| Anecdotal evidence, consumer complaints, and media reports indicate widespread problems with new home construction in parts of British Columbia. While no type of housing has been immune, the problem of water penetration in low-rise, wood-frame condominium buildings has been particularly common and expensive to repair.
The responsibility and expense of identifying and correcting deficient residential construction and repairing any resulting damage too often fall on the home buyer or condominium association. Repair costs in buildings with water leaks average more than $7,000 per unit, according to research sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through the Building Envelope Research Consortium. Home owner costs have in some cases exceeded $30,000.
Efforts are underway to identify and solve technical problems in the types of construction affected. Research has begun, new architectural training is being offered, technical bulletins have been published, and a best practices guide and quality assurance protocol are under development. These should go a long way toward solving the problem, as responsible builders and contractors will learn what works and what doesn't and how they can do a better job.
Home buyers have become more aware of the potential pitfalls of buying new, and more consumer education materials and seminars are available than ever before. Most people appear to agree, however, that "Buyer beware" is not an adequate response to these problems, particularly when some potentially troublesome construction deficiencies are not readily apparent even to a trained eye. There seems to be a consensus that consumers need to be both better educated and better protected when buying a house or condominium and that there should be more recourse available to them if something does go wrong.
The purpose of this discussion paper is, first, to raise some of the issues that need to be considered before government can act on improving consumer protection, quality and accountability in housing construction and, second, to provide a further opportunity for interested parties to comment on proposals that have been put forward to address these issues. A summary of the various proposals is contained at the back of the paper.* |
