Terms of Use & Disclaimer
Plain-language version first: this app helps you understand codes and plan work, but it can be wrong. Your inspector, your AHJ, and the official code books always win. Your project — including anything that goes wrong with it — is your responsibility.
1. Agreement to these terms
By using Done By the Book (the "App"), you agree to these Terms of Use and this Disclaimer. If you do not agree, do not use the App.
2. What Done By the Book is — and what it is not
Done By the Book is an educational and informational guidance tool. It summarizes publicly available information and provides AI-generated guidance about Canadian construction codes, permits, and practices.
The App is NOT professional advice. It is not engineering, legal, architectural, electrical, plumbing, or gas-fitting advice, and it is not a substitute for your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), the official published codes, or a licensed professional.
Content in the App — including AI-generated answers, step-by-step plans, material lists, checklists, and photo analysis — may be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. Codes change, local amendments vary, and AI systems make mistakes. Always verify requirements with your AHJ and the official code documents in force in your jurisdiction before starting or relying on any work.
3. Your responsibilities
You are solely responsible for your project and for any work you perform or hire others to perform. This includes obtaining all required permits, booking all required inspections, complying with all applicable codes, bylaws, and laws, and hiring licensed professionals where the law requires it.
Some work legally requires a licensed professional no matter what — for example, gas work must always be performed by a licensed gas fitter. Nothing in the App authorizes you to perform work that your jurisdiction requires a licensed or certified person to perform.
If anything in the App conflicts with your AHJ, an inspector, the official code text, or a licensed professional, they are right and the App is wrong. Follow them.
4. Assumption of risk
Construction, renovation, electrical, plumbing, and gas work are inherently dangerous activities that can result in property damage, serious injury, or death when done incorrectly. By using the App, you acknowledge these risks and agree that you assume all risk arising from your project and from any use of, or reliance on, the App's content.
5. No warranty
The App is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties or conditions of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the App's content is current, correct, or applicable to your specific project or jurisdiction.
6. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Done By the Book and its creators, contributors, and operators will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising from or related to your use of the App or reliance on its content — including property damage, personal injury, death, fines, failed inspections, permit refusals, lost profits, or delay — even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
To the extent a court finds liability despite the above, total aggregate liability is limited to the greater of the amount you paid to use the App in the twelve months before the claim, or fifty Canadian dollars ($50 CAD).
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations; in those jurisdictions, the above applies to the fullest extent permitted.
7. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Done By the Book and its creators, contributors, and operators from claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the App, your project, your violation of these terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.
8. No affiliation
Done By the Book is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by CSA Group, the National Research Council of Canada, codes and standards bodies, or any federal, provincial, territorial, or municipal government or safety authority. Code names and standards references belong to their respective owners. The App paraphrases requirements with citations and does not reproduce licensed code text.
9. Privacy
The App stores your projects on your own device. Questions, inspection notes, and project details you submit are collected to operate and improve the service, as described in the privacy section of our welcome page. Photos, drawings, and PDF plans you scan are uploaded and processed by our third-party AI provider to generate your results. Do not include personal information — in text or in uploaded files — that you don't want collected or processed.
10. Changes
We may update the App and these terms at any time. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated terms. The "Last updated" date below reflects the current version.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada applicable there, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
12. Contact
Questions or concerns? Use the feedback option inside the App.
Last updated: July 9, 2026