Builders

No. Obtaining or renewing a licence from the HCRA does not authorize you to offer or agree to Sell a home(s), or to build a home(s). Those authorizations can only be obtained by completing the application process with Tarion and by receiving confirmation from Tarion that you may sell and build the home(s).  

After receiving your HCRA licence, you must subsequently apply to Tarion via the BuilderLink online portal and receive written confirmations from Tarion before you can Sell or build a home. The authorization to offer or agree to Sell a home is called “Qualification for Enrolment (QFE) Confirmation”. The authorization to build a home is called “Enrolment Confirmation”. It is a prosecutable offence to offer to Sell, agree to Sell, or to build a home without the relevant confirmation(s).

For Freehold homes, there is a single application titled “Application for QFE and/or Enrolment Confirmation” that you must submit, along with all other requested documentation, as a first step to obtain both QFE Confirmation and Enrolment Confirmation. This application can be completed through Tarion’s online BuilderLink portal. The Tarion application process can begin after a Vendor/Builder receives a licence from the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA). For all condominiums, the Condominium Project Profile Form must also be completed and submitted as part of the application process. 

In general, the freehold home application will include information and documents about the Vendor/Builder and the proposed construction and sales plans for the next 12 months. The condominium application will include information about a proposed condominium project. 

Although you apply for QFE Confirmation and Enrolment Confirmation at the same time through a single application, each of the written confirmations are provided to you at separate milestones. QFE Confirmation is provided first, allowing you to offer or agree to Sell the home. Enrolment Confirmation is later provided before you Commence Construction of the home.

Once your application is reviewed, you will receive a Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions, which is a document that outlines the Terms and Conditions that you must satisfy before Tarion issues you written QFE Confirmation or Enrolment Confirmation. You may commence sales (offering/entering into a purchase agreement) once you have met the QFE conditions and once Tarion has issued written QFE Confirmation. You may Commence Construction once you have met the Enrolment Conditions and Tarion has issued written Enrolment Confirmation. 

You can also reach out to our Underwriting Department at underwriting@tarion.com to answer any questions about the application process.

There are slight modifications to the process if you plan to Commence Construction before selling a home.  Qualification for Enrolment Confirmation (QFE Confirmation) is no required.  You can apply to Tarion for only Enrolment Confirmation which will authorize you to start construction of the home and after construction has started, you are authorized to Sell the home.

If you are looking to Sell the home after it is constructed, please contact underwriting@tarion.com or speak with your assigned Underwriting Analyst to assess the best next steps. 

Yes. Each home that you intend to Sell and build requires QFE Confirmation and Enrolment Confirmation, though you may apply for multiple homes on a single application. For clarity, QFE Confirmation and Enrolment Confirmation are not one-time authorizations that subsequently allow you to Sell / build a limitless number of homes.

Once you obtain QFE confirmation for a home or Project, it is in place unless it is specifically revoked or suspended by Tarion (which may happen in exceptional cases where eg. there is a material change in risk). Tarion conducts regular reviews of homes that have received QFE Confirmation – typically annually – up until the home(s) have been completed and handed over to the purchaser(s).

If the number of homes you plan to Sell/build increases from what has previously been authorized by Tarion, you must advise Tarion and submit a new application for any homes that were not covered by a previous application.

It is our objective to assist you with a quick and seamless application process. Below are examples of circumstances that may result in delays. Please factor these into your project timelines as you work through your Tarion application process: 

• Interview requirements;
• Reference checks;
• Site visits;
• Additional review of problematic warranty history;
• Missing or incomplete documentation; or
• Time required for you to satisfy Terms and Conditions such as providing security prior to receiving QFE Confirmation and commencing sales.  

We encourage you to contact underwriting@tarion.com or your assigned Underwriting Analyst to ensure you are aware of all the required documents and steps pertaining to your application. 

