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Tips on Home Warranty
A home is the single largest investment that most people will ever make. The last thing that any new home owner wants to deal with are costly repairs or the replacement of complex or aging systems. When purchasing a newly built home, make sure there is a home warranty in place and for 'resales,' hire a Home Inspector to look over the home.
For information on home warranties, go to the companies & sites listed below:
- Alberta New Home Warranty Program www.anhwp.com
- Atlantic Home Warranty Program www.ahwp.org
- In BC, The Homeowner Protection Act requires all residential builders be registered with the Homeowner Protection Office. For further information on the Act, go to the HPO address at www.hpo.bc.ca.
- Manitoba New Home Warranty Program www.mbnhwp.com
- National Home Warranty - in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba www.nationalhomewarranty.com.
- New Home Warranty Program of Saskatchewan, Inc. www.nhwp.org
- Pacific Home Warranty www.pacificwarranty.com
- CMHC - across Canada www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca
- Tarion Warranty Corporation (Ontario) www.tarion.com
- The Travelers Guarantee Co. of Canada www.travelersguarantee.com.
- 2 years on labour and materials (some limits apply)
- 5 years on the building envelope
- 10 years on structure
- Reduced Liability Period
- Third Party Administration
- Industry Standard Warranty Protection
- Customer Service
- Competitive Pricing
- Quality Assurance Program
- Homeowner Protection Office – www.hpo.bc.ca
- BC Laws – www.bclaws.ca
- Canadian Home Builders Association - www.chba.ca
- Pacific Home Warranty Services - www.progwar.com
- National Home Warranty - www.nationalhomewarranty.com
Example
BRITISH COLUMBIA - Homeowner Protection Act
The purposes of the Act are to strengthen consumer protection for buyers of new homes, to improve quality of residential construction, and to support research and education respecting residential construction. A further purpose of this Act is to establish a Reconstruction Program to provide financial assistance to eligible homeowners for home reconstruction.
Homes built by Licensed Residential Builders are covered by mandatory, third-party home warranty insurance. The warranty is attached to the home, not to the owner of the home, and remains in effect upon the re-sale of the home until the coverage expires.
Coverage
As a minimum, this coverage includes:
It's the strongest construction defect insurance in Canada. Some homes have home warranty insurance that exceed this minimum requirement.
Application Process Information
Memberships are generally approved in about 7 business days and last for a 12 month period before renewal is required. Every builder applicant must go through an underwriting process. A sales representative will explain the program so the builder understands how the warranty works and what his/her obligations are. After the underwriting process and acceptance into the program, a builder can register any homes currently under construction before homeowner occupancy. Inspections will need to be completed and some supporting municipal inspection reports gathered before registering these homes.
Benefits of the program include
Information presented on this page was collected from the following sources:
