Tarion warranty explained — what it covers and what it does not

Tarion is Ontario's statutory new home warranty program. It is mandatory on every new home built in the province, runs for one, two, and seven years on different categories of defect, and is funded by enrolment fees the builder pays at the time of registration. It is not optional, and it is not the same as the contractor's own warranty.

Tarion does not cover renovations. That is the single most important sentence in this piece, and it is the one homeowners are most often confused about.

What Tarion is

Tarion (formerly the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan) is administered by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority and the Tarion Warranty Corporation. Every builder of a new home in Ontario must be registered with the HCRA and must enrol every new home with Tarion before the home is occupied.

The warranty has three coverage periods stacked on top of each other:

• One-year warranty. Covers defects in workmanship and materials, the home being built to the Ontario Building Code, the home being fit for habitation, and protection against unauthorized substitutions.
• Two-year warranty. Covers water penetration through the basement or foundation walls, defects in materials in the electrical, plumbing, and heating delivery and distribution systems, defects in materials that result in detachment, displacement, or deterioration of exterior cladding, violations of the Building Code affecting health and safety, and major structural defects.
• Seven-year warranty. Covers major structural defects only — things that affect the load-bearing structure of the home or restrict its normal use.

The three periods all start on the date of possession. The one-year clock starts running the day you take occupancy and ends one year later, regardless of when defects appear or are reported.

The financial limits in 2026 are $400,000 for a freehold home and $300,000 for a condominium unit, with separate aggregate limits at the project level for condos.

The Pre-Delivery Inspection

Before you take possession of a new Tarion-enrolled home, you walk through with the builder for a Pre-Delivery Inspection. The PDI is a documented checklist of every defect, deficiency, and incomplete item visible at the time of walkthrough. Anything noted on the PDI is the builder's responsibility to fix.

The PDI is the homeowner's first warranty leverage. Two pieces of advice we give every new-build client:

• Bring a third party. A home inspector or a trusted friend with construction knowledge will find things you miss after the emotional weight of seeing your finished home.
• Note everything, even small things. Cosmetic items (paint touch-ups, scratches on hardware, missing trim caulk) are easier to get fixed during the PDI than two months later.

The PDI is not the only chance to report defects. The 30-day form, the year-end form, and the second-year form give additional reporting windows. But the PDI is the only one that catches deficiencies present at handover before they get attributed to "normal wear" later.

What Tarion does not cover

This is the part that surprises people.

• Damage from improper homeowner maintenance. If you fail to maintain caulking around tubs and showers and water gets in, that is on you.
• Normal wear and tear. Caulking shrinks, paint scuffs, hardware loosens. Tarion does not replace any of this.
• Damage from severe weather, fires, floods, or other casualties. That is what insurance is for.
• Damage from settlement or shrinkage that does not exceed Tarion's published tolerances. Drywall cracks of less than a certain width, for example, are normal and not warranty events.
• Things that are perfectly built but the homeowner does not like. Tarion is not a satisfaction warranty. If your kitchen cabinets are exactly what was specified and properly installed, Tarion does not help you because you wish they were different.
• Renovations. Even if performed by a Tarion-registered builder, work on an existing home is not Tarion-covered work.

The renovation exclusion is critical. Tarion exists for new homes only — homes built from foundation up where the entire structure is new. Additions, gut renovations, secondary suites, kitchen and bathroom renovations are all outside Tarion's coverage entirely.

For more on what we do as a Tarion-registered builder for new construction, see our new home construction page. For Oakville-specific context where Tarion is most relevant in our work, see Oakville.

Why renovations need a separate written warranty

Because Tarion does not cover renovation work, the only warranty on a renovation is the one the contractor offers in writing. There is no statutory backstop. If the contract does not specify warranty terms, you have no warranty.

We offer a written workmanship warranty on every renovation project. The standard terms are:

• Two years on workmanship. If something we built fails because we built it wrong, we come back and fix it, no charge.
• Manufacturer warranty passthrough on materials. We register the warranty in your name and provide the documentation.
• Five years on structural elements where we performed the structural work — beams, footings, underpinning, load-bearing modifications. This is longer than market standard because structural work is the work most expensive to remediate later.

The warranty terms should be explicit in the contract you sign. Specifically: what is covered, what is not, the response time when you report an issue, the dispute resolution process if we disagree on whether something is a warranty event, and what happens if our company changes hands during the warranty period.

A contractor who offers a verbal warranty is offering nothing. Get it written.

How to file a Tarion claim

If you have a new Tarion-enrolled home and a warranty issue arises, the process is:

1. Confirm the issue is within a current warranty period (one, two, or seven years from possession date).
2. Document the issue with photographs, dates, and a written description.
3. Notify the builder in writing first. Most builders fix legitimate issues without involving Tarion.
4. If the builder does not respond or refuses to fix, file a Statutory Warranty Form with Tarion. The forms are time-sensitive — the 30-day form, year-end form, and second-year form each have specific filing windows.
5. Tarion conducts a conciliation inspection. An independent Tarion inspector visits the home, reviews the issue against the warranty standards, and issues a finding.
6. If the finding is in your favour, the builder is required to fix. If the builder still does not fix, Tarion fixes and bills the builder, with Tarion's funds standing behind the work if the builder is no longer in business.

The timeline from claim to resolution can run several months. The system works, but it is not fast.

What this means for the contract you sign

For a new home build, look for:

• Tarion enrolment confirmed in the contract.
• HCRA registration number listed.
• Builder's address and contact for warranty service after handover.
• A clear handover process including the PDI date and procedure.

For a renovation, look for:

• A written workmanship warranty with specific terms (years of coverage, scope, response time).
• Manufacturer warranty passthrough.
• A clause specifying what happens if the contractor's business changes hands.
• A dispute resolution process.

Either way, do not rely on what was said in a meeting. The contract is the warranty.

For more on the contractor interview that leads to a good contract, see our hiring piece.

What to do next

If you are buying a new build, confirm the builder is HCRA-registered and the home is being enrolled with Tarion. Ask to see the enrolment confirmation before you make any deposit. If you are renovating an existing home, get the workmanship warranty terms in writing in the contract — and read them. The single most expensive renovation moment is realizing the warranty does not cover what you assumed it covered.