Once you receive your Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions, the next step is to satisfy the Terms and Conditions outlined in the NOP. The Terms and Conditions found within the NOP of Conditions are broken down into three categories: 

1. Conditions of QFE: requirements you must satisfy before Tarion issues written QFE   Confirmation for the home(s), which authorizes you to begin sale (offering/entering into purchase agreements); 
    
2. Conditions of Enrolment: requirements you must satisfy before Tarion issues written Enrolment Confirmation for the home(s), which authorizes you to begin construction; and,
    
3. Specified Terms and Conditions:   requirements that you must satisfy on an ongoing basis (ie. even after you receive QFE or Enrolment Confirmation).

The most common example of a Terms and Condition is to provide Tarion with security. Security may be required either as a Condition of QFE or Condition of Enrolment depending on the type of home proposed (e.g., Freehold or Condominium) as well as other risk factors assessed by Tarion.

After all the Conditions of QFE outlined in your NOP of Conditions have been satisfied (for example, you have provided the required security to Tarion in a format acceptable to Tarion), Tarion will issue written QFE Confirmation for the home(s) via email or mail. You can proceed to offer and enter into agreements of purchase and sale for home(s) that received QFE Confirmation.

After all the Conditions of Enrolment outlined in your NOP of conditions have been satisfied, you may submit the homes for enrolment through BuilderLink, pay the applicable enrolment fees, and then Tarion will provide you with written Enrolment Confirmation which authorizes you to Commence Construction of the home(s).

If you disagree with the Terms and Conditions proposed by Tarion within an NOP of Conditions, or wish to dispute a proposal by Tarion to refuse, suspend, or revoke QFE Confirmation, we encourage you to contact Tarion’s Underwriting department to discuss your concerns.  We will further explain the basis for Tarion’s proposal and work with you to try to resolve your concerns.  For example, if Tarion’s proposal relates to a lack of financial equity, it may be that Tarion’s proposal can be adjusted if you are able to provide additional financial information, bring in a third party guarantor to support your financial obligations, or reduce the number of homes you are proposing to Sell.

If you are unable to resolve your dispute through discussions with Tarion, you can appeal any Notice of Proposal issued by Tarion to the Licence Appeal Tribunal. An appeal must be filed within 15 days of receiving Tarion’s Notice of Proposal. The Notice of Proposal document will explain the steps required to initiate an appeal

The NOP of Conditions letter is issued once we have reviewed all the required information that we need to conduct our Risk Assessment. This includes all financial information, legal information, Project information, guarantor information, and any other questions we may have about the specific Project. 

The NOP of Conditions letter can be found in BuilderLink

You must have an active licence at the time you apply to Tarion, up until the home is completed and title is transferred to the home purchaser.  Please contact the HCRA at info@hcraontario.ca for more information about licensing and renewal.

At this time, you cannot start the application process with Tarion until you have your licence with the HCRA. If you would like to learn about the Tarion Application Process, you can contact us at underwriting@tarion.com and we can review the process with you so you will know what to expect. We can also provide you with copies of the forms that you will need to complete so that once you have received your licence from the HCRA, you will be ready to submit your completed application to Tarion.

No. You must hold a valid HCRA licence, apply to Tarion, meet the Terms and Conditions issued by Tarion, and receive confirmation from Tarion before you offer or agree to enter into a purchase agreement with a purchaser. Qualification for Enrolment (QFE) Confirmation must be received before offering or agreeing to Sell a home, and Enrolment Confirmation must be received before Commencing Construction. Note that the Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions letter issued by Tarion does not constitute confirmation of QFE or Enrolment. The Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions letter simply outlines the conditions that must be met to achieve confirmation, which is provided by Tarion in writing once conditions are met. 

No. This type of home is referred to as a “Contract Home”, which stands in contrast to home(s) that are sold along with the underlying land via a purchase agreement. In order to offer and enter into a construction contract with an owner of land to build them a Contract Home, and to Commence Construction of the Contract Home, you must: hold an active Vendor and Builder licence with HCRA; apply to Tarion for Enrolment Confirmation; satisfy the Terms and Conditions issued by Tarion; and receive Enrolment Confirmation from Tarion. Once you receive Enrolment Confirmation you can offer/enter into a construction contract with an owner. Within 30 days of entering the construction contract with the owner, before commencing construction, you must inform Tarion of the address of the Contract Home and pay any applicable security. You must then enrol the Contract Home through BuilderLink before commencing construction.

