Case Stories

Mr. P reached out to the New Home Ombuds with complaints about his Warranty Assessment Report and the Warranty Services Representative who conducted the inspection.

Mr. P stated that there were items which the builder had determined to be faulty and which he had agreed to repair.  However, at the inspection, these items were assessed to be not warranted.  Mr. P. believed that this demonstrated incompetence on the part of the Warranty Services Representative.  

The Ombuds Office reviewed the file and determined that the Warranty Services Representative had inspected all items using the existing standards of Tarion’s Construction Performance Guidelines and the Ontario Building Code. The assessment process was found to be fair.  

The Office advised Mr. P that the job of the Warranty Service Representative is to determine whether or not items listed on the statutory form are covered under the warranty, as outlined in the Ontario Home Warranties Plan Act.   The builder may be willing to repair items that are determined to be not warranted as a goodwill gesture to customers.  This happens frequently and is separate from Tarion’s assessment of warrantability.  The fact that the builder is willing to repair a non-warranted item does not mean that the Warranty Services Representative has made an error or displayed poor judgement.