What you need to know
As the provider of the warranty, you (the vendor/builder) are responsible for resolving warranty issues directly with condominium corporations and/or their designates. The condominium corporation is the owner of the common elements of a condominium project and is responsible for making common element warranty claims to you. They 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 condo corporation submits a claim to Tarion for a common elements issue, you must follow the steps on this page. To review this process in full detail, please refer to Registrar Bulletin 2.
Vacant land condominiums and common element condominiums are not entitled to statutory warranty coverage.
Please Note: If you are experiencing difficulties in resolving issues with the condo corporation, 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.
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Step One: Claim is submitted
Condo corporations may submit either a standard warranty form, or a Performance Audit (which will be treated as a warranty form) to you. Tarion strongly encourages condo corporations to submit their claims using the standard warranty forms available in MyHome, Doing so will allow you to access and view submissions through BuilderLink.
Standard Warranty Forms for Common Elements:
First-Year Common Elements Form:
Anytime during the first year after the date of registration.
Second-Year Common Elements Form:
Anytime after the first anniversary of the date of registration and up to the second anniversary.
Seven-Year Major Structural Defect Common Elements Form:
Anytime after the second anniversary of the date of registration and up to the seventh anniversary.
Performance Audit Tracking Summary
Condominium corporations must submit a Performance Audit Tracking Summary along with each warranty form they submit to Tarion. The Performance Audit Tracking Summary is a tool designed to track the progress of the items that the condominium corporation has submitted to Tarion as part of its warranty claim.
Both you and the condominium corporation are required to provide periodic updates (usually every 90 days) as to the status of each of the items listed in the Performance Audit Tracking Summary. You can access the Performance Audit Tracking Summary online through BuilderLink. -
Step Two: Review the 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 condo corporation for clarification on the issue(s) and/or make an appointment to inspect the issue(s);
Ask the condo corporation for details about the defects.
Use the Ontario Building Code and Tarion’s Construction Performance Guidelines as primary resources when determining if the 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 condo corporation your intent to resolve or not resolve the items;
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 condo corporation;
Update the Performance Audit Tracking Summary on an ongoing basis (every 90 days) to advise which items have been resolved, which items will be resolved, and which items will not be resolved.
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Step Three: Timeframe to make repairs
For items listed on a First Year Common Elements Form, you have an initial repair period of up to 18 months from the first anniversary of the Registration Date of the Condominium Project to repair or otherwise resolve all warranted items.
For items listed on a Second Year Common Elements Form, you have an initial builder repair period of 6 months from the second anniversary of the Registration Date of the Condominium Project to repair or otherwise resolve all warranted items.
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.
Note: Some common elements and situations demand longer or shorter timeframes, such as exterior work and emergency situations. See Registrar Bulletin 2 for full details about exceptions to the regular warranty repair process. -
Step Four: Resolving the warranty claim
To resolve a claim, you must complete one of two options:
1. Repair (or offer to repair in the case of a condo corporation not accepting the repair) each item in a manner which satisfies the warranty obligation; or,
2. Provide cash compensation (or offer to provide cash compensation in the case of a condo corporation not accepting the offer) which satisfies the warranty obligation.
Tarion is available on an informal basis to provide information to the builder and to the condo corporation at any time.
If, in Tarion’s opinion, you or the condo corporation are not acting reasonably to resolve warranty claims, Tarion will hold a mandatory meeting with both parties which may result in a conciliation inspection. -
Step Five: If a claim is unresolved
If you do not repair or resolve all warranted items listed on either a First Year or Second Year Common Elements Claim Form during the initial builder repair period, the condominium corporation may contact Tarion and request a conciliation. Conciliation is a process where Tarion assesses the items on a condo corporation’s warranty form and decides whether they are covered under the warranty. For more information on this process visit our page on conciliation.
Both you and the condominium corporation must pay a fee for the conciliation. The conciliation fee for builders is $3,000.
You will be given a further 90 days after the date the condominium corporation requests the conciliation to repair or resolve all of the claim items that are covered by a warranty.