Huntsville, ON, May 7, 2008 – Area builder Michael Robert Cole, owner of Briggs Timber Milling of Muskoka Inc., was fined $37,500 on April 15, 2008 by the Provincial Court on two counts of illegal building activity. Mr. Cole was found guilty of failing to register as a builder with Tarion and of failing to enrol a new home he was building on Hart Court in Huntsville with the Corporation.
“The new home industry in Ontario is regulated so that homeowners can trust that their builder has the ability to fulfill their contracts and satisfactorily complete the home,” said Dave Roberts, Director of Enforcement at Tarion. “Mr. Cole made two serious infractions against that trust when he failed to register with Tarion and enrol the home buyer’s new home with us.
This case is not unique. Added Roberts, “illegal building in the Huntsville area is enough of a concern to us that we have hired a dedicated investigator to focus on the area.”
Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act (“the Act”) every builder or vendor of a new home sold in the Province of Ontario must be registered with Tarion, which protects the rights of new home buyers by regulating the home building industry, and administering and guaranteeing the province’s new home warranty program. Home builders are also required to enrol every new home with Tarion prior to its construction.
Illegal building in the residential construction industry is a serious problem in Ontario and the provincial courts are responding with heavy fines and even jail time. Tarion employs a team of former police officers who work with building and municipal officials to uncover illegal building in Ontario. The efforts of Tarion’s Enforcement Department led to 320 convictions during 2007 and $616,000 in fines being levied by the courts.
If you suspect that illegal building is taking place in your community, you can anonymously report this information by calling Tarion, toll-free at 1-800-786-6497, or by sending an email to enforcement@tarion.com. In addition, new home buyers are encouraged to visit the “Find a Builder” section of Tarion’s website to confirm that their builder is registered to build in the province of Ontario and to obtain additional information from other customers about the builder’s after-sales service performance.
About Tarion
Tarion Warranty Corporation is a private corporation established in 1976 to serve as the Regulator of the new home building industry in Ontario. In this role, Tarion licenses all new home and condominium builders pursuant to provincial legislation. This statute requires new home builders to provide purchasers with warranty coverage that is guaranteed by Tarion. The Corporation also establishes minimum time standards for after-sales service, and adjudicates issues between homeowners and builders. Over 1.45 million homes in Ontario have been protected under warranty by Tarion.
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For more information, please contact:
Corinne Smirle, Sr. Manager, Corporate Communications at (416) 229-3863 or corinne.smirle@tarion.com
