Most people know the seven-year number. Fewer know that the first year is the broadest, that the second year is about water and the systems behind the walls, and that years three to seven cover one thing only: a major structural defect. Fewer still know that the coverage depends on dates you have to keep, forms you have to file and, on a custom build, how the contract for your house is written.
My job on our builds runs from framing through completion: the trades, the schedule and the quality control. That is the stretch of a build most warranty items trace back to, so this post walks through Tarion warranty coverage the way it reaches you, from the day you sign to the seventh anniversary of the day you move in.
Who actually stands behind the warranty
A common assumption is that Tarion fixes things. It does not, at least not first. Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, the warranty is provided by the builder and backstopped by Tarion. Your builder is responsible for resolving warranty issues with you directly. Tarion steps in when a builder fails to resolve an issue, or disagrees that it is covered, and then assesses the claim and makes sure a covered item is put right.
That arrangement only works if the builder is in the system. A new home is eligible when it is built by a builder licensed by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA), the body that licenses the people and companies who build and sell new homes in Ontario. Tarion handles the warranty; the HCRA handles the licence.
We have been a Tarion Registered Builder since 1983, and A&R Design Build Inc. is an HCRA-licensed vendor and builder, licence #B46716. You can look up any builder’s licence, including ours, in the HCRA’s Ontario Builder Directory before you sign anything. It takes a few minutes and it is the first thing worth checking.
Tarion warranty coverage, year by year
All three warranties start on the same day, the date of possession, and they stay with the house if you sell it inside the seven years. What changes from one period to the next is what is covered.
Year one of Tarion warranty coverage: workmanship and materials
The first year is the widest net. It requires that the home is built in a workmanlike manner, free from defects in material, fit to live in, and free of Ontario Building Code violations. It also protects you against unauthorized substitutions, which matters more on a custom build than people expect.
If your contract gave you the right to choose something, such as flooring from a builder’s design centre, the builder cannot swap it without your written consent. If the contract names a specific item without giving you a choice, such as a brand of window, it can only be replaced with something of equal or better quality. Tarion’s rule is that you make your selections within 30 days of signing, or by whatever date you and the builder agree, and if an item is unavailable you get seven days to pick another.
In practice, year one is where the everyday items live: a door that will not latch, a tile that cracked, a trim joint that opened up, a fixture that was installed badly.
Year two: water, cladding and the systems
From the end of the first year to the end of the second, the coverage narrows to the parts of a house that fail slowly and expensively:
- water coming through the basement or foundation walls
- defects in work or materials that let water into the building envelope
- defects that cause exterior cladding, such as brick or siding, to detach, shift or deteriorate
- defects in the electrical, plumbing and heating delivery and distribution systems
- Building Code violations that affect health and safety
These are the items a first winter tends to reveal. A foundation that has been through one spring thaw, and a roof and wall assembly that have been through a season of freezing and thawing, tell you more than any walkthrough can.
Years three to seven: major structural defects
After the second anniversary, only major structural defects remain covered, and the definition is deliberately tight. It is a defect in work or materials, such as a crack, distortion or displacement of a load-bearing element, that causes that element to fail, materially affects its ability to carry its loads over its normal service life, or materially affects your use of a significant part of the house.
Some things are written out of the seven-year warranty entirely, including furnaces, air conditioners and heat recovery ventilators, damage from dampness that does not come from a structural failure, and damage from a flood the builder did not cause.
The money has limits too. For a freehold home where the purchase agreement was signed on or after July 1, 2023, the maximum statutory coverage is $400,000, with a $50,000 cap on damage from environmentally harmful substances.
What Tarion warranty coverage leaves out
Tarion publishes the exclusions, and reading them before you move in saves a lot of frustration later. The ones people run into most:
- defects in materials, design or work you supplied yourself
- normal wear and tear, and normal shrinkage of materials as the house dries out after construction
- damage from dampness or condensation when the house was not ventilated properly, or a humidifier was run too hard
- alterations, deletions or additions you made
- settling of the ground around the house or along service lines, other than beneath the footings
- secondary damage, such as damage to your belongings, caused by a covered defect
- surface defects you accepted in writing at possession
Two of those deserve a closer look. Shrinkage is expected: new lumber and concrete give up moisture as the house dries out, and Tarion treats the small movement that causes as normal rather than a defect. And the ventilation exclusion is why the handover matters. Tarion says plainly that not knowing how to run your home’s systems can affect your coverage, so learn the ventilation and humidity controls before winter, not after the first frost on the inside of a window.
The act of God exclusion is narrower than it sounds. Tarion limits it to extraordinary events such as tornadoes and earthquakes. Ice, snow, high winds and heavy rain are normal Ontario weather, and a house built to the Code is expected to stand up to them.
Building on land you already own
Most of what is written about the warranty assumes a buyer purchasing a house and lot from a developer. A custom home or cottage usually works the other way round: you own the land and sign a construction contract with a builder. Tarion calls that a contract home, and it is covered, with two kinds of protection.
Before possession, if the builder defaults and does not substantially finish the contract, you may be entitled to financial loss protection: the difference between what you paid and the value of the work and materials actually supplied, up to $40,000. After the home is substantially complete, you get the same one-, two- and seven-year construction warranties as any other new home, up to $400,000.
