(Article courtesy Tarion Warranty Corporation)
HUNTSVILLE, ON – The Ontario Building Officials Association (OBOA), Tarion Warranty Corporation, and EnerQuality's parent organization, the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA), have announced a groundbreaking partnership agreement to increase consumer protection for new home buyers, improve industry standards and achieve greater consistency in education and application of standards in the province’s new home building industry.
The Ontario Building Partnership will solidify a framework in which the three organizations can act to uphold excellence in Ontario’s building industry.
Although the partners have traditionally worked together, this agreement solidifies a framework to uphold excellence and elevate the new home building industry. “We’ve been partners for years on a number of important issues, like preventing illegal building. Now, the Ontario Building Partnership will prioritize even more issues that are important to Ontario’s builders, municipalities, and new home buyers” said OHBA CEO Joe Vaccaro.
One of the first initiatives of the partnership includes striking a new working group that will focus on:
- Advocating for a legislated, province-wide program to protect home buyers from illegal builders;
- Partnering on public education initiatives, including “Who Does What” campaigns, information sharing on trade strikes and other industrywide matters and regional issues such as soil conditions and radon detection;
- Ensuring that Ontario’s home buyers benefit from consistent and improved construction standards across the province.
“The home building landscape in Ontario is continually changing,” said OBOA President, Matt Farrell. “New technologies, new risks and building innovations make it all the more important for us to be working together.”
Tarion CEO Howard Bogach added: “Part of what we’re trying to achieve is greater consistency in education and application of standards, and increased professionalism across the province. We know that will, in turn, provide greater consumer confidence and better products for the consumer.”
About the Partners:
The Ontario Building Officials Association supports Ontario building officials in ensuring a safer and a more sustainable and accessible Ontario by delivering training and certification, promoting uniform code application, working with industry partners, providing a voice to policymakers, and advancing the profession. On behalf of the municipalities across Ontario, OBOA’s 2000 members administer provincial laws and municipal by-laws relating to the construction of all types of buildings and structures.
The Ontario Home Builders' Association represents the collective voices of the homebuilding, development and renovation industries to the provincial government and other regulatory agencies.
Tarion is a private, not-for-profit corporation that administers the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, and backstops the warranty coverage. Tarion sets standards for builder licensing and after-sales service and steps in when a home builder cannot or will not fulfill their warranty obligations.
For more information, please contact:
Melanie Kearns, Senior Manager, Strategic Communications
Email: melanie.kearns@tarion.com
Phone: 647-951-9472
