Did you know your new home came with a warranty built in?

Menkes

December 19, 2014

The vast majority of homebuilders in Ontario work hard to deliver high-quality homes with few defects to their purchasers and they often build with pride and dedication. There are times however when business or economic factors heap hardships on builders and they're unable to deliver the homes they want to or are able to. Additionally, strikes, trade issues and weather factors can also make it hard to deliver a defect-free home and this is where your new home warranty protection comes in handy.

Tarion Warranty Corporation is empowered by an Act of the Ontario Legislature to oversee the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, a piece of legislation that sets out a list of guarantees designed to protect homeowners and ensure all Ontario builders meet a minimum standard of professionalism and construction quality.

If your builder fails to meet these standards during the one year, two year or seven year warranty time periods, you can contact Tarion to request a conciliation inspection and have them essentially determine if items in your home need to be addressed by your builder.

The one year warranty covers most of the newly-installed items in your home and ensures that they?re free from defects in materials and workmanship at the time of their installation. If during your PDI, you find a cracked tile in the kitchen, a scratch on your bathtub, drywall that wasn't sanded properly or hardwood that has significant gaps between the boards, these are items usually covered under your one year warranty.

Your two year warranty is more specific and generally deals with defects in plumbing, electrical and heat distribution work as well as defects in exterior cladding and water penetration.

Finally, the seven year warranty protects you against major structural defects such as the failure of a load bearing portion of your home or renders your home unliveable.

You can report your items on Tarion's homeowner portal and get convenient updates that will help manage your warranty deadlines and any scheduled inspections. It's also a great way to educate yourself about the construction performance guidelines which act as a guide to let you know which items are warrantable and which aren?t and browse the Homeowner Information Package that describes the warranty process in detail.

All great builders enjoy working with Tarion to ensure that the home buying experience for purchasers remains a pleasant and positive one. For more information about your new home?s warranty, please visit www.tarion.com.