 If the home hasn’t been genuinely occupied by the Vendor/Builder, then the Vendor/Builder must apply to Tarion to receive QFE Confirmation entering into a purchase agreement. 

The test for genuine occupancy is highly fact-specific. Short term or part-time occupancy by a builder may not be enough to remove the home from warranty coverage, the requirement to obtain QFE Confirmation, and to enrol the home in the warranty program. We encourage you to speak with your legal advisors and contact Tarion before selling a home that you have previously occupied without first receiving QFE Confirmation. 

For any home where your plans are uncertain, e.g., if you are building a home but are not sure if you will sell it in the future, you should send an email to  ismyhomecovered@tarion.com to determine if an application is required. In the interim, it is advised to submit an application as a precautionary measure as you can always request that Tarion cancel the enrolment if your plans change, and you do not intend to Sell it. 

Prior to February 1, 2021, the application to Tarion was submitted annually, i.e., the annual number of homes was proposed on the application and Tarion issued a Terms and Conditions letter that was applicable for that year. You could then Sell or build the estimated number of homes, provided that you met the conditions outlined in the Terms and Conditions letter. Any homes that were not sold or built in that year would then need to be reapplied for or restated in the following year. 

The post-February, 2021 application process is different because once QFE Confirmation is received, it stays in place until it is suspended or revoked. Another key difference is that the Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions letters do not need to be explicitly accepted or signed to take effect. Once the NOP of Conditions is issued, you have 15 days to appeal the Terms and Conditions to the Licence Appeal Tribunal. If the conditions are not appealed within that timeframe, then they are considered accepted. 

It is therefore very important to ensure that the correct Tarion contact is outlined in your application, as this individual will be receiving the Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions letter for review. You may speed up the process by confirming acceptance of the conditions in writing prior to the 15-day deadline. This must be done by a signing officer of the company. 

We recommend that you apply with the estimated number of homes you’re planning to build in that year. Once you receive QFE Confirmation for the home(s) on an application, the home(s) can be sold. They do not have to be sold within that year, e.g., if it takes 12, 18 or 24 months to Sell and build those homes, you do not have to reapply after you have confirmation. You can apply multiple times a year (if your plans change and you wish to Sell or build more homes). You do not necessarily need to apply annually and your submission of a Tarion application does not need to align with your HCRA licence renewal. Any Vendor with a valid HCRA licence can apply to Tarion at any time. 

If sales/construction plans change and you wish to increase the number of homes, you will be required to submit a new application to Tarion. This can be done at any time as long as a valid HCRA licence is in place. You must receive QFE and Enrolment Confirmation from Tarion prior to Selling and building a new home. It is important to apply for new homes because you will not be permitted to  enrol new homes through BuilderLink if you have reached your previously confirmed enrolment limit. It is also a provincial offence to offer to Sell, agree to Sell, or build a new home without the requisite QFE and Enrolment Confirmation. It is therefore advisable to track your home balance on BuilderLink and to reach out to underwriting@tarion.com for any questions. Please allow for sufficient time for Tarion to process any new application. 

Homes that were approved via a past signed “Terms and Conditions Letter” issued by Tarion are deemed to have QFE Confirmation after February 1, 2021 – subject to the exception below about superseded Terms and Conditions Letters. Any home(s) that has deemed QFE Confirmation must still receive Enrolment Confirmation before Commencing Construction (if the home was not already enrolled prior to February 1, 2021.

When determining if a home approved prior to February 1, 2021 has deemed QFE confirmation, it is important to remember that under the pre-February 1, 2021 process, more recent Terms and Conditions Letters supersede past letters. For example, if a 2019 Terms and Conditions Letter approved you to Sell 5 freehold homes that you did not end up selling in 2019, and subsequently in 2020 Tarion issued a new Terms and Conditions Letter noting that you are not approved for any homes and must apply before you Sell/build any new homes, then the 5 homes approved in 2019 do not have deemed QFE Confirmation because the most recent pre-February 1, 2021 letter states that you cannot sell/build any homes. You would have to submit a new application to Tarion to sell and build the 5 homes.  

