Residential Builder Licensing

Home Warranty Insurance

 


Residential Builder Licensing

Licences Issued: New and Renewals

Year (Calendar) Number of Licences
1999 1,206
2000 1,300
2001 1,081
2002 2,843
2003 3,858
2004 4,041
2005 4,261
2006 4,837
2007 5,616
2008 5,645
2009 5,058
2010 5,068

(Jan 1 - Sep 30) 2010 3,944
(Jan 1 - Sep 30) 2011 4,302

Home Warranty Insurance

New Homes Enrolled with Home Warranty Insurance1

Year (Calendar) Single Detached Homes Homes in Multi-Unit
Buildings (two or more units)
Total New Homes Enrolled
1999 1,476 310 1,786
2000 4,636 4,988 9,624
2001 5,974 5,908 11,882
2002 9,186 12,077 21,263
2003 11,510 16,236 27,746
2004 11,773 19,752 31,525
2005 11,693 23,796 35,489
2006 11,220 24,694 35,914
2007 10,334 28,440 38,774
2008 8,348 19,712 28,060
2009 7,376 7,246 14,622
2010 8,703 14,684 23,387

(Jan 1 - Sep 30) 2010 7,130 12,057 19,187
(Jan 1 - Sep 30) 2011 6,046 10,949 16,995

Warranty Insurance Claims

Type of Claim2 Sep 2010 Sep 2011
Claims received 2,670 2,610
Claims covered3 826 910
Claims not covered 289 596
Claims resolved by builder4 2,500 1,189
Claims paid 156 193
Mediations initiated by owners 25 44
Legal actions commenced by owners 4 4
Legal actions concluded 3 13

Data provided by the following warranty providers:

  • Aviva Insurance Canada and Royal & SunAlliance (National Home Warranty an Aviva Company)
  • Commonwealth Insurance (Willis Canada)
  • Echelon General Insurance Company of Canada (Pacific Home Warranty Insurance Service Inc.)
  • Travelers Guarantee Company of Canada (formerly St. Paul Guarantee Insurance Company)

Footnotes

1New homes enrolled include homes constructed by Licensed Residential Builders for which the HPO has received verification from the home warranty insurance company that warranty insurance is in place. Minor adjustments may be made to these figures over time as occasionally new homes are withdrawn from warranty.

2Warranty providers have provided data presented under categories of “claims covered”, “claims not covered”, “claims resolved by builder” and “claims paid” that is based on claims that may have been received at any time in the past, or based on claims that have been received only during the specific quarter(s) indicated.
3Includes claims that have been determined by the warranty provider to be valid, but may not have yet been resolved.
4Includes claim files closed without the warranty provider having incurred a loss.

Definitions

Claims or Claims Received
written notice from an owner in keeping with Part 2, Section 16 of BC Regulation 29/99, including copies to the warranty provider of notices sent directly to a licensed residential builder. Subsequent written notices adding items to an original claim do not constitute additional (new) complaints, unless the new notice is submitted after a claim paid status has been previously determined.
Claims covered
claim that results in a warranty provider evaluating the claim in keeping with Schedule 2, Section 3(2) of BC Regulation 29/99 and the determination is that the claim is valid or covered.
Claims not covered
claim that has been inspected and the determination of the claim being not valid or not covered has been communicated to the owner in keeping with Schedule 2, Section 3(3) and (4) of BC Regulation 29/99.
Claims resolved by builder
claims where the original builder has completed the required repairs.
Claims paid
claim where a warranty provider has evaluated the claim and found it (any item within a list of items) to be valid under the terms of the policy of home warranty insurance, and the warranty provider is not able to have the item(s) rectified directly by the residential builder (i.e. claim paid includes claims where a warranty providers pays to resolve a valid claim and recovers from/accesses a letter of credit or other security).
Mediation initiated by owners
commencement of a process as set out in Schedule 2, Section 1 of BC Regulation 29/99. The "trigger event" would be the delivery of a written request to mediate in keeping with S1(2) of Schedule 2.
Legal actions commenced by owners
action commenced in the Supreme Court of B.C. by an owner with respect to a dispute between a warranty provider and an owner arising under home warranty insurance. The trigger event would be the delivery of court documents to the warranty provider.