New Home Warranties

Every new home in Ontario is protected by a mandatory warranty that is provided by the builder and guaranteed by Tarion.

According to Tarion, water penetration through the basement or foundation walls is covered under the 2 year statutory warranty. To obtain further details, consult the Tarion website concerning the the 2 year statutory warranty as well as the 7-year Major Structural Defect warranty that includes significant damage due to soil movement,* major cracks in basement walls (>6mm), collapse or serious distortion of joints or roof structure and chemical failure of materials. * Soil movement means subsidence, expansion or lateral movement of the soil not caused by flood, earthquake, "acts of God" or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the builder.

TIP: If you are still covered under the two year statutory warranty the builder will only repair a crack if it is leaking (unless it is a crack >6mm wide). If you are worried about the crack's "leak potential", run your hose outside at the crack location for an hour or two. If it leaks, contact your builder to have it repaired.