Tarion Warranty Program

Congratulations on choosing to purchase a new home! This is an exciting time full of wonderful possibilities. When you become a new homeowner, it's important to know what you're covered for during each stage of ownership. This is where your Tarion Warranty comes into play, protecting you and your new asset.

Tarion has provided new home warranty protection in Ontario for more than 40 years. They are a non-profit organization that oversees the Ontario New Home Warranty Plan. They also assist new homebuyers and builders in obtaining coverage. This organization exists to enforce the strict requirements of construction and development in Ontario by a variety of builders.

Being familiar with Tarion's coverage and how to submit a claim makes your time as a homeowner easier and less stressful. After all, knowledge is power.

During your first year of homeownership, your warranty covers things like defects throughout your home. Here is what Tarion's protection includes in the first year of your contract:

One Year Warranty

• Requires a home is constructed in a workman-like manner and free from defects in material;
• Protects against unauthorized substitutions
• Requires the home to be fit for habitation;
• Protects against Ontario Building Code violations; and
• Applies for one year, beginning on the home's date of possession, even if the home is sold.
  
  Once you've entered your second year in your new home, Tarion continues to be there for you. Items like certain forms of water damage through windows and doors or your basement, electrical defects, Ontario Building Code health and safety violations, and more are included. Here are Tarion's specifics for year two of your coverage:
  
  

Two Year Warranty

• Protects against water penetration through the basement or foundation walls;
• Protects against defects in materials that affect windows, doors and caulking and defects in work that results in water penetration into the building envelope;
• Covers defects in work or materials in the electrical, plumbing and heating delivery and distribution systems;
• Covers defects in work or materials that result in the detachment, displacement or deterioration of exterior cladding (such as brickwork, aluminum or vinyl siding);
• Protects against violations of the Ontario Building Code that affect health and safety; and
• Applies for two years, beginning on the home's date of possession.
  < Reaching seven years in your new place to live is an incredible milestone. Your new house or condo will likely start to really feel like home, and you'll be more used to your surroundings and neighbourhood. You might have even made some new friends along the way.
  

Even though you have been in your home for a while now, your warranty is still protecting you from things like major structural defects (MSD). Here are the details from Tarion:

Seven Year Warranty
The Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act explains that MSD are "any defect in work or materials in respect of a building, including a crack, distortion or displacement of a structural load-bearing element of the building if it,
(i) Results in failure of a structural load-bearing element of the building,
(ii) Materially and adversely affects the ability of a structural load-bearing element of the building to carry, bear and resist applicable structural loads for the usual and ordinary service life of the element, or
(iii) Materially and adversely affects the use of a significant portion of the building for usual and ordinary purposes of a residential dwelling and having regard to any specific use provisions set out in the purchase agreement for the home

Tarion also outlines, "the seven-year MSD warranty includes significant damage due to soil movement,* major cracks in basement walls, collapse or serious distortion of joints or roof structure and chemical failure of materials."

They also note that "in addition to the general exclusions, the seven-year MSD warranty specifically excludes: dampness not arising from failure of a load-bearing portion of the building; damage to drains or services; and damage to finishes. (*Soil movement means subsidence, expansion or lateral movement of the soil not caused by flood, earthquake, "acts of God" or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the builder.)"

If you're looking for more information about the Tarion Warranty Program, we invite you to visit their website where you'll find the specifics listed above as well as tips for downloading their convenient mobile app.

We look forward to working with you toward your goal of purchasing a new home, and we're here to answer any questions that you may have about our developments or the Tarion Warranty process. Visit our Contact page for instructions on how to reach us.