This is in regards to the comment that jksk wrote,wish I could give you advice but when our problems started two weeks after we moved in everyone thought we were sucking wind,they took a blind eye to it and in the 4 years we have been going through this it has cost us our savings and our dreams for a future this was our dream home and it has been a daily battle. We need closure. The city has made a lot of changes that will benefit future new home owners and I thank them for that, but my family has to still go through the channels. The only advice I can give you new or old house hire your own BUILDING CODE SPECIALIST to insure your families health and safety.

Good Luck
Joanne West

I'm a newcomer to Canada and I'm really scared to read all these comments about purchasing a home
I've got one important question to ask however and that's What can we do as members of the public to stop this from happening!
Practically every Canadian Family buys a house. If so much of this is occurring why can't we as a group of Citizens do something to stop it. Perhaps we can form a Citizen group which can hire appropriate inspectors
I'm really saddened to see that these homeowners have literally no where to go to get justice. Sometimes trusting that a government has your best interests at heart isn't going to work. Governments make a fuss if people make a fuss.
Where is the public group that is getting together to petition and publicize these problems and if there is none perhaps we should start one....
Anyone out there that can give advice on that.
Thanks
JK

I enjoyed your April 11th episode with Mike Holmes. I found it ironic though that shortly into the program was a commercial for Direct Buy (your Mar 27 show), a company that you criticized.

This a comment in regards to Ricardo, he did offer to buy the house back, but without paying for all the upgrades that we paid for and assume all responsibilities for the Ontario Building Code violations. Can't say too much because of the legality but we just want our life back it has destroyed our health and our marriage and our life savings. Where do you get off you don't know what you are talking about I live it with my family every day and it is a nightmare. What, were supposed to sell it and let someone else take on the burden. I hope no one ever has to go through this ever again. The city is at least putting things in place so it doesn't happen to someone else thanks to us.This should never have happened Laws are in place for a reason. The building is the building code.

Where does the Tarion home warranty system kick in here, why are these homeowners left to fix these things themselves, our experience with Tarion after 18 months trying to get things fixed makes it clear its a "builders" self regulated system, doesnt help the homeowner .

A follow up story should include the Tarion :"scam"

We are Better off than Hamilton, but many problems with my builder on a purchase of a "premium" priced executive: home

I live in a new subdivision an adult community... A new building contracter bought up the rest of the lots that had not been developed yet. I have been watching the building prossess since last summer. I have gotten into a couple of arguments with the builder and his foreman about mediocre and below standard buiding practices.
I called the city inspector and nothing will be done. Oh well! the attitude. I called Tarrion I got a rep in Niagara
Falls with a phone and office in his cellar. Again too bad.
I don't understand a system that allows builders and renovation contractors to not stand behind their work and contract, entered into knowing full well they won't finish, do below standard work,hire unlicenced employee's and no permits. The burocracy make the owners of the homes hold up their end of a contract but the contractor has no obligation to uphold his part.

As with anything, a good foundation and sound structure you will have no problems!

I work for a new home builder in Sask, we build 70 - 100 houses a year and here is my advice.

Reserch your builders back ground. Check with the Canadian Home Builders Association or the local Home Builders Association.

Ask for referances, look at homes that they have under construction. If they are a good builder your sales person should have no problem in showing you homes that they are building.

The key to a well built home is!!!!! Attention to detail befor INSULATION! Foundation, framing, plumbing, electrical, building paper, windows, weeping tile and simply is it well constructed before the finishes are started. You have to start with a good structure or you will have problems. You mite say well, I know nothing about that stuf, if it does not look rite it proble is not. There is nothing wrong with asking questions.

Reserch, reserch, reserch, it's out there for all of us.

excuse me for my writting!!! i'm french,so i may have spelling problems.we are from st-leonard new-brunswick,a small and quiet little town.all started in september 1998 when we herited my mother in law's house.she is now a widdow couldn't live alone.meanwhile,we agreed to stay with her but we have to add more space to the house.i am a mother of two daughters,we hold a familly of 4.renovations was a must for us,due to a lack of space.leagal papers were processed,lawer,a permit,estimate was made,loan to the bank,agreement(signature)from all members of the familly(10)+ my husband they are 11 in all.we did this for our protection for the sake of my 2 girls!!!the contractor we hired was my brother in law OUCH OUCH OUCH,I beleive you must be saying right now!!well guess what? in 2002 we found water comming in our basement.we lost everything in basement damage 22000.00 still no help from insur.

as a home inspector I tell people that if they think Tarion is there for them they are sadly mistaken. tarion is there for the builder and to make money. if you buy a new home be prepaired to be on your own. the builder uses tarions book for warranty work. I could get monkees to do better work then these builders. we must change the laws to protect the consumer and not the builder.

These stories are no surprise to me as I have worked for several builders over the past years and have come to realize that it's not the builder who needs me the most...it's the homebuyer.I have heard and seen enough that the indusrty is showing no signs of changing... Market place and Mike Holmes did a great job in exposing that builder but there are more out there like him

I would like to see a show on "Who is actually doing their job"
You showed builders ripping people off and municipal inspecters not inspecting, permits being issued after the house is built. This is just one industry.

Ever been in a place of business and you know the person serving you doesn't know what they are doing? Ever received the run around from a governmnet office? I was shocked at the reply from Tarion. Brushed it off and was allowed to do so. The public has to get smart and find a solution to stop this madness. We pay twice. Once when our tax dollars pay for these services and again when we get ripped off, or neglected or ignored.
Thank you

I don't know how to comment on the excellent work done by CBC about new homes program. I am one of the victims of these builders. I bought a new energy efficient house in Kingston, Ontario in Aug 2007 from Braebury Homes. Just after TWO WEEKS of buying this house water started leaking in the basement after rain. Wrote Tarion with no response until I called. Within two months again found water leakage from different walls in basement. Roof started leaking in just one year's time. Every time after windy weather, shingles blew off from the roof, Braebury Homes refused to replace shingles after one year, now I am paying $ 100 every time to replace shingles. Hydro post was erected just in front of car garage, which is huge problem if someone is backing out. My advise: Don't buy a brand new house.

