NEW HOMES WARRANTIES AND INSPECTIONS Do your homework

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NEW HOMES WARRANTIES AND INSPECTIONS

Globe and Mail - Canada*

Do your homework

Pre-delivery inspections and home warranties can't take the place of

careful, independent research and expert opinion

MIKE HOLMES

From Friday's Globe and Mail

August 1, 2008

Since my recent column on new-home pre-delivery inspections (PDI),

I've had people ask why I recommend that a qualified house inspector

or contractor be present for them even though the municipality has

issued an occupancy permit. The government would never let a family

move into a house that wasn't safe, right?

I'm sorry to tell you that this isn't the case in many

municipalities. The name " occupancy permit " suggests that a home

is " fit for occupancy, " but it means only that the dwelling

generally meets minimum building code standards, and that it has

passed inspections during the main stages of construction. Not taken

into account in issuing the permit are the quality of workmanship

and materials, health and safety issues, the overall condition of

the house, and even some minor code violations.

Recently, a police officer came to my office seeking some advice. He

and his wife had bought a new home in Burlington, Ont., and were

scheduled to move in the following week. An occupancy permit had

been issued, but it looked like there was a big problem with the

house — the entire basement was covered in what appeared to be black

mould.

He had photos that showed mould on all the wood framing and stairs,

as well as cracks in the new foundation. Near these cracks, red

streaks were running down the walls, showing that water had mixed

with the red clay outside and was penetrating the foundation.

There was a distinct red watermark one foot up the wall, and the

bottom of all the wood framing was black and rotted. It looked like

the basement had been under water for a long period of time,

possibly for months. The concrete floor had green patches of

something — moss, mould? — growing on it. (I totally endorse green

roofs, but green basement floors? Not so much.)

He made many calls to the builder, the municipality, and the Ontario

New Home Warranty Program. He got no answers, no support — nothing.

But he had an occupancy permit saying that he and his wife and baby

could move in! That makes me angry.

So how can you avoid this? First, don't let the fact that a new home

comes with a warranty be the deciding factor in buying it. If you

take a really close look at new-home warranties and compare what

they actually cover with the problems typically found in

construction of these houses, you'll begin to understand why.

If you talk to anyone who has tried to use their warranty — and

consider the cost involved and effort it takes to put in a claim —

you might conclude it's wiser to just pretend the warranty doesn't

exist.

The solution? Be proactive — right from the beginning.

Say you've looked at some model homes and have narrowed down your

list of home builders. All of these companies have great

reputations, of course. You've heard their radio ads, which tell you

they've won all sorts of awards for excellence and customer

satisfaction. Don't take their word for it. Go and ask their happy

customers directly.

Find one of their developments — I would look at homes that are one

or two years old — and knock on some doors. Ask the homeowners if

they are satisfied. Do they have any complaints that have not been

addressed? Sometimes you can even get an indication based on how

many " for sale " signs are out after the first spring.

So now you've talked to homeowners, gotten good reports and you're

ready to talk to a sales person. Don't sign anything without having

your lawyer look it over. I can't stress this enough. Yes, this

legal advice costs money, but it is for the protection of the

biggest purchase of your life. A little up-front legal advice is far

cheaper than hiring a lawyer after something has gone wrong.

And before you sign your purchase agreement, have your lawyer write

in a clause stating that you will have a qualified construction

expert or inspector at the PDI, so there is no argument with the

builder down the road.

Some builders will not want an expert there pointing out things that

the average buyer wouldn't notice, such as small defects that could

become bigger problems in a year or two. But you need to have

someone with you to represent your interests.

If your inspector does find a problem, he will be able to advise you

on how to properly deal with it, enabling you to make sure the

builder doesn't implement just a band-aid solution.

I recently looked at a two-year-old home where the homeowner had a

continuing leak in the shower drain. The builder came back on two

occasions to fix it — both times by simply smearing caulking over

the crack. This cheap and temporary repair was done to get the

builder past the two-year plumbing warranty period. When the leak

came back a third time — which, of course, it was bound to do since

the reason for the leak was never addressed — the warranty period

was over and the homeowner had to pay a licensed plumber to get it

fixed properly.

The Burlington homeowner I mentioned earlier will be having his PDI

next week. He is currently paying to have mould testing done, and

has hired a qualified inspector to be with him during the

inspection. We'll see what happens next.

Mike Holmes is the host of Holmes on Homes on HGTV. For more

information, go to www.holmesonhomes.com

[Guest guest]

Is there any kind of test that works accurately to indicate that there

is NOT a stachybotrys problem when there have been other indications

that there was?

I've read that as far as stachybotrys goes, spore tests are basically

almost useless. That sachybotrys routinely doesn't show up on those

common spore tests.