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 Minor adjustments may be made to these figures over time as occasionally new homes are withdrawn from warranty.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.

