In regards to the License Appeal Tribunal of October 15th 2007, the Vice Chair in his decision ordered Tarion warrant the two main items in our claim, which are the ceramic tile floors in violation of the Ontario Building Code. It is now over 5 weeks and Tarion has in no way complied with the order as we have not received any communication or the required paperwork showing these two items are now warranted. We have made several requests for the paper work with no response from those responsible for it. This decision of course was the last thing that Tarion and the added party, our builder, First View Homes wanted to hear as they have been fighting this for over two years. Even the builder will not refer to the repairs as being warranted, stating instead they are to meet an "order to comply" issued by the municipality. We are tired of Tarion’s games and they need to be penalized for their behaviour, or better yet abolished in favour of a government warranty program overseen by the Ombudsman Of Ontario.

In our attempt to resolve these issues long ago, we went up the chain of command at Tarion as high as the president. We pointed out that the Tarion rep. in his decision exaggerated the mortar bed thickness, stating measurements that still did not comply with the code. He then contradicted his own measurements stating that compliance with the building code had been met. We provided detailed photos of the floor construction that clearly indicated the mortar bed was not even close to the measurements asserted by the claim rep. Even with all this evidence, everyone at Tarion resisted doing what was right. We believe this was an obvious attempt to deny building code violations and the homeowners consumer protection they are entitled to in order to protect the builder from many costly repairs. This was of course because the builder has built many homes with the same deficient tile floor construction that would also have to be warranted under claims. With Tarion fighting this so long, there are homeowners with deficient tile floors that can no longer claim them.

As we have stated before, the tile floor issue is serious because if you do not remedy the building code violations soon enough either by warranty or through an order to comply, your tile may no longer be available. In our case with Tarion delaying this over two years, our original floor tile that matched our wall tile is discontinued and has gone through dye lot changes. For homeowners who are not aware of the tile floor violations whether they have suffered damage or not, they may find that they can no longer match their tile in making simple repairs. They then are on the hook for replacing their tile floors that the builder should be responsible for.

According to Robert Benzie, the Queen's Park Bureau Chief (in a Toronto Star article dated June 6, 2007): "Premier Dalton McGuinty has named former Toronto Star reporter Harold Levy as the public advocate for buyers of new homes in Ontario. Levy...is now the consumers' representative on the Tarion board of directors...".

If homeowners are unable to get satisfaction with Tarion through the normal channels, homeowners have the option to write to Mr. Levy, and ask for his assistance. A registered letter to Mr. Levy's attention (sent to the Tarion corporate office) is recommended.

If Mr. Levy does not respond to the homeowners' satisfaction, the matter can then be taken up with Premier McGuinty, given that he appointed Mr. Levy to the Tarion board - according to the Toronto Star article.

I have filed a complaint with the Chief Administrative Officer & Registrar, Ms. Francine Blais at the License Appeal Tribunal.

New Home Victim wrote:
In regards to the License Appeal Tribunal of October 15th 2007, the Vice Chair in his decision ordered Tarion warrant the two main items in our claim, which are the ceramic tile floors in violation of the Ontario Building Code. It is now over 5 weeks and Tarion has in no way complied with the order, as we have not received any communication or the required paperwork showing these two items are now warranted. We have made several requests for the paper work with no response from those responsible for it. This decision of course was the last thing that Tarion and the added party, our builder, First View Homes wanted to hear as they have been fighting this for over two years. Even the builder will not refer to the repairs as being warranted, stating instead they are to meet an "order to comply" issued by the municipality. We are tired of Tarion’s games and they need to be penalized for their behaviour, or better yet abolished in favour of a government warranty program overseen by the Ombudsman Of Ontario.

In our attempt to resolve these issues long ago we went up the chain of command at Tarion as high as the president. We pointed out that the Tarion rep. in his decision exaggerated the mortar bed thickness, stating measurements that still did not comply with the code. He then contradicted his own measurements stating that compliance with the building code had been met. We provided detailed photos of the floor construction that clearly indicated the mortar bed was not even close to the measurements asserted by the claim rep. Even with all this evidence, everyone at Tarion resisted doing what was right. We believe this was an obvious attempt to deny building code violations and the homeowners consumer protection they are entitled in order to protect the builder from many costly repairs. This was of course because the builder has built many homes with the same deficient tile floor construction that would also have to be warranted under claims. With Tarion fighting this so long, there are homeowners with deficient tile floors that can no longer claim them.

As we have stated before, the tile floor issue is serious because if you do not remedy the building code violations soon enough either by warranty or through an order to comply, your tile may no longer be available. In our case with Tarion delaying this over two years, our original floor tile that matched our wall tile is discontinued and has gone through dye lot changes. We are finding it difficult to find a equal value co-ordinating floor tile. For homeowners who are not aware of the tile floor violations whether they have suffered damage or not, they may find that they can no longer match their tile in making simple repairs. They then are on the hook for replacing their tile floors that the builder should be responsible for.

Has Tarion complied?