I am a site forman for a large builder in western Canada and I see problems like this all the time. One of the biggest problems is untrained, unskilled, unsupervised labour. Anyone can call themselfs a framer but do they know how to fram? Often builders will hire people that come in to the office looking for work with out checking their back ground. Secondly builders hire people to do a job and then leave it at that. Do these people realy know what they are doing? Third problem, untrained building inspectors. I have seen people hired to be building inspectors that their previous job with the city was to read water meters! It takes years of on the job experience and trainning to know what to look for. I have 15 years in as a site forman and I am still learning.
I watch Mike Holms all the time, I might not agree with him all the time but you can't knock his reputation.
Great episode

Mike Holmes for Prime Minister!-we sold our 60's solid built home approx.6 years ago and bought our 5 years new retirement home . What a hugh disappointment-leaking roof, windows leaking to the point of rot and leaking thru and rotting to the flooring, carpenter ants, cracking and leaking of the basement floor (something that the seller totally denied having any trouble with), a freezing north-side bedroom and to add insult to injury this builder was voted builder of the year for this area (in the higher priced homes category) for a couple of years in a row,,I guess it took a couple of years to get it right!!Does anybody have pride in their work, when you're home you should feel like you're HOME!!! Building Inspectors??Contractors with skill or integrity???

As someone in the building construction industry I am intimately familiar with the shortcomings of contractors construction practices and attitudes. Obviously there are major problems that need to be solved that are bred into the culture of building construction.

Mike Holmes is a knowledgable contractor who I find makes comments for effect because he is in front of the camera and occasionally comments on things that are obviously out of his area of expertise because he is simply incorrect. Mike Holmes loses credibility when he makes exaggerated claims and unnecessarily upsets home owners who are already distraught over their poorly constructed house.

This show was an excellent piece to bring attention to a very large problem. I just wish you would have prepared it with a more objective inspector who deals with a building review in a more professional manner.

With this many problems in construction Canada wide, it seems to me that it is up to government to set and enforce rules, to protect it's citizens
in dealings with contractors and in new home constrution.
Government should set a code of conduct for construction workers, and initiate a reporting body, who will take action in the case of construction error.
If seat belt laws can be enforced, so can construction laws.

Finally, it is logical that we as citizens ban together to push for government rules and intervention. How does one start this??

In regards to the opening of the show Mike says that the gas meter is to close to the exhaust vent,I am a Licenced gas fitter in Alberta and we go by the Canadian gas code and code says a vent must be located more than a meter away from a VENT from a gas meter.Maybe Hamilton has different codes than the rest of the country but I doubt it,and I don't think Mike should be scaring the whole country with what he thinks the code is.

Watching this episode gave me cause to re-live the nightmare my wife and I went through buying our first new home. Suffice to say NEVER AGAIN will we buy new. The builder had no customer service whatsoever. In fact, when they painted our house the wrong colour, I was told to take it up with my lawyer if I didn't like it. And Tarion.....what a joke! They are USELESS!!!

Regardless, of who is bashing who. We have a problem. And it needs to be fixed.
The first step is owning up to your responsibilities. If there is any doubt then redo it or find someone who knows the proper information.
The next step is asking yourself...."Would I let my own family live in this house"? If you answered yes, then I expect your standards are very low and you do not care about the safety of your own family or your own finances.
I salute you Marketplace.....

Dear Wendy,Mike and fellow homeowners,
We too bought a new home seven years and eleven floods ago.
We too have gone to Tarion and the builder and requested help, and the only thing that they do is put another sump pump in our basement. They have upgraded to three industrial sump pumps in our basement and as of the 09 thaw we still had to put in one of our backups. Hydro is like a mortgage payment every month year round, and we just keep getting the run around from Tarion their engineers and the builder. We were told that this isn't bad building, it doesn't matter that it is underwater it still good workmanship. We had to hire our engineers and their conclusion was we are under the water table, so the house needs to be lifted, Tarions reply was if your car has a burned out headlight you don't replace the whole car. Homeownsers beware. Any organiizations that help would be appreciated?

I went through very similiar problems with an RTM built by a reputable builder.Now twenty years and thousands of dollars later,I'm still repairing.Home Inspections? I was told there'd be 3 done after 1 yr,3 and 5 yrs..I had 1 done if you call it that.A quick 2 min walk through and that's it.No end to grief for this single parent. At times I'd like to burn it all down and start over, but what's the use..Just to get screwed over by someone else?

In every industry, business and profession, you will find honest, hard working people trying to make a living, as well as scammers, thieves and pirates. Sometimes, it is truly difficult to tell the difference. Homebuilding, in Ontario, is the most regulated and taxed industry in Ontario. How do these horror stories happen? Simply, the province and municipalities see new home construction as profit centres, an opportunity to collect all kinds of fees and taxes without having to answer to anyone as the fees and taxes are buried into the price of the new homes. Regulate it, but don’t interfere with it! How does a builder with 21 possessions in 2005 get into so much trouble now? Small home builders simply don’t have access to reliable expertise and or advice when they need it. Tarion should be taking the lead and offering technical help to home builders when needed. The builder did offer to buy the houses back. The homeowners refused. Why? Maybe they are taking advantage of the situation along with their lawyer to profit from the situation... In any event, the entire situation with Tarion and new home purchasers could be fixed with a lemon law. The lemon law would protect the buyers of poorly built homes by forcing the buyback of the homes by the home builder and or sellers within two years of possession.

