Plain-language terms consolidating everything else on the platform into one place.
Prodistrict is a matching and introduction service that connects property and business owners with licensed architects and engineers for permit-related design and engineering work. We are not a contractor, not a party to any professional services agreement formed between an owner and a professional, and not responsible for the scope, quality, timeline, cost, or outcome of the underlying project. We do not provide architectural, engineering, legal, or financial advice.
Where a regulator's public directory can be checked automatically, we do so at signup and flag the result for a human to confirm; where it can't (a bot-protection wall, a CAPTCHA, or no automatable search), a member of our team looks the licence up directly before a professional is marked "Verified." A "Verified" badge means that check has happened — it is not a guarantee of current standing at every moment afterward, and owners are still responsible for using their own judgment, the same as with any licensed trade. This check confirms only that the licence or registration number on the account matches a name on the applicable provincial regulator's public directory. It does not confirm, and we make no representation about, any specialty, project category, or scope of work a professional lists on their profile — that description is self-declared by the professional, and it is their responsibility, not ours, to represent it accurately.
Separately, we also check whether the professional's firm holds its own authorization to offer services to the public — most provinces require this in addition to, not instead of, the individual's own licence (a Certificate of Authorization, Permit to Practice, or Certificate of Practice, depending on province and discipline). The same automated-where-possible, human-reviewed-otherwise approach and the same limits apply: a firm-authorization check confirms only that the firm's stated authorization number or name matches a regulator's public directory, not its current standing at every later moment.
We are not affiliated with, authorized by, sponsored by, or endorsed by any professional regulatory body, and checking a regulator's public directory is not something that regulator has sanctioned or agreed to. We may modify, pause, or permanently discontinue checking any particular regulator's directory at any time and without notice, including in response to a request from that regulator — a "Verified," "pending," or any other verification-related status reflects only the result of the check as it last ran, not an ongoing or continuously renewed guarantee.
Each professional using Prodistrict is solely responsible for determining whether creating an account, responding to a posting, and paying the platform fee described in section 4 complies with the code of ethics, code of conduct, bylaws, and any other governing rules of every professional regulatory body that licenses them, in every jurisdiction where they practise. By creating a professional account, you represent that you have made that determination yourself, or obtained your own advice on it. Prodistrict makes no representation, and gives no assurance, that use of the platform or payment of the platform fee is or will remain compliant with any particular regulator's rules — those rules are set and interpreted solely by that regulator, not by us, and may differ between provinces and change over time. If you are ever in doubt, we recommend confirming directly with your regulator's practice-advisory service before continuing to use the platform.
A fixed platform fee, tiered by project price, is charged to the professional only, due once they are awarded a project. Full detail is on the Pricing page and is incorporated here by reference. In short: the fee is refundable automatically if a deal is cancelled or lapses before confirmation, and becomes final once the owner confirms — regardless of whether the underlying project subsequently proceeds — except through the engagement-refund guarantee described below. This is not a fee for the professional services themselves, which are priced, contracted, and paid for separately and directly between the owner and the professional.
Posting a request or a sealed-bid invite is free — there is no posting deposit. Instead, repeated bad-faith use of the platform (cancelling awarded work, letting refund claims fail review, and similar patterns) is tracked as strikes on the account responsible, and a flagged account is paused from posting, launching, awarding, proposing, or bidding pending review. See section 9.
An owner confirming a match on Prodistrict finalizes the platform's introduction fee only. It is not, and should not be represented as, a binding professional services contract, a promise of payment for project work, or evidence that any project work occurred. Scope, price for the work itself, standard of care, liability, insurance, and payment terms are exclusively a matter between the owner and the professional under their own separate agreement, which we recommend be a current standard-form contract published by the applicable provincial association.
Once the platform fee is paid, there is a 24-hour cooldown during which neither side can cancel or withdraw — only confirming is possible. After that, either side may cancel or withdraw by selecting a reason from a fixed list; the owner should confirm the match within 72 hours of payment, and we send a reminder at the 48-hour mark if they haven't. A further 24-hour grace period follows the 72-hour mark during which confirming still counts as on time. If nobody confirms within 96 hours of payment, the deal automatically lapses: the fee is refunded — unless this is a repeat lapse or cancellation with the same professional at the same address, in which case the fee is retained instead — and a strike is logged against both accounts. On any cancellation, the first one on an account is a warning only; a second cancellation, and every one after, adds a real strike. Full detail is on the Pricing page and is incorporated here by reference.
If a professional believes an owner confirmed a match but no real engagement ever followed, they may request a refund of their platform fee starting 15 days and up to 30 days after confirmation, selecting a reason from a fixed list. Filing a request does not by itself refund or reopen the fee; it places the deal under review. We review each request and decide one of two outcomes: approved, in which case the platform fee is refunded to the professional and the outcome is logged as a strike against both the owner's and the professional's accounts; or denied, in which case no refund is issued and the outcome is logged as a strike against the professional's account for filing a claim that did not hold up on review.
By using Prodistrict, both owners and professionals consent to the following being shown to the other side before they commit to a match: verified track record and rating, and counts of jobs completed and past cancellations. A pattern of cancellations, denied refund claims, or similar bad-faith use may result in an account being flagged and temporarily paused from posting, launching, awarding, proposing, or bidding, pending review. We may reinstate, extend, or terminate this review at our discretion.
Every award carries a 12-month circumvention clause: completing the introduced project directly, on-platform or off, within that period, without paying the applicable platform fee, is a breach of these terms. We may pursue the unpaid fee, damages, and legal costs, and may suspend the account(s) involved. A repeated pattern of cancelling awards with the same professional, or arranging the real work as a side deal after meeting through here, is exactly what these terms and the strike system are meant to catch.
Prodistrict is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any licence verification result, review, rating, strike count, or other information displayed on the platform is accurate, complete, or current at the moment you rely on it.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Prodistrict's liability arising from use of the platform — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), under statute, or otherwise — is limited to the platform fees actually paid in connection with the deal giving rise to the claim. In no event will Prodistrict be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunity, even where advised of the possibility of such damages. We are not liable for any damages arising from the underlying professional engagement, a dispute between an owner and a professional, a professional's own compliance with their regulatory or ethical obligations, reliance on licensing or insurance information, the availability or accuracy of any licence-verification check, or a project's failure to proceed after a match is confirmed.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Prodistrict, its operator, and their respective officers, employees, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, or liability, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of: your use of the platform; your breach of these terms; the underlying professional engagement or any dispute between an owner and a professional; or your violation of any law, regulation, or professional obligation, including the rules of your own regulatory body described in section 3.
These terms may be updated as the platform evolves; continued use after a change constitutes acceptance of the update. Questions about these terms, or a request to review a flagged account, can be sent to support@prodistrict.ca.