Note that the pre-February 1, 2021 process differs from the post February 1, 2021 process in the above-mentioned regard. With the new Application process, once you receive QFE Confirmation for the home(s) on an application, the homes do not have to be sold or built within that year, e.g., if it takes 12, 18 or 24 months to Sell and build those homes, you do not have to reapply after you receive QFE Confirmation. You do not need to re-apply for the same homes the next year, because the QFE Confirmation applies indefinitely unless it is (in rare circumstances) revoked by Tarion. If you apply for a new Project down the road but have not yet completed the original one, then the new Application will be assessed and if Confirmed, the new Notice of Proposal (NOP) of Conditions letter and any resulting QFE or Enrolment confirmations will apply to the specific Project you submitted an application for in addition to any previous NOP of Conditions letter and/or confirmations received. For example, if you applied and were confirm for 5 Freehold homes on March 1, 2021 and subsequently applied and were confirmed for an additional 10 homes on July 1, 2021, then both the confirmation for the original 5 homes and the confirmation for the additional 10 homes will remain valid. 

Your written Enrolment Confirmation(s) for home(s) can be viewed in BuilderLink.

If your NOP of Conditions specifies a home address that you are no longer planning to Sell or build, or are looking to Sell or build the home at another location, you will need to advise Tarion as this is considered a material change. The same applies to any home(s) that you have already enrolled that later are subject to an address change.  We would review your situation and depending on the changes, you may not need to reapply.

You will need to advise Tarion if you would like to build a different type of home(s) than what you specified on your application, as this is considered a material change. We would review your situation and depending on the changes, you may not need to reapply.

For any type of Condominium application, whether it’s a Common Element, Vacant Land, standard, or phased Project, you are required to fill out the Condominium Profile Form. 

You should advise Tarion of any material changes to Principals, Directors, Officers or any Interested Persons by emailing underwriting@tarion.com. You should also advise the HCRA of these types of changes by emailing them at info@hcraontario.ca. You may have to complete new BuilderLink designate forms to ensure that the appropriate staff are designated to use different BuilderLink functions / receive certain correspondence from Tarion.

Any steps that Tarion may take when assessing an application are dependent on the specifics of the situation, and can include, but not be limited to, risk-based inspections, increased security, limits on the number of homes that may be sold/built, and generally any other customized conditions to appropriately mitigate risk. Tarion may refuse applications outright in exceptional cases.

If there is a merger of two separate companies, you will need to contact the HCRA to inform them of this change. From a warranty perspective however, the new company post-merger is responsible for maintaining the warranty obligations of any previous entities . Tarion may require additional information on how this will be facilitated. For example, we may require additional confirmation that the indemnities, Vendor/Builder Agreements and other statutory obligations can be met by the newco retroactively and on a go-forward basis. A merger, acquisition, or any other significant corporate change constitutes a material change in risk and must be brought to the attention of both Tarion and HCRA well in advance. 

Only a licensed Vendor can Sell a home, and only a licensed Builder can build a home (though a single person or entity can hold both types of licences). A person or entity who is licensed only as a Vendor, who wishes to build a home, must either become licensed as a Builder themselves, or partner with a separate licensed Builder who will be responsible for building the home. 

Note: Contract Home Builders must hold both a Vendor and Builder Licence with the HCRA.

Contract Home Builders must also hold a Vendor licence because the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act  deems a Builder of a contract home to be the “Vendor” who is responsible for providing the home’s statutory warranties. 

Where the Vendor and the Builder are separate entities who plan to work together to Sell and build a home(s), the Vendor (as the warranty provider) submits the application for QFE and/or Enrolment to Tarion. 

The Vendor must indicate in the application the name of the Builder who will build the proposed home(s). To assess the application, Tarion will require information from the applicant Vendor and the proposed Builder.