Serious home buyers should or could do a variety of things to see how a builder is.Something like touring building sites of a builder to see if occupied homes are finished completly,such as siding,brick work,walkways etc.Usually if the house is not totally finished outside god only knows whats going on inside.Knock on doors or take a walk on a off day casually talking with present owners,its well worth it,and its free aside from time.Specify to the sales person,and get it in writing that if the house is not 100% done inside and outside,your not signing off and that the builder will have to resolve the issue due to the fact that most buyers HAVE to move.That would mean a hotel paid for or the buyer moves into the model home of that builder.Lawyers should not be having the buyers sign off if they are not happy.The occupancy permit should not be issued for under 95% completion,but it is.

Of course Tarion is there to protect,who that would be,I have not figured that out yet.As someone previously said in other words,MONEY grab.Tarion is all about tolerances,sad but true.Their website doesnt tell you everything and its appauling to see what some home owners have to go thru with a bad builder and see when they Tarion say no its within tolerances of our guidelines.Some builders get away with alot yet some in these parts of the Nations Capital take alot of pride in the building process of their home.Todays builder for the most part puts more into cosmetics rather than balancing out looks and quality.I have heard everything while doing service work in my trade yet as time goes on it gets less surprising.Alot of buyers do not get a home inspector,a big mistake.An inspector or 350,000 dollars or more of misery,not hard to decide......

Its amazing what I have seen in the new homes.Being in a finishing trade for over 20 years I have seen the quality deminish ALOT.This is due the alot of factors,lowball prices for trades so its basically you get what you pay for when it comes to hiring contractors who build the home.I am on the eastern border of Ontario,close to Quebec,where by the way Construction workers from Ontario by law can not work on new homes without a permit or license to work in Quebec,that includes their own residents as well.Where do they end up,in Ontario.I am not saying that they are not qualified but basically Ontario should do the same thing,have trades people certified by the Govt.I would not want a Jack of all trades master of none pouring my foundation,after all if thats messed up so will be the rest of the house.

I am a carpenter from bc. I've seen homes built well and I've seen poorly built ones. To call yourself a carpenter you don't really need any thing. To call yourself a journeyman carpenter you need to have another journeyman carpenter sign a paper saying you've worked 7500 hours and write a 100 question multiple choice test (ridiculously easy, most grade 12 level exams are much harder) with, and here's the clincher, no practical exam. You can be certified as a carpenter without ever using a circular saw. The trade program is a joke.

I think that Mike Holmes should start to see if people out there would like to help him on a show and than they will at least get trained by a contractor who knows what he is talking about and than hopefully this huge problem will stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Us new home buyers need help and if the government wont help us who are we going to turn to?

Despite what some people claim, I've seen a lot of shoddy work.

It is entirely possible to do work that any reputable worker SHOULD be ashamed to have their name associated with and TECHNICALLY not be illegal.

I've seen to many contractor take the attitude that if you can't be put in prison, all's good.

Well it is a comment in regards to they would never buy froma n unknown builder. I f the builders partner used to be the president of the realestate board you wold think differently.

This is the reason why choosing the builder is even MORE important than choosing location and price...I would never buy a house from some unknown builder.

Let's focus on the issue,big picture.Organizations such as tarion,or credit check or insurance they are all there to protect their interest and make money for them selves and for sure not to look after the consumer for their own right.I am wondering whether the consumer has right for this matters! i am not talking about the small matters.But the big ones which distort and deteriorate individual's life.Once you are signed off with them you are taken for granted to loose,loose small or big depending on your luck.Think about it, all this is wathced by the people's representatative i.e. government.We as peple need to realize collectively to understand and accept how far we want to go with this pretense.Do we wait till it happens to you?

Codes are often several years behind advancements in engineering and design. Builders are very slow to embrace a new method or technology unless it benefits their bottom line. Construction quality, in general, suffers during a boom mainly due to time restraints and higher percentages of "green" workers. Utility providers can get addendums to their respective codes, so whats allowed in Hamilton may not be allowed ontario or Canada wide.
As far as 25 yr old homes being inferior; my home built in 1978 still meets or exceeds 2005 NBC requirements. Only the electrical requires minor upgrades to meet current code.
Multiple earlier comments by one author kept pointing out the featured homes passed inspection. The anti-Mike, bad Wendy tone is that of an inspector covering his a--, or a contractor that embraces "skeleton" code adherance.

Hi my name is Mike Quenneville this was a very hard program to watch,My wife and I had bought a 13 year old home in Dominion park in Hanmer Ontario which is part of the Greater Sudbury area, Domion Park is suppose to be a prestine area.We did everything we were suppose to including a Home inspection and the house got a green light from the Inspector.The day we moved in is when the Nightmare started,the liner in the pool was leaking,the foundation is leaking(water damage)serious electrical damage etc..... and the estimates that we recieved tally up to 60 000 depending on what they find when they open up the walls to fix the electrical,but my question is how can this happen? We have filed a lawsuit and are patiently waiting.

Shawn or should you have ID yourself correctly Mr. Brett Wright...If Mr. Wright wants to sue the CBC that is his right. If he didn't want to defend his name to the public, then he didn't. So, don't go crying about your rights Mr. Wright.

Can you believe that even after this broadcast that the Dundas Minor Hockey Association still allows Brett Wright to coach our sons...?

Mike Holmes is a person who has brought attention to a problem that I have become very familiar with: A massive amount of new homes being built in Ontario every year, due to a booming population in the GTA. Unfortunately, this huge building spree has not been supported by a network of qualified tradespeople. As the older generation of contractors retires, they are not being replaced with younger tradespeople quickly enough. Many youngsters these days are not willing to work in a construction trade. The ones that do go into a trade will need years before they achieve the level of experience attained by all the recent retirees. As a result, there is a huge gap in knowledge and know-how at this point in time. If measures continue to be taken to promote youth entering a construction trade, eventually the quality will go back up in new homes. I usually tell people, if they are thinking of building or renovating, try to wait until there is a lull in the economy--that way only the better contractors will have work. When times are good, there is not enough skilled manpower to meet all the needs of new homeowners. This means that for sure, the quality of construction is going to be less than when times are slow. As we enter a lull in the economy, it might seem like a bad time to invest, but as a new homeowner, you may very well get a better product in the end, since as they say, "the cream rises to the top". Poor workmanship diminishes as the number of available contracts diminish. Companies only keep their best workers when they have to lay people off, right?

