You’re sitting in your new living room, binge-watching your favourite show, when you notice a tiny bump in the wall above your television set that definitely wasn’t there before. Concerned, you hit pause on the remote and get up to take a look.
On closer inspection, it appears that the head of nail or screw is pushing its way through the drywall. A quick internet search tells you that what you’ve got is “nail/screw pops,” a common occurrence in newly built homes.
That’s helpful to know, but now you start wondering if it’s something that would be covered by your new home warranty? How do you find that out?
This is where Tarion’s Construction Performance Guidelines and Home Explorer come into play.
What are the Construction Performance Guidelines?
The Construction Performance Guidelines are standards that apply to the most common issues encountered in newly built homes. They were developed by Tarion in collaboration with various groups including employees, industry associations, and the general public. Tarion continues to add new guidelines and revise existing ones on an ongoing basis.
The guidelines are available in two editions: one dedicated to freehold homes and condominium units; and one that applies condominium common elements. Combined, they provide warranty information on close to 400 conditions, from basement floor cracks all the way up to roof leaks.
The Construction Performance Guidelines are at the core of Tarion’s work, as they are used to assess warranty claims from homeowners and condominium corporations.
The guidelines are available on Tarion’s website so that homeowners and builders can access warranty information when they need it.
Home Explorer
Which brings us to Home Explorer. If you’re a visual person – that is, you learn better when you’re able to see things, such as pictures – then you’ll like Tarion’s Home Explorer.
Home Explorer is an illustrated and interactive version of the Construction Performance Guidelines. With 3D images of homes in all their different types – detached, townhome, high-rise condominium – you can “walk through” the various rooms inside a home which resembles your own and locate the condition you’re interested in learning about.
Home Explorer also lets you browse items on the exterior of your home as well as the shared areas (or common elements) of your condominium project.
Clicking on an item (for example, the kitchen countertop) will call up all of the articles related to it from the Construction Performance Guidelines.
Each article is dedicated to a different condition (e.g., “Cracks in countertop surfaces”) and provides the following helpful information:
- The acceptable performance standard
- The applicable warranty coverage
- Actions your builder must take if the standard is not met
- Additional information such as technical explanations and maintenance tips
Yes, it’s as easy as that!
Home Explorer 2.0
We’re excited to be launching a new and improved Home Explorer this month. Our Home Explorer 2.0 features better navigation and search functionality that will help you find the information you’re looking for more easily.
We’ve also updated it to include new and revised Construction Performance Guidelines articles.
And finally, we’ve made it possible for you to share articles with others, such as your builder or a home inspector.
Check out Home Explorer today! And while you’re there, take a second to bookmark it so that it’s readily available for you when you need answers to your warranty questions.