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Home warranties have become a topic of much interest for homebuyers. To ensure increased consumer protection for homebuyers, regulations for new home construction were brought into force on July 1, 1999. As of this date, all residential builders are required to be licensed by the Homeowner Protection Office and arrange for home warranty insurance in order to obtain a building permit in British Columbia.

Unlike the builders' voluntary warranty system of the past, these mandatory home warranties can only be provided by insurance companies that are approved by the Financial Institutions Commission and meet the requirements of the Homeowner Protection Act.

Minimum home warranty insurance coverage, which is now set by government, includes two years on labour and materials, five years on the building envelope including water penetration and 10 years on structure - the strongest construction defect warranty in Canada.

Some new homes on the market will have the mandatory, 2-5-10 year warranty insurance now required by law, while other new homes constructed or yet to be constructed with building permits applied for before July 1, 1999 may have a variety of other types of warranties or even no home warranty protection at all.

Homebuyers often wonder how to find out what type of warranty may or may not exist on a new home. The Notice of Home Warranty regulation and the 2-5-10 year warranty logo has been introduced to help eliminate homebuyer confusion.

Notice of Home Warranty
All vendors of new homes built before the licensing and mandatory, third-party home warranty insurance requirements came into effect on July 1, 1999, are now required by law to provide homebuyers with a Notice of Home Warranty before the purchase of the new home.

This Notice of Home Warranty indicates the type, extent and expiration dates of any existing home warranty. Failure of a vendor to provide the Notice of Home Warranty to homebuyers is an offense under the Homeowner Protection Act.

2-5-10 Year Warranty Logo
To assist homebuyers to more easily recognize new homes that meet the stronger consumer protection requirements that are now in place, a 2-5-10 year warranty logo has been introduced. The 2-5-10 year home warranty logo assures homebuyers that the new home was built by a licensed residential builder and that the stronger 2-5-10 year home warranty insurance is in place. The 2-5-10 year warranty logo is trademarked by the Homeowner Protection Office and can only by used by licensed residential builders who have signed a special agreement.

Further information about home warranties as well as a public registry of licensed residential builders is available through the Homeowner Protection Office by calling the toll-free information line at 1-800-407-7757 or by visiting the Web site at www.hpo.bc.ca.

Source: the Homeowner Protection Office