I see the results of work that goes uninspected every day. I also see the effect of too many inspection appointments on the quality of the building inspections. For example, when electrical inspectors have more than twenty appointments for inspections in one day, which happens regularly, how can they possibly do a proper inspection? Sometimes they do not even show up, but will pass the inspection anyway. Other times, they are so overworked and overwhelmed (demographics is also affecting their sector) that they make mistakes and misinterpretations. This is not their fault, but instead is due to the factors I mentioned earlier about trade retirees (electrical inspectors are all licensed electricians) and the building boom happening at the same time.

Solutions:

-More active promotion of construction trades in youth career counselling

-More government investment in training building code professionals

-Research and development of better building practices that use renewable energy technologies and promote houses that are built with 75-100 year materials instead of 10-25 year materials.

The Holmes on Homes TV program is a very popular production. Whereas the producer said that it was "personally heartbreaking....70,000 requests for help this year". I submit that most new home owners who were scammed by a builder or developer won't publicize their dilemma. That would further drive down the price of their home. Regardless, Tarion Corp. is a Private Agency under Ontario legislation and the Ontario Government will not intervene under any circumstances.

Agreed Andrew. Not only should the builder be held responsible but the CBO. Our CBO agreed in trial that he approved building code violations and that he signed the Tarion waiver using my husband's name in support of the builder. This was considered to be okay. This CBO continued to work as a CBO in Ontario until very recently without even minimum qualifications. The Ministry which regulates CBO's qualification were aware of this situation but failed to do anything about it.

I am from Hammonds Plains N.S. I also bought the house from hell.Our builder will not repair code items ,home warranty is a joke,inspectors ,don't think that they were ever here. Lawyers want 50 grand to go to court and maby get the builders hammer,saw,and ladder.Why are we not protected?Government says that new home owners are only 1% of a problem.Same government feller says that we are ownly knows of 13 cases of people having problems with builders in 20 years.I want to here from people in halifax that have bought new homes and got screwed. please email me

Great Episode. Definitely need a follow up episode on this one. How about making the builders criminally responsible for not following the proper code. That will make the CEO's of the builders wake up and take accountability.

Dear Wendy, Mike and the CBC Staff. Great job on busting that homebuilder and kudos for nailing Ticketmaster. Two jobs very very well done.

I've dealt with Tarion on a few occasions.

Their CPG's are very interpretative in Tarion's favour of course. Its a real battle arguing with them over subjective areas. ie. water is pooling in garage - they claimed that it is not pooling - well if there is a pool of water and its not going anywhere its pooling...LOL

I strongly felt that they try very hard to limit any payments - although I did manage to get them to pay me on two claims the builder refused to fix. On one only after i got the City Inspector to claim that it was an OBC violation - even though the city issued a report listing this violation.

I do not believe this to happen here in Canada. I am in the market and looking to buy house but after this story I am so worried and stuck now.

Joe, Joanne, Dave and Sylvia, our hearts go out to you. When we say we know exactly what you are going through, you know that it is true.

My family has also experienced the loss of our dreams when hiring a contractor to purchase a new home in Ontario. We have been interviewed by CBC Marketplace a few years ago.We had a new home (which we just gave up) completely approved by the CBO and then condemned by same Municipality after 4 Provincial Engineers' reports indicated that the house has hundreds of building code violations. The contractor we hired is a registered Tarion home builder but failed to register our home with Tarion. He has been charged as an illegal builder. The CBO admitted to signing my husband's name on the Tarion waiver (under oath) stating that my husband was the builder, not the contractor. This same CBO testified to either approving building code violations or never showing up to approve but signing off on the approvals at a later date. This same CBO continued to work as a CBO in the province of Ontario but has never been qualified as a CBO.

Unfortunately and not understood by anyone who has read our case, the judge ruled in favour of the contractor because the contractor has been building for 35 years and had an agreement with the CBO that if the CBO was called and didn't show up for an inspection in 2 days, the work was automatically approved.

At the same time that we were asked to pay the builder for his shoddy work, the Municipality ruled that the approved house was in fact condemned and we weren't allowed to enter, use or occupy. We were forced to comply with all 4 Provincial Engineer reports before work could proceed ($300,000 worth of work to fix a house that is not closed in).

After fighting for justice for 6 years, we sadly gave up my family property and home last January.

The Bank has been left with the house but they won't secure it as they don't want the liability. They have tried to hire contractors to tear this newly built approved/condemned home down but no one wants to get involved.

Can this happen in Ontario? Sadly there are many of us who have experienced this tremendous loss. There is no consumer protection in Ontario for new home builders. If interested you can read our story in the Ottawa Citizen "Dream Home Turned Nightmare" January 12, 2008. Please continue to contact your MPP.

....... City wants my entire 3rd story addition removed due to poor support. Forget the courts. What a joke. I'm now going on my 7th year and haven't even gotten past Notice of Discovery..2 contractors and one with insurance. Make certain your contractor is bonded. My disaster will cost me over 100 thousand dollars. for which I must pay. The only ones that win....... The lawyers....and the shady contractors. City planners won't commit to court time. They only offer suggestions..... another cost saving technique. All in all. I've lost everything. water seeps thru my roof/walls and eventually ends in the basement......No help from the BBB or Consumer Affairs. What a joke....... Be careful and trust no one. Even Mike Holmes wouldn't touch my disaster. But they were kind to send my DVD back...... Nice guys do finish last.!!!!!!!

