or position — there isn't any to buy.
$0
Free, with no limit on jobs. You pay only if you want Matthew's verdict:
$0 to join · $0 to bid
Founding members pay nothing at all — no fee to join, bid, or win — for the whole founding period, with 30 days' notice before that changes.
| Level Bids | Typical pay-per-lead site | |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor pays | Only on a win, after the founding period | Per lead, whether or not you win, often on a 12-month plan |
| Contractors per job | Up to 3, invited in rotation | Up to 5 or more, first-come |
| What the contractor sees first | A tradesman-scoped job with photos | A form the homeowner filled in |
| Who gets your phone number | The one contractor you choose | Everyone who paid for the lead |
| Bid format | Itemized, HST shown, 25% max deposit, dates, warranty | Whatever they send |
| Verification | Insurance, WCB, NS trade certificates, references — checked by a named tradesman, shown with the date | Varies; often a paid badge |
| Second opinion | Bid check by a named Halifax tradesman | None |
The review side stays homeowner-paid. A Bid check is bought by you, written for you, and it will tell you to walk away from all three bids if that's the honest answer.
No contractor money touches a verdict. The only contractor fee is a flat success fee, the same for every member, charged after you've already chosen. It can't buy a ranking, a softer review, or a spot in the three.
Bids are shown in the order they arrive. Never by who pays. There's no sponsored placement because there's no placement to sell.
Members who bid badly lose membership. A bid that fails the 20-Point Check gets flagged to you like any other quote. Repeat flags and a contractor is out, fee or no fee.
If Matthew knows the contractor, he says so. Halifax is small. Any connection is disclosed on the bid and in the Bid check, every time.
Post the roof, the boiler, the unit turnover. Three verified bids each, in a format your file can keep, from contractors whose WCB and insurance someone actually looked at. Pair it with the R-400 maintenance plan and every repair on the plan has a bid behind it.
Post a job for my buildingBecause three is what homeowners actually compare, and three is the number that keeps contractors bidding properly. When a job goes to eight contractors, the good ones stop answering and the homeowner gets eight phone calls. Three means each bid is a real shot, so each one is priced with care.
Matthew checked, by hand, what can be checked in Nova Scotia: a current liability-insurance certificate, WCB Nova Scotia coverage (or, for shops under three workers, a plain statement of whether the owner carries it), trade certificates for the trades the province makes compulsory (electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and the like), HST registration, and references. Every bid shows what was checked and when. It's a point-in-time document check by an experienced tradesman, not a guarantee of workmanship — which is why the Bid check and the contract advice exist.
For most renovation trades — carpentry, roofing, siding, flooring, painting — no. The province has no general contractor licence. Electrical, plumbing, refrigeration/heat pump, sheet metal, sprinkler and a few other trades are "compulsory certified", and gas or oil appliance work needs a Fuel Safety licence. We check certificates for those and say plainly when a trade has none to check.
No. They see the job, the photos, the part of HRM and your first name. Your contact details go to one contractor — the one you choose — or to a contractor you ask for a site visit. Nothing else, and never to anyone else.
Close the job, or ask us to send it to three more members. Nothing's owed either way. If you bought a Bid check and it said none of the three was fair, the second round is on us.
No. The agreement is between you and the contractor you choose; we introduce you, set the bid format and check the paperwork. Get the bid into a written contract that matches it line for line, pay the deposit only after signing, and on bigger jobs remember the Builders' Lien Act lets you hold back 10% for 60 days after completion. Project protection ($499 + HST) walks you through that if you'd like company.
There isn't one yet, honestly: founding members pay nothing, and that's because the bid flow has to be real before anyone should pay for it. When the success fee starts you'll get 30 days' notice and it's 3% of a win, capped at $300 — about what a pay-per-lead site charges for a lead that goes to five people. If you'd rather not pay even that, bid the founding period and decide then.
Who we are. Level Bids is a service of LevelQuote, operated by Constructive Solutions Contracting (Matthew Mahar), Halifax, Nova Scotia. We introduce homeowners to independent contractors and set the format bids are made in. We don't do the work and we're not a party to any contract between you.
Contractors are independent businesses. Not our employees, agents or partners. A bid is the contractor's own offer, good for 30 days, and any contract you sign is between you and them.
Verification is a point-in-time document check. We look at insurance, WCB, certificates, HST registration and references on the date shown, and recheck yearly. It's an experienced tradesman's review of paperwork, not a guarantee of quality, safety or continued coverage. Do your own due diligence too.
Our responsibility is capped at what you paid us. We're liable only for the fees you've actually paid LevelQuote for the job in question. Disputes about the work are between homeowner and contractor; we'll help with paperwork and a straight opinion where we can.
Privacy. Homeowner contact details are shared only with the contractor you choose or ask for a visit. Contractor documents are seen only by Matthew. Full details on the privacy page. Nova Scotia law applies.
Fees. Homeowners: posting is free; Bid checks and Project protection are bought on the job page under the same refund terms as any review. Contractors: no fee during the founding period; afterwards a 3% success fee on the bid amount before HST (min $25, max $300) payable within 30 days of being chosen, waived if the job falls through before a contract is signed (tell us within 30 days), with 30 days' notice before the founding period ends. Non-payment ends membership. All prices in Canadian dollars plus 14% HST.
Last updated October 30, 2026.