What you need to know
If you require help from Tarion during the claims process, you may request Early Intervention or an Investigative Inspection. More information about these is found below.
Early Intervention
Tarion’s Early Intervention process is designed for situations where the relationship between the homeowner and builder has become strained and/or the complexity of the issues make the warranty process difficult. Examples include situations where:
- The homeowner and builder have reached an impasse that seems insurmountable;
- There is a dispute over aspects of warranty obligations or coverage; and/or,
- There is a belief that the homeowner or the builder is not operating in good faith (e.g., acts of intimidation or harassment).
What happens at an Early Intervention?
An Early Intervention is a meeting between the homeowner, builder, and Tarion representatives. The intent of this meeting is to review the warranty process, the roles and responsibilities of all parties, and to encourage the homeowner and the builder to work together to resolve the issues.
After the meeting, Tarion will provide a summary to you and your builder and explain next steps. If further action is required, Tarion may offer facilitation, schedule an Investigative Inspection, or abridge the repair timelines and proceed directly to conciliation.
When can I request an Early Intervention?
You can request an Early Intervention by writing to Tarion’s customer service team. Click here to fill out a contact form, or send an e-mail to customerservice@tarion.com. Early Intervention is an option that is available to homeowners even if a warranty claim has not been made to Tarion.
A Warranty Assessment is not made at this time. Tarion does not determine whether a claim item is covered by the warranty at anytime during the Early Intervention process.
Investigative Inspection
An Investigative Inspection enables Tarion to decide whether to exercise its discretion under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act to abridge the warranty timelines. At the Investigative Inspection, Tarion will assess a warranty claim item to determine whether the item is covered under the builder’s warranty and involves health and safety, an emergency, or other extraordinary circumstances that require immediate attention.
For example, if a condition in the home may adversely affect the health of the owner, Tarion may abridge the builder's repair periods and conciliate earlier in the warranty claims process.
What happens at an Investigative Inspection
A Tarion representative will assess the claim item, gather information about the item from you and your builder, and determine whether there is a health and safety issue, emergency, or other extraordinary circumstances. After the inspection, Tarion will send an Investigative Inspection Report to you and your builder setting out Tarion's assessment.
There are four possible outcomes from an Investigative Inspection. The outcomes and necessary actions are outlined below:
Emergency
Your builder should attend to the emergency situation within 24 hours. Your builder should also resolve damage to builder-installed materials affected by the emergency within 30 days. If not, Tarion will resolve it directly with you.
Health & Safety Issue
Your builder has 30 days (or alternate repair deadline) from the date of the Investigative Inspection Report to resolve the item involving health and safety. If not, Tarion will proceed to conciliate the claim item and resolve the claim directly with you.
Extraordinary Circumstance
Your builder has 30 days (or alternate repair deadline) from the date of the Investigative Inspection Report to resolve the item involving extraordinary circumstances. If not, Tarion will proceed to conciliate the claim item and resolve it directly with you.
None of the Above
The item does not involve health and safety, an emergency, or other extraordinary circumstances. The builder repair period is not abridged and the regular warranty claims process applies to the item.
When and how to request an investigative inspection
You can ask Tarion to conduct an Investigative Inspection if an item reported on your warranty form needs to be addressed sooner than the regular warranty claims process allows because of a potential health and safety issue, emergency, or other extraordinary circumstances.
Examples of warranty claim items that may require an Investigative Inspection include:
- Air or water contamination that may pose a health risk
- Mould contamination that may pose a health risk
- Active and continuous water penetration into the home
- A structural issue with the home’s interior or exterior that may pose a safety risk
- A non-functioning essential service system, such as plumbing, sewage disposal, HVAC or electrical.
If you are interested in trying this type of dispute resolution method, Contact our customer service team.