The Ontario Building Officials Association (OBOA), Tarion Warranty Corporation, and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) have announced what they say is a groundbreaking partnership agreement to increase consumer protection for new home buyers, improve industry standards and achieve greater consistency in education and application of standards in the province’s new home building industry.
The Ontario Building Partnership will solidify a framework in which the three organizations can act to uphold excellence in Ontario’s building industry, the announcement said. “Although the partners have traditionally worked together, this agreement solidifies a framework to uphold excellence and elevate the new home building industry.”
“We’ve been partners for years on a number of important issues, like preventing illegal building,” said OHBA CEO Joe Vaccaro. “Now, the Ontario Building Partnership will prioritize even more issues that are important to Ontario’s builders, municipalities, and new home buyers.”
One of the first initiatives of the partnership includes striking a new working group that will focus on:
- Advocating for a legislated, province-wide program to protect home buyers from illegal builders;
- Partnering on public education initiatives, including “Who Does What” campaigns, information sharing on trade strikes and other industrywide matters and regional issues such as soil conditions and radon detection;
- Ensuring that Ontario’s home buyers benefit from consistent and improved construction standards across the province.
“The home building landscape in Ontario is continually changing,” said OBOA president Matt Farrell. “New technologies, new risks and building innovations make it all the more important for us to be working together.”
Tarion CEO Howard Bogach said: “Part of what we’re trying to achieve is greater consistency in education and application of standards, and increased professionalism across the province. We know that will, in turn, provide greater consumer confidence and better products for the consumer.”