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New guide benefits homebuyers and builders across BC

Nelson Daily Staff
By Nelson Daily Staff
February 23rd, 2011

A new Residential Construction Performance Guide is the latest information tool to protect buyers of new homes and enhance the quality of construction in British Columbia.

Developed in consultation with home warranty insurance providers for use in British Columbia, the Residential Construction Performance Guide provides advance information that sets out the minimum required performance of new homes covered by home warranty insurance in B.C.

Warranty providers have agreed to use the guide to help determine whether or not a defect claim is covered by their policies of home warranty insurance.

Available free online, the guide explains how warranty providers will evaluate claims for possible defects in design, labour or materials in new homes. It outlines more than 200 possible defects that are searchable online.

This includes the most common defect claims that might be submitted under a home warranty insurance policy – from windows that malfunction to driveway or interior concrete floors that have cracked, or siding that has buckled.

The guide is also a valuable information tool for residential builders. Although warranty providers are ultimately responsible for construction defects, most warranty providers have an indemnity agreement with each builder client.

This requires the residential builder to correct defects for a certain period of time in which the home warranty insurance coverage is in effect. Builders can use the guide to help meet or exceed the standard to which their new homes will be measured in the event of a claim.

The guide is designed primarily for conventional low-rise, wood-frame homes, which is the predominant method of residential construction in B.C. It also provides some helpful guidelines with respect to the common property of larger multi-unit buildings, based on the most frequent concerns identified by warranty providers.

The guide is based on requirements under the Homeowner Protection Act that all new homes built for sale or under a construction contract in B.C. must be covered by home warranty insurance or be exempted by the act.

It complements the B.C. building code, but goes beyond the minimum requirements of the code to deal more specifically with defects in the design, materials and workmanship of new homes.

Created by the Province in partnership with the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) and industry, the new Residential Construction Performance Guide can be viewed on the HPO website at:  www.hpo.bc.ca
 

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