A very informative program. I run a small renovation/repair business and I run into poor workmanship a lot. Sadly the repair costs more than the original cost. If it was only done right the first time. The last thing I want is my customers complaining about my work.

Not to defend Brett Wright but I have experienced a few people who are more concerned with paying the least amount for work rather than worrying about quality or code. People (at least a few of them) do not want to pay for quality and hire the cheapest person out there or buy the lowest price item available.

I am not saying this is true in this case but if something is cheaper than something comparable then open your eyes and look for the underlying reason as to why rather than jumping on the cheapest.

"That is why we have a legal system in Canada"
Yes but the legal system fails Canadians at every turn when it drags out cases for years. Very few people can afford to go through the system and wait out the final payment.

If indeed Marketplace is slandering Brett Wright then he has his own legal recourse.

I am glad that Mike Holmes is speaking out for quality. Although I do not always agree with his repairs I do respect his ethic and understanding of the people he helps. It would be cool to be on his crew for a few homes.

Thanks again for the great piece.

Oh my God! Watching this Mike Holmes episode is like watching my life for the past 4 years. My neighbor and I have falling in houses also. The town built lots on an old coal mine. The town is starting on a second development on another coal mine and people have no idea. How do we stop all this. I have documents and reports from 1976 that say the land our houses are on was never to be developed because of the mines. We have been in litigation for 4 years and lawyer bills of $130,000 and still have not seen anything done. Home owners are screwed. National home warranties are a farce. Help drowning in Alberta.

Who really cares if Bretts' life is ruined. Does he care about the lives he's ruined. I think not. His concern is simply to make money. If you or your company were falsely accused nationally, would you not grant an interview to give your side of the story or at least take legal counsel...I know I would.

As for Mike holmes, well everyone knows that when it comes to construction, the only builders name that jumps to the forefront is Mike Holmes.....well at least in his head.

There are alot of good contractors who take pride in their work and display professionalism daily. Their not out to screw anyone or everyone on a daily basis. However on the reverse side there are alot of rotten ones who use the system flaws to their advantage. Those contractors when caught shouldn't be given a slap on the wrist and set free to ruin yet more lives. Their names should be aired for all to see and avoid. Fines should be levied and if necessary jail time served. Government and city officials should also pay a price. If their not doing their jobs properly re permit issuing, follow-ups etc... they should be fired and replaced by qualified professionals. It's time to clean-up the industry starting at the top

We are living the new house nightmare. We were to close April 07 didn't close until may of 08 and Tarion has declaire our builder unwilling and unable to complete the work. We had our gas boiler cut of last friday. so we have not had any forced air heat or hot water since. We still don't have a master shower that works, it has never worked since May 08'

If your interested in our long list of problems we would be happy to share.

We had 2 TSSA inspectors and 2 enbridge and a couple of hvac guys here last friday. The company that installed the system so poorly still has not returned our 3 calls and 2 emails from last friday. it was -29 with the wind chill when the gas was cut off. My calls to the company that rents the boiler also were unanswered I had to get Enbridge to call them.

We have a great examples of new build problems we are in the Toronto Beach area

Our time line last week
Tuesday My Mother lost her battle with cancer
Friday gas cut off
Sunday services for Mom
Wednesday still no plan to replace faulty equipment or fix the faulty install.

Please help

I just bought a new home and planning to move in soon.
This story has opened my eyes.
How do the city inspectors not see all those flaws?
Are they in all in this together as partners?
How are these builders still allowed to build homes?
This is disgusting.
This is the system failing its citizens at its worst

As a contractor myself I bought a new home figuring that it was best for a start in the realestate market. New home; not too many or no problems... or so I thought.
The electrical and plumbing on the home I purchased were never inspected by anyone. The electrical work done was shoddy and not to code. I say this because I am an electrician and know what the code is about.
Insulation was never installed on the inside wall in the garage, holes were never sealed so CO gas could seep into my basement, and windows weren't insulated properly. Not to mention the house was very cold in the winter and the airconditioner was running almost non-stop in the summer.
I took it upon myself to repair all of these issues and more since tarion and the contractor were not willing to help in any aspect. I only received lip service from the contractors office about why they didn't have to rectify the issues on my warranty list. My coment to tarion was at the time "why did I pay almost $500.00 for a warranty if you won't honour it?" The responce was "they felt it wasn't a problem for the home warranty program to deal with."
I won't mention any name of the builder, but I know the company should be more resposible and held more liable for the work being done. As for the electrical safety authority inspections, since the new system went into place with ESA contractor numbers less inspections are done in the new subdivisions and eventually there will be a serious issue or someone may even be seriously hurt or killed from this lack of care.
I agree with Mike Holmes whole heartedly with what he says about the garbage builds the contractors are getting away with. I'm also glad to hear Bob Aaron was appointed to the Tarion board; hopefully some good will come of this for future new home buyers.

Marketplace,
Just having viewed your interesting story, I have a good one for you, we have a townhouse in Mississauga that got flooded a couple of weeks ago due to a major fire sprinkler pipe that broke and the water flooded into our unit as this unit is right behind the water pump room, guess what this complex of 86 units was bulit without any main drains for water to exit in a flood situation like ours. We have many pictures of other defaults with our property and tried to seek help from the condominium management, the city of Misssissauga, but no dice.
If you would like a story on this, please donot hesitate to contact me...

it was appalling to here mike holmes say somebody who does poor quality work should work at MacDonald's,where many fine people work preparing food for many people.
it became much worse hearing mike holmes say somebody should be smacked!aggession breeds aggression
lack of realistic plans is usually evident when the problems begin!

