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Pilotiko for finish carpenters and millwork installers
Finish carpentry comes after the drywaller and before the painter. Show up early and you lose a day; show up late and the whole site waits on you.
Pilotiko helps a Quebec finish carpentry company slot its visits at the right point on each job site, split doors, trim, stairs and closets among carpenters by skill and workload, and draft change-order quotes for extras that a person gets approved before the work starts.
In short
- Each job breaks into short visits (doors, casings, baseboards, stairs) scheduled after the steps they depend on.
- An extra found on site becomes a draft change-order quote, approved before any work.
- Trim, casings, stairs, railings and guards fall under RBQ subclass 6.2.
- Assignment respects skills: a staircase doesn't go to the apprentice unless a manager decides otherwise.
Why is a finish carpenter's schedule so fragile?
Because of where finish work sits in the sequence. It can't start until walls are closed, joints taped and primer on, and the final coat of paint waits for it to finish.
On new builds and renovations alike, finish carpentry lands when everyone is in a hurry. The drywaller needed an extra day, the floor isn't dry, the general contractor wants to hand over Friday. A shop with three or four carpenters ends up juggling a dozen open sites, each with a "ready for trim" date that keeps moving.
The work itself comes in pieces: hang interior doors, case doors and windows, run baseboard and shoe moulding, build a stair or railing, put up closet shelving. Some pieces need a seasoned carpenter, others can go to an apprentice. Without the big picture, you send the wrong person or make two trips.
The pace follows the year. New-home handovers and spring renovations fill May and June, fall brings the projects people want finished before winter, and January often goes to quoting and postponed interior work.
| Carpentry visit | Must be finished first | Who to send |
|---|---|---|
| Interior doors and casings | Drywall up, joints taped, primer on | Experienced carpenter |
| Baseboard and shoe moulding | Floor installed and, for hardwood, finished | Carpenter or supervised apprentice |
| Stairs, handrail, balusters | Stair structure, tread finish chosen | Stair specialist |
| Closet shelving and storage | Closet walls painted | Apprentice or carpenter |
| Touch-ups before handover | Final paint | Whoever did the install |
What licence and trade rules apply to finish carpentry in Quebec?
For the company, RBQ subclass 6.2; on construction sites covered by Quebec's construction labour law, the work belongs to the carpenter-joiner trade overseen by the CCQ.
The RBQ lists subclass 6.2, Contractor – Wood and plastic work, among specialized contractor subclasses, separate from 6.1, wood structures [1]. Its French detail sheet describes 6.2 as non-structural wood or plastic work such as finish carpentry, and names parquet flooring, shelving, cabinets and counters, mouldings and casings, anchors for blinds and heavy drapes, and stairs, railings and guards [2]. The same sheet lists work that needs no licence, such as installing decorative shelves, small mirrors and bathroom accessories, or repairing screens [2].
On the labour side, the CCQ's occupational analysis report quotes the regulatory definition of the carpenter-joiner (charpentier-menuisier) trade, which includes doors, door frames and sills, cabinets, counters and shelving, and parquet floors including sanding and finishing [3].
| Work | Subclass or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mouldings, casings, baseboards | 6.2 | RBQ [2] |
| Stairs, railings, guards | 6.2 | RBQ [2] |
| Cabinets and counters built on site | 6.2 | RBQ [2] |
| Decorative shelves, small mirrors, towel bars | No licence required | RBQ [2] |
| Wood structures (framing) | 6.1 | RBQ [1] |
How do you avoid arguments over extras?
The Office de la protection du consommateur is clear: a contractor must provide services according to the agreement, and generally can't bill more than the agreed amount. If work is done without the client's permission, the client can dispute the charge, pay under protest and send a formal notice [4].
In finish carpentry, extras show up on site: a wider casing than planned, an out-of-square wall that needs shimming, a client who adds a shelf while you're there. One rule settles most of it: nothing gets done without written agreement. In Pilotiko, the carpenter notes the extra on the task, the quotes agent drafts it from your prices, someone in the office gets it accepted, and only then is the work scheduled.
How does Pilotiko organize a finish carpentry company?
The Home services template sets up Dispatch, Quotes, Workshop (for stairs or storage built ahead), Warehouse for mouldings and hardware, Vans and fleet, Accounting and Management. A site that turns "ready for trim" shows in Dispatch; an extra awaiting approval stays visible in Quotes.
Assignment ranks your carpenters by required skill, free hours and workload after the task. If a staircase needs the "stairs" skill and the apprentice doesn't have it, the suggestion is refused; a manager can override it, and that decision stays on record. Resources like the sliding mitre saw or the trailer are booked with the visit.
When the general contractor moves the date, you move the visit to a genuinely free slot and everyone's workload is recalculated. Internal reports then show bookings and each carpenter's load, week by week.
How many hours does it take to trim out a new bungalow?
What objections do clients and general contractors raise?
- "You were supposed to come Monday." Show the dependency: the visit was booked after taping. If taping slipped, so did the visit, and the new date is in the calendar.
- "That wasn't in the price." The original quote stands; anything added goes through an accepted change-order quote before the work [4].
- "Can you do the baseboards before the floor?" Yes, but the final fit becomes an extra: say so up front.
What doesn't Pilotiko do yet?
Where to start?
Create your visit types (doors, casings, baseboards, stairs, storage) with their length and required skill, then add your carpenters. Open sites then go into scheduling, and each visit keeps its work order.
Related pages: cabinetmaking for shop-built cabinets, painting, which comes right after you, and renovation. For background, see the glossary on dispatch and human approval. Plans are on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an RBQ licence to install trim and interior doors in Quebec?
Mouldings, casings, stairs, railings and guards fall under RBQ subclass 6.2, wood and plastic work. Some small jobs, like putting up decorative shelves or towel bars, don't require a licence.
What's the difference between a finish carpenter and a cabinetmaker?
A finish carpenter works mostly on site: doors, trim, stairs and storage. A cabinetmaker builds furniture and cabinets in a shop and then installs them. The two often meet on a kitchen or a staircase.
Can I bill an extra the client didn't approve?
The Office de la protection du consommateur says contractors must stick to the agreement and clients can dispute charges for work done without their permission. Get a change-order quote accepted before doing the work.
Can Pilotiko track a site's "ready for trim" date?
Yes, as a condition on the visit: you update it when the general contractor confirms progress, then move the visit to an open slot. Pilotiko doesn't read another contractor's schedule automatically.
How do I keep an apprentice off a staircase job?
Put the required skill on the stair service. Assignment then refuses anyone without it, unless a manager deliberately overrides the rule.
Sources
- Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Specialized contractor's licence subclasses (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Sous-catégorie 6.2 – Entrepreneur en travaux de bois et plastique (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- Commission de la construction du Québec, Rapport d'analyse de profession : charpentier-menuisier (mars 2011) (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- Office de la protection du consommateur, Invoices with unexpected charges: home renovations (accessed on October 15, 2026).
Read next
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Bookings, dispatch, follow-up, reminders, Law 25 and CASL: what a Quebec service business can automate, what should stay human, and where to start.
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