Tarion hired a non-structural engineer to inspect the structural integrity of our foundation wall in our 2-Year warranty claim. We have a foundation wall that has been failing with leaking structural cracks for 3.5 years. We believe his report is faulty with errors, omissions and non observance of building code violations. This engineer did not even see the full wall as it was fully insulated and covered with vapour barrier.How can you properly assess a structural wall without seeing it? Here is some background info on the foundation.

This all started with the failure of a city inspector to ensure the 9 foot high basement foundation was laterally supported as required under Part 4 of the building code. It should be noted that the city issued a building permit for the wrong house. This inspector was using the wrong house plans for the entire construction of our home, a mistake that should have been evident to him at the footings stage. Had he used the correct plans he would have noted a concrete wall support pilaster was missing at midpoint of the long 60 foot east wall as well. The inspector permitted the backfilling up to 7 feet high which even for an 8 foot high foundation without joist support is a violation. The building code allows only 3 feet 11 inches of backfill on unsupported foundation walls. There were plenty of house foundations in violation of this code on our street.

Our house is then allowed to be completely framed and the stress of all this on the unsupported foundation caused a structural failure. Two almost mirror image 9 foot long diagonal large structural cracks appeared, one at each end of the foundation wall. It was only after the wall was failing that the incompetent inspector realized his mistake and called the builder to get a structural engineers recommendation for the lateral support wall. The support wall went in but a month late and was not done as specified. The support wall was never reviewed by any engineer. The foundation wall has continued to crack and leak 3 more times since the support wall has been installed. The foundation wall has moved in approximately 2 inches to this day.

The Tarion engineer in his report is asserting that this foundation wall is still shrinking after all these years and could produce more cracks from shrinkage in the future. Not one structural engineer we have contacted could believe this statement and all of them said shrinkage and cracking from it occurs typically in the first year. Considering what this foundation has been put through with the movement and the size of the cracks, no one believes the cracking is from shrinkage. We have too many issues with his report to list here.

After consulting with several structural engineers we were advised that a complaint to the P.E.O. would be in order. We filed a complaint and this engineer is now under investigation by the P.E.O.