Desperate to prove their case, Sylvia and Dave spent $7,000 hiring their own private engineer. That’s on top of thousands spent in legal fees and costs to have things fixed.

Please explain why you spoke to Mike Holmes and not the engineer the homeowner paid.

Thank you

Emilio

Great show. I really feel for these people. There are a couple of issues that I feel may contribute. Municipalities have finite resources (money=staff) yet feel pressure to accommodate when there is a housing boom obviously leaving some things undone or not well done. I know some municipalities were talking about putting in a new permit moratorium until they could catch up (specifically Calgary - but not sure if this was carried through). This should be looked at when needed to ensure people are protected. I bought a brand new house 9 years ago and had a wonderful experience, wonderfully built house, any problems and the builder had someone there the next day to fix it, and there were only minor problems. We checked the builder out through word of mouth and only found happy customers which helped a lot. Also some very defensive remarks below dissing Mike Holmes. After reading these I re-watched the show and obviously these people didn't watch it very carefully -shame on them. I think Mike does a great job.

Why can't people have a little bit of pride in workmanship instead of just being greedy. It is people like that builder who makes everyone distrusting of others and it's starting to become tiresome.there should be harsher penalties in place for people obviously trying to scam others.

i feel bad for the families, you can't possibly imagine new houses to be so plagued with problems, that is why you buy new. I don't doubt that most new houses are built with the idea of making it as fast as possible without pride by people who just want their paycheque. Yes i'm sure there are some of you left that care, but from what i can see you are becoming more and more rare.

Whether it is called TARION or prior ONHWP (Ontario New Home Warranty Program) they are a "joke"!!!! My husband & I made the news in 1997 - 2000 when we fought the ONHWP, our municipality and the builders to have the 32 building code violations to our new home corrected. It took $10,000's of thousand of dollars, 12 years and the determination to take all them suckers on. It is directly due to our persistance that eventually cause the ONHWP to change it's name and $100,000 thousand of dollars to make our nightmare go away. I empatize with the home owners your program showed and no wonder Mike Holmes is so frustrated! I have asked before and will ask it again, "Why is it that all trades - from electricians, plumbers, surveyors, gas installers, building inspector, lawyers, realtors, excavators, need to be licensed, insured and bonded, yet the contractor who builds the house needs only to be registered with a corporation namely TARION, who is only interested in their own agenda - justifying why they should be there to begin with. If the contractors and building inspectors just did their job, we would not need TARION! Make every builder personally liable for their stamp!" TARION - WHAT A ... JOKE THEY ARE. Hey, we know first hand - go ahead call us ...
Good luck to your families our hearts go out to them.
Therese

This is out and out greed from all ends.There is no trades any more that have the skill base to build homes. They cut costs by hiring min payed workers (subs)
Well,Mike you will never be out of a job.

As we read through the comments, we can assure you that there is a problem with the system as a whole. Speaking from experience, so many peoploe are : getting screwed :
As for the comments that are not in favour of Mike or Wendy, give it up. These people are sooooo into making things right, you would not even posted a comment if you did not agree.
We are living the NIGHTMARE, we do not wish that any family goes through this NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE.
We will provide a posting of our true feelings ( including our children )no body thinks how this situation effects all the family , once we have a chance to review comments.

Kindest Regards

Joe ,Joanne West and Family

Shelly you must learn to fallow the code, 9.23.16 states that there must be sheathing when there is intermediate bracing, but if you then refer to 9.23.10.2 (2) bracing is not reqiured where the walls are finished or diagonal bracing can be used, not the home did pass a framing inspection.

I feel terribly for these home owners, but this is truly not typical of 90%+ of the builders in Ontario. Mike Holmes feeds his programs with the worst that life has to offer and often paints everyone in the industry with the same bad brush, but this is what make ratings and sells advertising. I am not a builder but am associated with the building community in my home town. I can assure you if Mike or Market Place had to create a saleable show from our local industry you would be out of business soon. It is my understanding that the builder in question did not have the houses even registered with Tarion nor where the enrollment fees paid, yet the warranty $$ paid by the hundreds of other legitimate Ontario builders assisted these unfortunate folks. When was the last time you recieved a settlement on a unpaid insurance policy. Bad builders need to be found out, lazy municipal inspection officials should be fired, lawyers acting for purchasers need to check if warranties are registered, but who said it was a perfect world, gives your show a reason to exist. Tell the whole story.

First of all, in order for City Inspectors to inspect 100% they would have to camp on the jobsite. Most Municipal Building Bylaws provide for a cursory inspection at best, they can't see everything. As per the National Building Code, the home owner is responsible for compliance. Until the house is sold the owner on tiltle is the party responsible. I agree that there are some builders out there that ruin it for the good contractors. The best way to control the offenders is to not issue permits until issue with another project have been taken care of. Start chrging theses fly by nighters double or more fees, and perhaps lay charges. City Inspectors spend alot of time explaing to Mayors and Council why they are PICKING on that contractor. What is needed is for Council to be educated in the art of permits and inspection process and the result of neglegent action. I personally have inspected a foundation forming before pour, observed rebar as required and approved the pour. My gut feeling told me that something didn't feel right so I went back as I saw the concrete trucks backing into site. Another unanounced vistit and I could not believe what I saw. The contractor had removed all the rebar. Well they didn't pour that day thats for sure. Now I watch this contractor in his every move. If I had my way he would not be able to work in my home City any longer. Also, carprentry should become a protected trade. No ticky no worky! As far as Mike Holmes is concered, he may know carpentry, but is he code savy. I doubt it.

