Most will agree that buying a new home is a learning experience. From visiting model homes and presentation centres to getting the keys and beyond, there’s a lot of information to take in.
And then there’s the new home warranty. Between the different types of coverage, the process for making claims, and the respective roles and responsibilities of you and your builder, it’s easy to get things a little mixed up.
Since it’s part of our job at Tarion to educate new home buyers and owners about their warranty coverage, we want to take this opportunity to correct a few common misunderstandings.
Misconception #1: Tarion provides the warranty
Who is the first point of contact when you discover an issue and you want it addressed under your new home warranty? For many homeowners the answer is Tarion, and it happens to be incorrect.
In fact, the new home warranty is a builder’s warranty. And since it is provided to you by your builder, they should be the first place you go to for warranty matters. Use the contact information they provided to you for after-sales service so that they can make arrangements to investigate the situation and, if covered under the warranty, resolve it.
Tarion’s role is to backstop your builder’s warranty, which means that you can ask for our help when your builder is unable or unwilling to resolve your warranty request.
You can learn more about the respective roles of you, your builder, and Tarion under the warranty by checking out the Roles & Responsibilities page on our website.
Misconception #2: The PDI Form is a valid warranty request
Before you move into your new home, you attend the pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and identify some items that require further attention. Your builder’s representative dutifully notes them down on the PDI Form and tells you they will get around to doing them. However, weeks go by and there’s no progress whatsoever. You contact Tarion for help, assuming that because the issues are noted on your PDI Form, that’s enough to get us involved.
The reality is that your PDI Form is not enough to get Tarion involved. While it is an important record of the condition of your new home at the time of possession or occupancy (which may be consulted if necessary), it is not a valid request for warranty service. Therefore, if you have items listed on your PDI Form that you want to report to Tarion, you’ll need to submit them on a statutory warranty form.
For more information about the process for making a warranty claim to Tarion, visit our website.
Misconception #3: You always need to act on Tarion reminders
If you’re registered for MyHome (Tarion’s online tool for helping homeowners manage their warranty), you’ll notice that you get e-mail reminders for important warranty dates, such as deadlines for submitting warranty forms or requesting Tarion’s assistance in the form of conciliation.
We created these reminders to keep you informed at every stage, and because the last thing we want is for you to miss out on warranty protections. However, some homeowners mistakenly think that they must act on them to maintain their warranty coverage, even if they don’t have anything new to report or don’t require Tarion’s assistance on items previously submitted to us.
Your warranty coverage is not affected if you do not act on a MyHome reminder because you don’t need Tarion’s help. Just keep calm and carry on enjoying your new home.
We hope that this helps to clear some things up and make your new home ownership experience a smoother one. If you have any other warranty questions, feel free to contact us.