Illegal home builders can cost buyers thousands.

• Author: Migneault, Jonathan

Illegal home builders can cost new homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars if something goes wrong with their new home.

That was the message the Ontario Home Builders' Association and Tarion Warranty Corporation brought to Sudbury during a provincial tour to educate consumers about the provincial home warranty program, and the risks tied to illegal, and unregistered, home builders.

Professional home builders are legally required to register with Tarion, a provincial organization established in 1976 to manage obligatory warranties for new homes and enforce the Ontario New Warranty Plan Act.

When a home builder is registered with Tarion, their homes come with a seven-year comprehensive warranty that covers the entire home for the first year, and major structural defects, such as cracks in the foundation, for seven years.

Depending on the value of the home, the warranty can range from $350 to $1,500.

But illegal builders skirt the costs and responsibilities associated with Tarion membership, and put new homeowners at risk, said Vince Molinaro, incoming president of the Ontario Home Builders' Association. "If they're doing that illegally they're probably doing a bunch of other things illegally- Molinaro said about unregistered home builders. "They're probably doing cash jobs and not remitting the proper taxes, which costs all of us. How can you trust somebody who's doing all these things?" Illegal home builders, Molinaro said, may also not pay for workplace safety insurance, which puts the home buyer at financial risk if a worker is injured on the job.

The Ontario Home Builders' Association estimates around five per cent of new homes in the province are built illegally. "This problem has always existed," Molinaro said.

Laura Higgs, executive officer with the Sudbury and District Home...