A newly registered condominium corporation inherits a set of deadlines it did not choose and, in most cases, was never told about. Miss them and warranty coverage on construction deficiencies quietly disappears — not through any decision, just through the calendar.
This is the whole timeline in order, with the dates that matter and the mistakes we see most often at each stage. Every date below runs from your registration date, so find that first. Everything else follows from it.
Nothing is legally due yet, which is exactly why this window gets wasted. Use it to:
The first-year performance audit must be conducted between 6 and 10 months from the date of registration. This is not guidance; it is the window.
The Condominium Act requires the audit, and Tarion requires specific qualifications: the performance auditor must hold a certificate of authorization under the Professional Engineers Act, or a certificate of practice under the Architects Act. A general home inspector cannot perform it.
The audit is a comprehensive inspection of the common elements — corridors, amenity rooms, mechanical spaces, elevators, the building envelope, the parking structure — producing a documented list of alleged defects.
Book at month 4 or 5, not month 9. Auditing at the end of the window leaves no room to survey owners, chase missing drawings, or re-attend if weather blocks a roof or envelope inspection. It also removes any margin before the month-12 filing deadline.
The performance audit report must be submitted to Tarion, together with a Performance Audit Tracking Summary, before the end of the 12th month following registration.
The Tracking Summary lists every item identified in the audit. It is the working document for the entire warranty period that follows — the record through which the corporation and builder communicate about what is being repaired.
Around this time the corporation must also appoint a designate: the single point of contact with Tarion, named on an Appointment of Designate Form. The designate can be a board member, the property manager, or the performance auditor. That last option is worth considering — the person who wrote the report is usually best placed to defend it, and turnover among directors and managers is the most common reason a claim loses continuity halfway through.
The builder has an 18-month repair period, running from the first anniversary of registration, to repair or resolve the warranted items on the Tracking Summary.
This is the longest and most neglected stretch of the whole process. Two obligations run through it:
The failure we see most: a board signs off on a repair because the visible symptom is gone. The stain is painted over; the water path is untouched. It returns after the warranty period, and the record now says the item was resolved. Before you close any item, ask what the root cause was and how it was confirmed fixed.
A Second Year Common Elements Form can be submitted at any time during the second year after the warranty start date. It must be accompanied by a Performance Audit and Performance Audit Tracking Summary, submitted by midnight on the second anniversary of the warranty start date.
Two-year common element coverage focuses on water penetration and the building's major systems — the defects that often need a full seasonal cycle to reveal themselves. A building that looked sound in month 8 may have shown you something by month 20.
If the builder has not resolved warranted items by the end of the initial repair period, the corporation can request a conciliation — within 60 days following the end of that period.
For common elements, the conciliation fee is $1,130 ($1,000 plus HST), refunded if Tarion determines that one or more assessed items is covered by the warranty. (Individual homeowners pay a different, lower fee for their own units — do not confuse the two.)
Tarion then issues a Conciliation Assessment Report and contacts the corporation 90 days after the report date to confirm whether warranted items were resolved. Anything still outstanding, Tarion resolves directly with the corporation by way of a settlement.
A Major Structural Defect Common Elements Form or performance audit can be submitted at any time after the end of the second year and before the seventh anniversary of the warranty start date. This is the long tail — structural failures that take years to become visible, and the reason a corporation should keep its audit documentation permanently rather than filing it away after year two.
Every deficiency documented and repaired inside the warranty period is a repair the builder pays for. Every one missed becomes a line in a future reserve fund study — paid by owners, at a higher cost, years later.
For a new corporation, the performance audit is the single highest-return engineering decision available. The deadlines are the only thing standing between the two outcomes.
Between 6 and 10 months from the date of registration of the project. The report must then be submitted to Tarion, with a Performance Audit Tracking Summary, before the end of the 12th month following registration.
The performance auditor must hold a certificate of authorization under the Professional Engineers Act, or a certificate of practice under the Architects Act. A general home inspector is not qualified to perform it.
The builder has an 18-month repair period running from the first anniversary of the registration date, to repair or resolve warranted items listed on the Performance Audit Tracking Summary.
Tarion expects the condominium corporation's designate to update the Performance Audit Tracking Summary every 90 days, using the MyHome portal. Many boards are unaware of this and let the record lapse, which weakens their position later.
The designate is the corporation's single point of contact with Tarion, named on an Appointment of Designate Form around the time the audit is submitted. It can be a board member, the property manager, or the performance auditor. Naming the auditor can help preserve continuity through board and management turnover.
For common elements, the conciliation fee is $1,130 ($1,000 plus HST), refunded to the corporation if Tarion determines that one or more assessed items is covered by the warranty. The fee for an individual homeowner's own unit is different and lower.
Your audit window is open now. Send us the building address, registration date and unit count — we will confirm your deadlines and send a fixed-fee proposal within two business days.
Book Your Performance Audit →Serving the Greater Toronto Area & Ontario
Toronto • North York • Scarborough • Etobicoke • East York • Mississauga • Brampton • Vaughan • Richmond Hill • Markham • Thornhill • Aurora • Newmarket • Stouffville • King City • Oakville • Burlington • Milton • Halton Hills • Pickering • Ajax • Whitby • Oshawa • Caledon — plus Hamilton, Ottawa and communities across Ontario.
