A New Look: HCRA & Tarion

Outlining the new licensing, conduct and warranty regulation in Ontario

On February 1, the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) became the regulatory authority under the New Home Construction Licensing Act (NHCLA), responsible for licensing home builders and vendors in Ontario. At this point, all builder vendor licences that required renewal between November 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 have been extended, and a notice of extension would have been provided to you confirming your ongoing status.

As part of the licensing mandate, HCRA is now responsible for competency, complaints and conduct. HCRA’s duties will also include managing the Ontario Builder Directory.

As part of its duties to review consumer complaints regarding builder conduct, the HCRA has published “A Guide to Good Conduct for Home Builders and Vendors.” The guide will help licensees understand the HCRA’s approach to assessing the good conduct expected of all new-home builders and vendors. The following are general expectations of good conduct: • Comply with the NHCLA and its regulations. This includes an obligation to comply with the Ontario Building Code and the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act.

• Treat people fairly, honestly and with integrity.

• Honour your new-home warranty obligations.

• Not engage in or be a party to misrepresentation or false or misleading advertising.

• Not engage in behaviour that is harassing, bullying or discriminatory.

• Provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. • Maintain required privacy and confidentiality of personal information and not disclose personal information without consent or as required by law.

• Do not participate in or facilitate the building or selling of new homes in Ontario by someone who was required to be licensed as a builder or vendor, or who was required to obtain confirmation of enrollment by Tarion, but failed to do so.

• Avoid conduct that would reasonably be regarded as being disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional, unbecoming a licensee or likely to bring the new-home construction and sales sector profession into disrepute.

Please visit HCRAONTARIO.CA for more information.

TARION WARRANTY CORPORATION

Tarion, meanwhile, will continue to be the warranty authority, with the responsibility to approve, underwrite and enroll new homes and to protect the rights of new-home buyers according to the terms of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. Tarion is also responsible for managing the Guarantee Fund that exists to ensure that there are funds available to backstop any warranty claims for the length of each home’s coverage.

All pre-February 1, 2021 agreements and projects continue to be enrolled and valid, but all new projects require the builder/vendor with a valid HCRA licence to apply to Tarion for a Qualification for Enrollment (QFE) and begin the underwriting process before proceeding to sales and construction. Please visit TARION.CA for more information.