Welcome to the CPBH "Developments" page where we applaud actions that will be of benefit to homeowners and expose those that won't.
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   DEVELOPMENTS: Unfortunately...

2007 Ontario's minister responsible for consumer protection, Gerry Phillips, receives a failing grade on report card

Oct. 2005 - Disappointments in Ontario in relation to consumer protection for new home purchasers

DEVELOPMENTS: Now That's Progress!

Oct. 2007 Ontario elections - Three out of four Ontario political parties commit to action to better protect Ontario's purchasers of newly built homes.  

Sept. 2007 - CPBH earns "partner" status with the Canadian Consumer Information Gateway (Industry Canada).

Rate Your Builder (Canada) site continues to enhance its information and services, including rating warranty providers.

University of Toronto research paper : Exterior basement insulation for cold climates : Further proof of the need to build better now

June 2007 - Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal agrees to provide additional information to the public

Jan. 24, 2007, Sustainable buildings: A time for engineers to step up, speak up and lead, by Dr. Kim Pressnail, University of Toronto

Nov. 1, 2006 letter from Five BC NDP Members of Parliament to the Minister responsible for CMHC, regarding the need for an immediate solution for BC condominium and co-op housing owners.

2006 Federal Election - Issues identified by CPBH, followed by national party responses.

Housing conditions and asthma: Researchers from the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg and Harvard University looking at the link.

University of Toronto Researchers' Award of Excellence* Winning Paper:
Low-energy homes: Evaluating the economic need to build better now

Abstract: Residential heating and cooling accounts for approximately 10% of all energy used in Canada . Although significant improvements in residential energy use have been made in recent years, the technology already exists to build even more energy-efficient homes. In addition to comfort considerations and the environmental imperatives, there are persuasive economic reasons why better-built homes should be built now. This paper compares the construction and the energy costs of model homes: one home built to the prescribed minimum standard established by the Ontario Building Code and one home built to the R2000 standard. Given the relatively long life cycle of homes built today, and given the relatively high costs of retrofitting existing buildings, this paper shows that it is more economical to build better, more sustainable, homes now. For the full paper.
* Award of Excellence awarded by the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering (CSCE)

Relating to British Columbia's "Leaky Condo" Crisis, researchers at Concordia University are addressing the research question: "How have key organizations in the BC housing industry negotiated, shaped and infuenced the social dialogue surrounding this issue?"
Further information related to this very important research may be found at:
http://ctr.concordia.ca/2004-05/sept_23/03/

Ottawa Judge rules that real estate agent and municipality jointly liable for defective house

An Ottawa judge has found a real-estate agent and a municipality liable in the case of a home that did not meet the Ontario Building Code, and ultimately became uninhabitable. 

 Justice Charles Hackland awarded the homeowner $81,425 for loss in value of the property, $12,000 for mental distress and $5,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, as well as eight years' interest.

In so doing, Justice Hackland sent a clear and important message to both real estate agents and municipalities in this decision:  There is accountability in real estate transactions. Consumers rejoice!  

Canadians for Properly Built Homes would like to emphasize the duty of municipal governments, where they have the responsibility for inspections during construction.  In this case, the Township of Hungerford was found jointly liable for the damages for failing to ensure that the house complied with the Ontario Building Code and for failing to conduct proper inspections during construction.

This is an important finding given the responses of some municipalities when Code violations have been confirmed in new homes.  For example, there have been a number of reports in the media relating to serious problems, i.e., Ontario Building Code (OBC) violations in new home construction in the City of Ottawa over the past years.  Even in cases of serious OBC violations, City of Ottawa officials have repeatedly blamed these problems on others, including the builders, the shortage of trades, the shortage of inspectors, etc., and in this way, downplayed its responsibility for ensuring builder compliance with the Code.  In addition, when recently advised of systemic issues in a development still under construction, the City of Ottawa took the position that it only looks at individual homes, and does not have a responsibility to do an analysis of the issues being reported to it by homeowners who have experienced problems with their new homes in that same development, e.g., to identify systemic issues,  to take appropriate actions to ensure that the finished homes were properly fixed, and to ensure that the same issues were not repeated in future homes in that same project.   Justice Hackland's decision noted that once an inspector is put on notice of the possibility that a construction project may be defective, the inspector may be required to conduct a more thorough inspection.

Justice Hackland's decision noted that while the municipal inspector is not expected to discover every building code violation, the municipality will be liable for those defects that it could reasonably be expected to have detected to have ordered remedied.  

Judge Hackland also sited the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ingles v. Tutkaluk Construction Ltd. [2000, 1 S.C.R. 298], in which Justice Bastarache said "the legislative scheme is designed to ensure that uniform standards of construction safety are imposed and enforced by the municipalities."

Canadians for Properly Built Homes hopes Justice Hackland's decision will help prompt a change in attitude among municipal officials. It is high time that municipalities take seriously their responsibilities for ensuring Building Codes are met.