There is one condition that catches people out. The statutory warranties are owed by a builder, and Tarion’s definition of a builder is someone who supplies all of the labour and materials for the home. If the landowner takes significant control of the build, or supplies one or more of the essential elements, the house can be treated as owner-built, and an owner-built home has no statutory warranty at all. Tarion lists the essential elements as typically the foundation, framing, electrical, rough-in plumbing, heating and ventilation, and the building envelope.
That matters if you are thinking about finishing part of the house yourself. Our packages range from a DIY package to a fully finished turnkey build, and our post on build packages covers what each level hands over. Whatever level you are weighing, ask which essential elements stay with the builder, and make sure the contract says so. If you are unsure whether your arrangement is covered, Tarion answers that question directly at ismyhomecovered@tarion.com.
The forms and the dates that matter
The warranty is only as good as the paperwork behind it. Here is the order things arrive in.
The pre-delivery inspection. Before you take possession, your builder walks you through the finished house and records anything incomplete, damaged, missing, inaccessible or not working on a PDI Form. It becomes the official record of the condition of the house before you moved in, and Tarion may refer to it later if there is a disagreement over when damage happened. You also receive a Certificate of Completion and Possession, which carries your home’s enrolment number and the date of possession. That date is the start of every warranty period.
The first-year forms. Tarion’s MyHome portal gives you three chances to report first-year items:
- the Initial Form, open from the day after possession and submitted automatically on day 41
- the Mid-Year Form, open from day 42 and submitted automatically on day 183
- the Year-End Form, open from day 183 and submitted automatically on day 365, with a 10-day grace period that needs written proof you told your builder within the year
The Year-End Form is your last chance to report items under the one-year warranty, and only one is accepted.
Year two and after. A Second-Year Form can be submitted any time in the second year, as often as you need. A Major Structural Defect Form can be submitted any time after the second year and no later than the seventh anniversary of possession.
What happens when you file. Tell your builder about an issue first and give them access to fix it. A form submitted to Tarion starts a 120-day period for the builder to repair or resolve covered items. If something is still unresolved, you can ask Tarion for a conciliation inspection, where Tarion decides whether the item is covered. Tarion is also clear that a builder pressuring you not to file breaches the HCRA’s Code of Conduct.
How our warranty fits alongside Tarion’s
Every home we build comes with three layers: our own 1-year builder warranty, which covers your home for a full year after closing; the 7-year Tarion structural warranty; and the manufacturers’ warranties that come with each product in the house.
The manufacturers’ warranties are worth filing somewhere you will find them. Tarion does not treat household appliances as part of the house, so a builder-supplied fridge or range is covered by the new home warranty only for how it was installed. A stove that arrives scratched, or a dishwasher that fails on its own, is a matter for the manufacturer.
Two walkthroughs on our builds feed straight into the warranty. Before drywall, we walk through the house with you to review layouts, electrical, plumbing, heating and upgrades while everything is still visible; our pre-drywall walkthrough post covers what to look at. At the end, the final walkthrough is a full inspection and a review of every feature, and it is where the Tarion warranty forms are signed and the keys are handed over. Our build process post shows where both fall in the schedule.
Getting the most from your Tarion warranty coverage
None of this needs a lawyer. It needs a few habits, started on the day you get the keys:
- Bring your contract to the PDI. Check finishes and fixtures against what you selected, and note anything that is different on the form.
- Write down what you cannot check. If snow hides the grading or a room is blocked, note it on the PDI Form so it is on the record.
- Photograph and report in writing. An email to your builder with a photo and a date is the evidence a form or a conciliation will lean on.
- Put the dates in your calendar. Day 41, day 183, day 365, the second anniversary and the seventh. The MyHome portal sends reminders, but it is your coverage.
- Learn the house before the first winter. Ventilation, humidity, the heating controls and the water shut-off. Running them properly protects the house and your Tarion warranty coverage at the same time.
Where to start
If you are still choosing a builder, start with the licence. Look the builder up in the HCRA’s Ontario Builder Directory, and if you are building on your own land, ask how the contract keeps the house a contract home rather than an owner-built one. If you are already living in a new house, find your Certificate of Completion and Possession, note the date on it, and register for MyHome.
When you are ready to talk about building, our build process page sets out every stage, and the About page lists our Tarion and HCRA credentials. Tell us about your project and we will reply within two business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Tarion warranty coverage last?
Up to seven years from the date of possession, in three parts: one year for workmanship, materials and Building Code compliance; two years for water penetration, cladding and the electrical, plumbing and heating distribution systems; and seven years for major structural defects.
Does Tarion cover a custom home built on my own land?
Yes, if a licensed builder supplies all the labour and materials. Tarion calls it a contract home, and it gets financial loss protection up to $40,000 before completion and the one-, two- and seven-year warranties after. If you supply or control one of the essential elements yourself, the house can be treated as owner-built and lose the statutory warranty.
Does the warranty transfer if I sell the house?
Yes. The coverage stays with the home for up to seven years from possession even if it is sold. A buyer of a home under seven years old can email Tarion at customerservice@tarion.com to have the warranty transferred into their name.
Are appliances covered by Tarion?
Only for how they were installed. Tarion treats household appliances as personal property rather than part of the house, so damage caused during installation is covered under the one-year warranty, while scratches out of the box and manufacturing defects go to the manufacturer.
Should I contact my builder or Tarion first?
Your builder. The builder provides the warranty and must be told about an issue and given the chance to fix it. If it is not resolved, you submit a warranty form to Tarion within the right timeframe, which starts a 120-day repair period and can lead to a conciliation inspection.
