The past-president of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association — Central Alberta, is supportive of plans to strengthen new home warranty protection in Alberta.
“We think it’s a great idea,” said Dan Ouwehand.
Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths told the Edmonton Journal last week that he plans to table legislation this fall that would make warranty protection on new homes mandatory.
This would include a 10-year structural warranty, five years of protection against water damage and two years of coverage on major systems like plumbing and electrical.
Ouwehand pointed out that CHBA members are required to provide warranty protection to their customers, and the association has been working with the province for about a year to develop the new requirements.
“We’ve considered this a very important thing for a long time now.”
He said mandatory protection for homebuyers will enhance the reputation of the industry and the credibility of contractors.
As for the more stringent warranty requirements, Ouwehand doesn’t think these will be an issue for most responsible contractors.
“For those who have been working hard to achieve best practices, I don’t think they’re concerned about it.”
Griffiths also wants to increase fines for building code infractions, with the maximum penalty for first-time offenders jumping to $100,000 from $15,000, and in the case of a second offence the top fine going to $500,000 from $30,000.
Penalties for non-compliance could be levied for up to three years, as compared with the current situation, which is subject to a six-month limitation period.
“I don’t think having the higher penalties is really much for us to be opposed to,” said Ouwehand.
In fact, he thinks the stiffer fines shows that the province is taking the consequences of poor building practices very seriously.
Ouwehand said a focus for the CHBA is to ensure no loopholes or problems result from the changes.
For instance, he said, the association wants to guard against situations like home-buyers avoiding warranty requirements by acting as their own contractors and then selling to someone else.
“We want to be sure they don’t leave that open for abuse.”
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com