CivilConstruction.ca
Project brief
A crane barge driving steel pipe piles for a wharf on a foggy coast with forested islands

Province · NS

Civil construction in Nova Scotia

The rules, notice periods, payment law and portals that apply to civil work in Nova Scotia, each linked to the regulation or agency that sets it.

Checked 2026-09-246 sources

STA 0+120Excavation and trench rules

Nova Scotia’s occupational health and safety rules set when an excavation must be sloped, shored or boxed, and when an engineer must design the protection.

  • Where a person may enter and a wall is greater than 1.2 m high, the wall must be supported by adequate shoring or bracing or a trench cage, unless cut in sound and stable rock, sloped to within 1.2 m of the bottom at not more than 1 m rise per 1 m run, or entry is kept back from the walls (s. 166(1))1
  • An engineer shall certify the design of any trench cage, including the depth at which it may be used (s. 170); steeper slopes allowed only with engineer's written certification (s. 166(5)); ladder within 15 m for excavations 1.2 m or more deep (s. 167)1

Not safety advice

Summaries of the regulation for planning. Read the current text and follow your employer’s procedures. Compare every province in trench safety and shoring.

STA 0+240Locates before you dig

  • Info-Excavation provides free locate requests for Quebec and the Atlantic provinces; expect a 3 business day delay before starting work (emergency as short as an hour); 1-800-663-92282

The paint colours are the same across Canada: white for the proposed excavation, pink for survey, then red, yellow, orange, blue, green and purple for the buried services. See call before you dig.

STA 0+360Holdbacks and prompt payment

  • Person primarily liable must deduct and retain ten per cent of the value of work, services and materials for sixty days after the contract is substantially performed (s. 13(2)); separate 10% holdback for work remaining after that 60-day point (s. 13(3)); substantial performance where remaining work costs not more than 2.5% of contract price (s. 13(1))3
  • Prompt payment and adjudication amendments (Bill 119, 2019 and Bill 211, 2022) have been legislated but the government states it is still developing supporting regulations; no prompt payment timelines are in the current consolidated Act4

Legal information, not legal advice

Construction lien and prompt payment rules have transition provisions and exceptions. Read the Act and get advice on a specific contract. See holdbacks and prompt payment.

STA 0+480Tenders, associations and specifications

Sources

  1. Occupational Safety General Regulations (N.S.), Part 14 Excavations and Trenches (ss. 166-173)Government of Nova Scotia · retrieved 2026-09-24
  2. FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions | Info-exInfo-Excavation · retrieved 2026-09-24
  3. Builders' Lien Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 277 (Legislative Counsel electronic version, amended to 2014, c. 42)Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia · consolidation amended to 2014 (unofficial electronic version)
  4. Prompt payment and dispute resolution for the construction industry: engagementGovernment of Nova Scotia · engagement page (survey closed 2023-04-10); status as consolidated 2026-09-24
  5. Other tendering websitesPublic Services and Procurement Canada · page modified 2025-10-29
  6. Nova Scotia Road Builders Association (NSRBA) websiteNova Scotia Road Builders Association (NSRBA) · URL checked 2026-09-24