What you need to know
As the provider of the warranty, you (the vendor/builder) are responsible for resolving warranty issues directly with homeowners. Homeowners should bring any warranty issues and/or warranty claims to your attention in writing as soon as possible within the warranty coverage period. If a homeowner submits a claim to Tarion for a condo unit, freehold or contract home, you must follow the steps on this page. To review this process in full detail, please refer to Registrar Bulletin 1.
Please Note: If you are experiencing difficulties in resolving issues with the homeowner, you can request Early Intervention from Tarion. You can do this at anytime before or during the regular claims process below. For more information visit our page on Early Intervention.
-
Step One: A claim is submitted
We strongly encourage homeowners to submit their claims using the standard warranty forms available in MyHome, Tarion’s online service for homeowners. Doing so will allow you to access and view submissions through BuilderLink. For a list of standard warranty forms and when they can be submitted by homeowners visit our warranty forms page.
-
Step Two: Reviewing a claim
Your responsibilities after receiving a warranty claim include reviewing the claim and creating a work plan to deal with the items listed on the warranty claim, see below for a list of your responsibilities at this time:
If needed, contact the homeowner for clarification on the issue(s) and/or make an appointment to inspect the issue(s)
Ask the homeowner for details about the defects. For example, if a claim form refers to squeaks 'throughout' flooring, the builder should ask exactly where the squeaks are.
Use the Ontario Building Code and Tarion's Construction Performance Guidelines as primary resources when determining if defects in question are covered under the warranty.
If an item points to a deeper issue, investigate its cause (using specialized trades or consultants if necessary) and the appropriate solution.
Communicate to the homeowner your intent to resolve or not resolve the item(s)
If the item is not considered to be covered by the warranty, provide an explanation to the owner and be prepared to provide supporting information.
Respond to questions from the homeowner
-
Step Three: Timeframe for making repairs
When a homeowner submits a warranty form to Tarion, it triggers a 120-day initial builder repair period during which you are expected to repaire or otherwise resolve issues that are covered by the warranty.
If the issues are covered by the warranty and you are making the repairs, you must schedule them during business hours at a time that is mutually convenient and agreed upon in advance and resolve them before the repair deadline.
Certain areas of the home and situations demand longer or shorter timeframes, such as exterior work, emergency situations, and Major Structural Defect claims. See Registrar Bulletin 1 for more information about exceptions to the regular warranty repair process. -
Step Four: Resolving the claim
To resolve a claim, you must complete one of two options:
1. Repair (or offer to repair in the case of a homeowner not accepting the repair) each item in a manner that satisfies the warranty obligation
2. Provide cash compensation (or offer to provide cash compensation in the case of a homeowner not accepting the offer) which satisfies the warranty obligation.
If you encounter difficulties in your efforts to resolve items or you have a disagreement with the homeowner over warranty coverage, Tarion may be able to provide some assistance through an Investigative Inspection. For more information on this process and how Tarion supports builders, please visit our builder support page. -
Step Five: Unresolved warranty claims
On May 1, 2024, Tarion introduced changes to the claims process. If the warranty start date is on or after May 1, 2024, homeowners may request a conciliation from Tarion any time after a form has been submitted, up until the next form submission date.
If the warranty start date is before May 1, 2024, homeowners can only request a conciliation from Tarion within 40 days after the end of the initial builder repair period.
Conciliation is a process where Tarion assesses the items on a homeowner's warranty form and decides whether they are covered under the warranty. For more information on this process visit our page on conciliation.