Tarion will respond to the application by issuing Terms and Conditions (in the form of an NOP of Conditions) to the Vendor. The Terms and Conditions must be satisfied by the Vendor unless the conditions specify otherwise.

The Vendor must enrol the home(s) through BuilderLink and obtain Enrolment Confirmation (to be shared with the Builder, to indicate to the Builder that Tarion has authorized construction to commence). 

Only the Vendor can offer or agree to Sell the home(s) (i.e. offer or enter into purchase agreement and subsequently transfer title). Only the Builder can Commence Construction of the home(s) and act as the Builder throughout the course of construction. 

Although the Vendor is the provider of the statutory warranties, the Builder’s performance in constructing the home(s) in compliance with the warranties will be tracked and considered by Tarion when assessing future applications that involve the Builder.

Generally speaking, the Vendor is the warranty provider obligated to respond to all warranty claims. This obligation maintains despite any contractual disputes that the Vendor has with the Builder(s) or other parties it planned to rely on to service the warranty claims. Those disputes are between the Vendor and those third parties. Tarion holds the Vendor responsible and may not get involved in those disputes. The Builder is jointly and severally liable (along with the Vendor) to indemnify Tarion if it incurs losses resolving warranty claims. Any chargeable conciliations or claims will reflect on both the Vendor and Builder’s records. An exception to this is if the Builder provides Tarion with evidence that they were not responsible for the work or materials associated with the warranted defects that led to the chargeable conciliation. This exception does not apply to the Vendor, who is responsible for the chargeable conciliation regardless of who contributed the defective work or materials.

To “enrol” a home involves logging into BuilderLink to provide Tarion with specifics about the home (eg. the address) so Tarion can properly track the home in its systems. In also involves paying the applicable enrolment fees.

One the home is properly enrolled in Tarion’s systems, and any other applicable Enrolment Conditions (as outlined in the Notice of Proposal of Conditions) have been satisfied, Tarion provides you with written Enrolment Confirmation for the home. Enrolment Confirmation authorizes you to Commence Construction. 

These forms will be added to our website soon and they will be linked to the appropriate Registrar Bulletin 10. In the interim, please contact underwriting@tarion.com for a copy of the forms. It is recommended to submit applications via our BuilderLink platform where the majority of the forms and agreements can be completed online.

Freehold and Contract Homes need to be enrolled any time before Construction Commences, and condominiums need to be enrolled 30 days prior to Commencing Construction. Enrolments are submitted through BuilderLink, and you must ensure all enrolment conditions in your Terms and Conditions letter are met including security requirements, and any other conditions that are applicable, including the enrolment fees.

Yes. Commencing construction of a home(s) that has not received Enrolment Confirmation is a prosecutable offence under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. 

The conditions indicated in your letter are specific to your situation, however, security is typically due to be paid upfront, before QFE (sales) or at the time of enrolment.

Tarion typically accepts a surety bond or a letter of credit in a Tarion-approved format. We can also accept cash security in the form of a certified cheque from a certified Canadian financial institution if it’s $250,000 CDN or less.

Registrar Bulletin 11 outlines the taking and releasing of security which depends upon Builder experience and the type of home. There are three different versions of Registrar Bulletin 11, depending on the type of construction. 

The template for surety bonds is not currently available on   however, you can contact us at  underwriting@tarion.com and we can provide you with one.

Security submitted prior to Feb. 1 will follow the applicable Bulletin and your risk assessment would indicate how long we would hold security. Warranty performance is also considered, as are any material changes that may have occurred such as ongoing claims or issues that present risk to Tarion. We may also request additional financial information or updates before considering release of security.

The amount of security depends on your risk assessment score and other factors discussed in Registrar Bulletin 11, such as experience and the specifics of the home you are building (e.g., a high-value home). For more information on security assessments, please refer to the applicable version of Registrar Bulletin 11. 

You must contact a surety provider, which can be recommended by a commercial broker. You may also reach out to Tarion’s Underwriting Department at underwriting@tarion.com for a template of the bond.