Lakeshore Advance, 2013-05-15, Page 15Wednesday, May 15, 2013 • Lakeshore Advance 15
eware of illegally built h
Howard Bogach
Illegal building can lead to substandard
homes and potential liability issues for
home buyers.
One of my recent columns discussed how
your lawyer and real estate agent can help
4 xotect you against buying an illegally built
me. I often receive questions from peo-
wondering what exactly illegal building
is and what it means to the average home
buyer, so I'd like to take this opportunity to
tell you what every new hotne buyer needs
to know about illegal building.
Let's get the legal definitions out of the
way first. There are two types of illegal
building according to the Ontario home
Warranties Plan Act. The first is when a
builder who is not licensed by Tarion builds
or sells a new home. 'Ihe second is when a
builder sells a new home without having
enrolled it with Tarion. Even licensed build-
ers can be charged with this type of illegal
building if they don't enroll a home in Tari-
on's warranty program.
Now that you know what illegal building
is, you tnight be wondering how it could
impact you as a home buyer. 'the process by
which builders in Ontario become licensed
is a rigorous one.
Before being licensed by Tarion, all pro-
spective home builders are required to
attend a builder orientation session, suc-
cessfully complete a technical evaluation
based on the Ontario Building Code and
undergo a financial viability and business
competency analysis. We believe that your
home - likely the largest financial transac-
tion you will ever make - should be built by
someone who has the necessary skills and
business competencies.
When something does go wrong, Tarion
is here to help. Often, buyers of illegally
built homes are left living in substandard
conditions, without assistance from the
builder or knowledge of the warranty pro-
tection they are entitled to. By not being
made aware of the warranty they are enti-
tled to, buyers of illegally built homes may
end up missing out on warranty coverage
because they file their claims too late.
Tarion investigators often find many
components haven't been built to meet the
requirement of the Ontario Building Code.
In one of 'futon's most recent convictions
for illegal building, the home was built with
an undersized and improperly installed
1 IVAC system. The system wasn't capable of
adequately heating the home and the water
which it used to distribute the heat was
plumbed through the same lines as the
drinking water - raising health and safety
concerns. 'Tarion was able to work with the
homeowners to provide the warranty cover-
age that should have been in place on the
home and make the home safe and livable.
You might want to consider that if a
builder has failed to become licensed to
build and sell new home's or hasn't enrolled
a new home, they may be less likely to fol-
low other laws and statutes like Ontario's
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and
the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Ontario's custom-built home market is
very strong and that means Tarion's
enforcement group deals with custom
homes more often than any other type' of
illegally built home. Illegal builders who
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mes
skirt the law may be more tempted to skirt
Workplace Safety Insurance Board require-
ments, which could leave homeowners open
to potential liability in civil proceedings.
Liability under the Occupational Health
and Safety Act (OIISA) can also be a con-
cern. Builders who aren't active in oversee-
ing the day-to-day construction of a house
can leave home buyers pulling double duty
to ensure that work is completed. A Rich-
mond 11111 area homeowner was fined
$20,000 by the Ministry of Labour for a
health and safety violation that led to the
death of a carpenter working on his home.
The 01ISA requires one person to be des-
ignated as the constructor - the party with
the greatest degree of control over the con-
struction project. In this case the judge
found that the homeowner was overseeing
the construction and became the construc-
tor. glome buyers should always ensure that
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their builder is licensed, responsible for
overseeing work on-site and ensuring safety
requirements are being met.
So what can you do about illegal building?
Before entering into any type of purchase
agreement, visit Tarion's Licensed Builder
Directory at www.tarion.com and ensure
that your builder is licensed to build in
Ontario. Don't be swayed by builders who
claim that they have a special exemption or
that you don't need a Tarion warranty
because they offer their own. Being licensed
and providing a Tarion Warranty isn't
optional - it's the law!
If you have any doubts about whether
your builder is licensed, contact Tarion's
enforcement team at 1-800-786-6497 or send
an email to enforcement@tarion.com.
Howard Bogach is president and CEO of
'Tarion Warranty Corp.
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