Requirements for Purchase Agreements
An agreement of purchase and sale acts as a legally binding written agreement that is used between both the buyer and seller in a real estate transaction. In simplified terms, it is the offer document that the buyer submits to the seller when purchasing a home. A “contract home” involves entering into a construction contract with an owner of land to build a new home on the owner’s land. Your responsibilities in relation to the construction contract are as follows:
Obtain enrolment confirmation before entering into a contract
Before entering into a construction contract with the owner of land, you must enrol the home in the warranty program. Failure to do so is a prosecutable offence. For more information on the enrolment process for contract homes, refer to Registrar Bulletin 10-CH.
Include a Warranty Information Sheet
The Warranty Information Sheet is a concise overview of a home buyer’s statutory warranty coverage and includes information about the new home warranty provided by their builder and backed by Tarion, the pre-delivery inspection, and deposit protection.
The Warranty Information Sheet is available in six versions: freehold homes, condominium units, contract homes, condominium conversion units, vacant land condominiums and new homes in a parcel of tied land. The Warranty Information Sheets are available in PDF format here and in Word format on BuilderLink.
Effective February 1, 2021, you are required to attach the applicable version of the Warranty Information Sheet to every purchase agreement or construction contract at the time the document is signed.
Submit purchaser contact information to Tarion
Effective February 1, 2021, within 30 days after signing a construction contract, you are required to submit to Tarion, in writing, contact information for the purchaser or owner, including, name, address, and email address.
Tarion will use this information to communicate important information to the purchaser or owner about warranty coverage and the importance of the pre-delivery inspection in the period before possession.
You can submit purchaser information to Tarion by sending an email to purchaserinfo@tarion.com. If you are submitting multiple purchaser contacts, you can download our Excel Spreadsheet Template. Once completed, you can upload it to BuilderLink or can email it to the address noted above.
Refer Purchasers to Tarion's Homeowner Learning Hub
Our learning modules are an online learning tool comprised of interactive modules that provide overviews of specific parts of the new home buying journey and the relevant warranty information. You can find it in your resources section.
These modules include the substantive warranty process information that was formerly included in a document titled Homeowner Information Package (HIP).
You are encouraged to provide a link to the Learning Hub to purchasers.
Tarion's Risk-Based Inspection Program
This program was created in response to a recommendation from Ontario’s Auditor General and replaces the previous Targeted Inspection Program. For an overview of the program, including FAQ's, please visit our Risk-Based Inspection page linked below. You can also refer to Registrar Bulletin 9 on our Registrar Bulletins & Advisories page for specific details.