Tarion

[Ezra and Dennison]

Hi everyone,

I need to report our builder to Tarion since some of our 30-day items have not been fixed and I am more concern about one outstanding structural issue.

I told the builder that I going to Tarion and their respond was no big deal.

Once I report the builder to Tarion on Friday, how soon will Tarion acts on my situation? Do they take a long time to set a review appointment? After what point can I fixed the problem for myself and billed the builder?

Can someone share their experience? Is Tarion very effective in getting things done?


Dennison

[john and Mo]

Tarion will immediately send a letter to the builder, giving the builder thirty days from that point to fix the outstanding items from your 30 day. During this time, the builder has to be given access to fix what you want fixed.

Once this 30 day period is up, I believe you can then schedule a conciliation with Tarion (so--120 days for builder to work on your 30 day list, plus 30 additional days from filing date with Tarion, then the conciliation appointment can be booked--potentially as long as 210 days after your 30 day), and if warrantable items are found, they will issue instructions to make repairs, and determine a timeframe for these repairs. If there are no warrantable items, then you pay the fee--I think it's $100.

Tarion posts information on the criteria used to determine whether things are up to standards or not, their Construction Performance Guidelines. The pdf file is somewhere on their site, and is informative (but not all encompassing) if you can effectively interpret it.

Make sure to consult with an engineer/qualified inspector, your opinion may or may not carry any weight when determining if there is or is not a structural problem.

[BiggieG]

I can't really help but our 30 day deadline is coming up as well. Some of our items are being "processed" but they are not complete and I don't have a timeline for when they will be.

Question - do you think reporting these items to Tarion will impact the level of service we will recieve in the future?

Their actual response was "no big deal"?

[GreyingJay]

The fee for a conciliation request is $50, refundable if at least one item on your list actually is warrantable and outstanding (as determined by Tarion).

The 30-day list is not that critical, since you can still report it on your 1-year list. Still, you surely want action ASAP and the builder ought to be taking care of you. Another test of a builder's commitment to customer service is to report an issue somewhere between the 30-day and 1-year point, and see if the builder says "we'll send someone right away to fix that" or "just wait and put it on your 1-year-list".

WARNING: Be VERY careful about counting the days to report to Tarion. I missed the deadline by ONE DAY and Tarion's response was basically "sorry, we can't do anything". (Apparently I forgot that 120 days isn't exactly four months because some months have 31 days. Mea culpa. ) I still called my builder to fix the outstanding issues even though technically they no longer had any obligation to, but they still took care of it all. Whew.

[Goldenbrook]

can you give us an idea of what was on your 30 day list? This is the first I have read on the site about this builder (not fixing things I mean) and would be interested in knowing so I can keep an eye out myself when I walk through/move in.
Thanks

[BiggieG]

Our list includes:

-Movement of floor joist connections that is resulting in several hardwood issues
-OTR microwave cupboard. After 5 months they've finally installed it but the doors are too short
-Missing/dammaged roof shingles

Not to get Greg in trouble but honestly its been a nightmare. Not the issues themselves but rather the process of trying to get them resolved. Not what I expected from our builder.

[Ezra and Dennison]

Originally Posted by BiggieG

Our list includes:

-Movement of floor joist connections that is resulting in several hardwood issues
-OTR microwave cupboard. After 5 months they've finally installed it but the doors are too short
-Missing/dammaged roof shingles

Not to get Greg in trouble but honestly its been a nightmare. Not the issues themselves but rather the process of trying to get them resolved. Not what I expected from our builder.

I also brought from Minto and having the same problem.

Issue:
- Large gaps between the brick wall and the vinyl siding – two to three inches wide in some areas. I can fit part of my hand in the space in some areas. The space run from the roof to the ground along the area where the brick and vinyl siding meet. This is my main issue since bugs, ants and insects can live in the spaces for winter etc.
- Sneaky floor in the walk-in closet, in fact part of the floor partially move when you walk on it. They cut the floor to fix the first problem but the repair work was not done properly.
- They did not tape the vents in the basement although it is an energy star home I brought.

But as I said my main concern/ issue is the first one.


Dennison

[BiggieG]

Oh Yea! We have some masonry touch ups too that were not complete!

[Ezra and Dennison]

Ok….I just reported Minto to Tarion. The process is basically, Tarion will send an inspector out during the month of January. Right now they are booking for January. Minto will also received notice of the inspection. If Minto fixed the issues before the inspection date, I just have to call and cancel the appointment.

If the issues are not fixed, the inspector will review the issues on the appointment date to confirm that the items are covered under the warranty. Once one item qualified, Tarion will give Minto 30 days from the inspection date to fix the problem.

If Minto fails to fix the problem in this 30-day period, Tarion will billed Minto and pay me off. Tarion will pay me the cost of fixing the issues myself.

There is a $50 charge for the appointment but it is refundable if atleast one item is covered under the warranty. One can pay this on the day of the appointment by cheque or by credit card over the phone when making the compliant.

Also you have to email, faxed or mail your complete purchase agreement (must include agreement for upgrades) to Tarion.

Dennison

[Kimmy]

Most of our outdoor deficiencies have not been even looked at.
Our Inspector (builder) came last week and said: "it wasn't on your 30 day as per Tarion".
Lucky (hopefully) for us, I put a clause on our 30 day.

*All seasonal outdoor deficiencies not done do to seasonal and covered by snow

How are you supposed to report missing shingles, when the roof is covered in six inches of snow?

Anyhow, we were now told that we had to wait until our 1 year.

Our biggest issues is a hole in our house. We hired our own private inspector who found that our cold air return and hot water exhaust pipe were to close together (way to close) and did not meet code. How this passed our builder inspection; we have yet to figure out.

The problem was repaired, seven months after. Now; we are left with a huge hole where the old pipe ran into our basement. It's been three weeks!

We are being told to wait for our 1 year...