Shoddily built new homes have been happening a long time. 25 years ago we contracted to build a home in a new subdivision. You had to sign their contract. Try to get a lawyer to look at it, your not interested in their home. They showed us how the contract protected us. Because we had certain changes we wanted, they said okay, told us how much and wanted the money up front. We paid. Fortunately we wouldn't hand it over without signed note by the sales person for what the money was for. As it was being built, we went over to look. Nothing we paid for was being done. We complained and they kicked us off the property saying we had no say until we paid for the property and they handed over the key to us. We took it to a lawyer, who said based on the contract we signed we were hooped, until we showed him the signed paper with the changes we had paid for. We got all our money back and was able to find a contracter to build us the same house, (we liked the size and layout) with better quality, on a bigger piece of land for the same price. Since we still live close to the area we were going to build, we have gotten to know a few of the people who have bought houses in the subdivison. They have complaints of water leaking in the basements, window wells mulfuntioning, basements heaving, siding falling off, kitchen cabinets being put in wrong. Along with stairs falling away from the houses and huge foundation cracks because they build in a shifting creek bed. Our house still stands as solid as the day it was built with no cracking in the house. The Sales person also lost their job for signing the paper. I look at all the new subdivisions going up with houses in the winter being built in 2 months and I wonder.

To: Matt Tymoshuk
It is YOU who should consult the Ontario Building Code Compendium, not Mr. Holmes.
I refer you to Part 9, which is the section that applies to Housing and Small Buildings - specifically 9.23.16 Wall Sheathing. I have a copy of the Compendium here, and Mike Holmes is 100% accurate!

Sure, go ahead and bash Mike Holmes, Wendy Mesley, the home owners .... keep it up .... but I know of at least two couples that would be glad to sell you their homes! Go ahead make them an offer. There is no defence for the builder, the contractors, the inspectors, the City of Hamilton and, of course Tarion. I myself ran into similar problems and due to this will never, never buy a new home again! Bob Aaron will see he has joined a Board of Sharks and will have little effect in changing their attitudes. Too bad, because, just as much as we need more Mike Holmes' out there, equally as important, is that we need more Bob Aarons too.

Returning to live in Canada we entered the process of buying, building a new home. We thought we had done our homework and checked out various sites and the BBB of Winnipeg regarding the builder we had chosen. It has been a nightmare ever since. The home is still not complete, the builder does not answer their e mails, screens their phone calls and tells everyone we are BAD CUSTOMERS. Going to our lawyer we were told our contract is contractual, we can not publicly tell others what an awful builder that we are dealing with. BBB has very limited abilities and now we have entered in contact with the National Home Warranty. We hope that the defects will be repaired and the house completed. We have paid in full. Where is the homeowner protection? I'd love to have Mike Holmes come and fix our home. Thank God people like him exist and fight for all. Bravo Mike! A fan from Winnipeg, Manitoba

Many thanks for bringing this issue to the awareness of others before they are faced with the repurcussions of purchasing a home under false pretenses.
Having purchased a new home through ... I have been shocked and appauled at the lack of regulation and enforcement that developers are held accountable for. So far there has been none.
It is unfortunate and sad to see that new home/condo buyers, in particular, are taken advantage of because they do not have the means, access or finances to take on these developers on a legal level. Tarion and the city also appear to turn a blind eye to the abuse, infractions and chaos that these builders create. Instead, they allow for additional building permits... while previous home buyers sink (financially and emotionally) with the mass of structural, communal and personal deficiencies that jeapordize both safety and well being. If Mike Holmes wants to really investigate developers who build and neglect guidelines, cut every corner possible, and do not respond to, or rectify any of the ensuing problems, then he should do an assessment of ... On behalf of all, we would be incredibly greatful. It is a shame and a disgrace that developers such as ... are granted on-going building permits. Who will stand up on behalf of the thousands of new home buyers?

Im apart of the west family. What I want to say is that its apart of the builders problem and the citys problem. No one mentioned anything about the city having to do with this. The city should have got inspectors to inspect the house, and to see if it deservers a permit or not. Im only 15 so I may not be completely right but most of what Ive said should bring up a discussion. My family and I been living this nightmare for 3 years you don't know how much effort and money wev'e put it to get nowhere. I thank you cbc, mike holmes, toronto star, and wendy mesley for helping us on are efforts to fight for what we deserve. Its really hard to live life when all you can think about is how you'll not have another day to make everything right. Hope to here from you guys.

Joanne & Joe, Dave & Sylvia should speak to their MPPs so that something can be done. Either something is terribly wrong in the way Tarion is performing its duties or the the law regarding this matter is deficient.

Next step - without slandering Mr. Wright - is to get the word out there regarding the quality of his workmanship and his work ethics...the construction world is very tightly knit society and it won't take long before people stop hiring him or his crew to build their new homes. As a supplier in the industry I know that word travels fast especially if it's a negative against a builder. As a consumer, I would definitely be doing some research regarding my builder or general contractor if I was having a home built and asking for references from previous jobs and the same should be done by any land developer when a parcel of land is being developed. As for the inspectors - whether government or private - they should be held accountable in some way. Not having building permits posted on a jobsite sends up warning flags up right away - its up to the general to secure these permits and that would be my first clue as to not trust this builder. Alot of land is being developed without having the proper permits issued first and short of having someone from the city driving all over their district checking out each parcel of land the appears to be under developement and checking for proper permits - it's very hard to enforce. My last thought and possibly the most important is that CHEAPER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER...it's cheap for a reason - and unfortunately that is the way most of todays consumers are going...they want the cheapest they can get and don't stop to consider by going cheap it may cost them alot more in the future...

Dear Marketplace,

Thank you for "New Home Nightmares"...This is a topic that NO ONE dares to approach, and we can only hope that you continue to air stories like this one to open up the eyes of the general public.

