If your builder has not resolved a warranted item, conciliation is the step where Tarion steps in and decides whether the item is covered. It is not a hearing and not a negotiation — it is an assessment, and it turns almost entirely on what you can demonstrate on the day. Here is how the process works and, more usefully, where homeowners and condominium boards lose items they should have won.
Submitting a warranty form starts a 120-day period during which your builder should repair or otherwise resolve the items on that form. During this window you must give the builder reasonable access to do the work.
Where it goes wrong: items described too vaguely to act on. "Water in the basement" is not a warranty item — it is a symptom. "Water penetration at the north foundation wall, 2.4 m east of the sump, observed after rainfall on three occasions, staining consistent with an ongoing ingress path" is an item a builder must respond to and Tarion can assess. Tarion has explicitly identified insufficiently described items as a reason a claim can fail, so precision at this stage matters more than volume.
If the builder has not resolved a warranted item, you can request that Tarion conduct a conciliation. The fee depends on who is claiming: an individual homeowner pays $250 plus HST for their own unit; a condominium corporation claiming on common elements pays $1,130 ($1,000 plus HST). In both cases the fee is refunded if any item assessed is found to be covered by the warranty.
Condominium corporations follow a different clock. For common elements, the builder's initial repair period on first- and second-year forms ends 18 months after the anniversary of registration, and the corporation must request conciliation within 60 days after that period ends. Tarion then follows up 90 days after the assessment report. The rest of this section describes the homeowner process.
For homeowners, the timing rules are strict and depend on your warranty start date. For homes with a warranty start date on or after May 1, 2024, first-year claims can be conciliated any time after a form is submitted, up until the next form submission date — with year-end forms conciliable until 150 days after submission. For earlier start dates, and for second-year and major structural defect forms, the window is generally 30 days after the end of the builder repair period. Check your specific dates early. Missing the window is the most common way a legitimate claim dies.
In most cases conciliation involves an inspection at the property, with the builder's representative present. It is conducted by a Tarion Warranty Services Representative acting as an impartial decision-maker, who assesses each item against the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and the Construction Performance Guidelines.
During that inspection the representative may ask questions, make observations, take photographs, or bring in a specialist. Note the asymmetry: Tarion can bring technical expertise into the room. You are responsible for presenting your own position.
How to prepare:
In the weeks after the inspection, Tarion issues a report to you and the builder stating which items are covered. If items are warranted, the builder has a final 30 days to resolve them (for common elements, Tarion follows up with the corporation 90 days after the report date). Tarion then follows up to confirm whether that happened; if items remain outstanding, Tarion works with you directly — which can mean directing the builder to complete a repair, paying compensation, or arranging a third party to do the work.
There is also a consequence for the builder. If Tarion determines the builder failed to meet their warranty obligations during the repair period, the conciliation is chargeable: the builder pays Tarion's inspection fee, and it goes on their Ontario Builder Directory record for ten years. This is precisely why well-documented claims often settle before conciliation ever happens.
Three routes exist, and they are not mutually exclusive:
In our experience the items that fail are rarely the ones that were not covered. They are the ones that were described imprecisely, reported late, repaired before they were documented, or presented without reference to the standard they breach. All four are avoidable, and all four are decided long before anyone walks the site.
One more: do not sign off on a builder's repair without confirming the underlying cause was addressed. A patched drywall stain over an unresolved ingress path resets nothing except your evidence.
An individual homeowner pays $250 plus HST to request a conciliation for their own unit; a condominium corporation claiming on common elements pays $1,130 ($1,000 plus HST). That fee is refunded if Tarion determines that one or more of the assessed items is covered by the warranty. If you resolve matters with your builder beforehand, you can cancel and receive a refund provided you give at least 24 hours' notice.
It is not required. But you are responsible for presenting your position, and Tarion assesses items against the Ontario Building Code and Construction Performance Guidelines. Items tied to those standards with supporting evidence are assessed on their technical merits; items described as general complaints often are not.
If Tarion determines the builder did not meet their warranty obligations within the repair period, the conciliation is deemed chargeable. The builder pays Tarion's inspection fee and the outcome is recorded on their Ontario Builder Directory record for ten years.
Yes. Common-element claims follow a parallel process, typically flowing from the first-year performance audit and the Performance Audit Tracking Sheet. The documentation standard is the same, and the audit record becomes central evidence.
After the Conciliation Assessment Report, the builder has 30 days. Tarion then follows up, and where items remain unresolved may direct the builder to complete the repair, assess repair costs and compensate you directly, or in rare cases arrange for a third party to carry out the work.
We prepare the engineering evidence Tarion assesses against — and attend the inspection with you. Tell us the property and the items in dispute, and we will come back with scope and a fixed fee.
Discuss Your Claim →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.