Not one minute of this episode surprised us, as we, along with some of our neighbours on our street, are going through the exact same frustrating processes with our builder... and the Tarion Warranty Corporation, for the last 2 years. You could've been doing this story on us! This week (Jan. 15, 2009) we were supposed to be attending a second hearing through the Licence Appeal Tribunal in Toronto to see if we will in fact be getting any money from Tarion to repair all the issues we have with our 2-year new home. Unfortunately their lawyers have found yet another way to delay the process again and as of now we're not sure of our new court date. Tarion is saying our claims were not made in the proper time frame, yet we have issues that are not done to the Ontario Building Code, some of which are structural issues and health and safety issues. No, our house isn't falling down YET, but we're looking at money we don't have to make these repairs (in the $60,000+ range) in a house we paid to be properly built in the first place. We too are hiring engineers and inspectors to get the reports to fight this battle, but how much money should we have to spend out of our pocket for something that should've been done right in the first place?

We can only hope that by continuing to expose this corruption we can put a quicker end to it.

Too bad we didn't see this show before we purchased our 'new' home.

What that an advertisement for Mike Holmes or a unbiased Marketplace episode?

Looks like Mike needs the code consultant and your show should check their facts before fear mongering the general public. Under the Ontario Building Code, it is acceptable to:

1) Substitute two layers of building paper behind masonry veneer construction in lieu of sheathing.

2)Insulate a garage ceiling with the materials shown. It can be done in a manor that would equal in performance to Mikes more expensive methods.

The excessive water shown draining from the trenched could be from a base condition. In such a condition, the foundation extends lower than the basement floor and is filled with clear gravel. Water could normally collect inside the home under the concrete floor due to a high water table. A sump pump is the normal method of extracting water before it comes close to the interior building envelope of the home.

The salesman for the unrepeatable builder suggested that building inspectors inspect the wiring before insulation. This is not true since city building inspect the framing and mechanical systems prior to insulation. The electrical wiring is inspected by the Electrical Safety Authority and requires a different permit.

Furnace vent exhaust pipe locations are not governed by the Ontario Building Code. The gas company would not turn on the gas service to an occupied home if it was not in compliance to the regulations and manufactures specifications.

I've seen many instances where Mike Holmes has incorrectly referenced the minimum standards of the Ontario Building Code. He constantly quotes codes requirements that do not exist or are misinterpreted. His solutions excessively exceed the building code to a point were such renovations are not financially feasible. Perhaps his sponsors encourage the use of their products when not necessary.

I'm a Marketplace viewer and now that I've watched a show in an industry that I have some knowledge of and have seen many facts distorted I'm hesitant to watch other episodes.

I hope Mike gets a permit when starts a renovation and has to meet his production schedule.

Matt Tymoshuk

It is a sad state of affairs in our [province when we have builders going ahead with projects without even construction permits. We enjoyed such a boom in the construction business these past few years where builders hired many trades that have basically no knowledge or experience in their field in order to fulfill their orders.

When mistakes are being made no one is willing to step up to the plate and protect the home owner.

In cases when the homeowner like myself knows about construction and have training in engineering, we are told that we can not go to the site, and if we interfere we are told they can issue a trespass notice against the person. If the job site superintendent is questioned as why there are mistakes being covered up, they simply trespass you from the property by telling you "You don't own the property yet."

Perhaps we should look at the building inspectors and their association with the contractors. CBC has clearly shown to government and policy makers in the city of Hamilton that there are serious flaws in the system and we need to make them more accountable to insure better protection to the consumer during and after construction is completed.

Wendy Mesley and Mike Holmes need to practise being a bit more sincere when interviewing people. When they were standing in the backyard of that couple's home and Mike was telling them that it was going to cost them $100,000 to fix up their house, both Wendy and Mike looked somewhat pleased to be delivering the news, and had a look of anticipation on their faces, as if they both knew that those types of inflammatory comments would be guaranteed to get them the video footage that they wanted - a crying homeowner. Does the CBC consider this to be an acceptable and professional method of journalistic reprorting, or are you just trying to compete for a broader audience that enjoys watching sensationalistic stories that make the viewer feel better because someone else is getting hurt?

Thank you for informing us! Keep up the great work!

The builder should not be allowed to build any more homes until he has completed all repairs to both houses to the satisfaction of the owner and. Tarion should be ashamed and the Building Inspection Department in Hamilton is by no means absolved of responsibility.. Here in Stratford, if each area does not pass the specifics, work is stopped and in some cases re-done to the specs of the Ontario Building Code..I would expect no less from any municipalities' building and planning departments....The City of Hamilton should re-imburse both families and up the standards of their department.

i,m not surprised that there are contractors building houses that shoddy , what really surprises me is that so many people put 200,000 - 500,000 dollars of there hard earned money into these new homes and know so little about it. i would like to know why the gov`t inspectors hav`nt been fired and lose there pensions also all the sub contractors that did the work should be liable , why the real estate agents who are supposed to be working for the buyers are not responsable as well , don`t they tell you they are looking out for you , thats how realters help "right" just wonderin

You are very good and I love all your shows.
Keep up the good work. (new homes show was very good)

Where does Joe and Jane Six Pack get tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket? Oh yeah, retirement savings and credit. But that should help the economy...spend, spend, spend...right? What a joke. I'll just by a 1960's house. At least most of the problems with those are fixed by now...

Unless inspectors , city officials and Chief Building Inspector get fired and there is a meaning full repercussion nothing is going to change.
What happen to home owners it is not totally builders fault they only doing what people that we trust let them do.
Also In Ontario Tarion program should not have any builders on there board . You would not want foxes looking after your chickens.
Also I would not be surprised if builders did not offer some tangible benefits to inspectors,city officials and Tarion.

A legitimate responsible warranty would have ensured things like this were quickly fixed. Tarion needs to learn the same leeson OLG seems to finally understand. They can't continue ignoring legitimate consumer complaints. They need to admit the CRAP many builders build and sell is not acceptable, fix it, and refuse to insure bad builders - or make their premiums reflect the CRAP they build. And they need to fix their own standards. Tarion actually considers a wall one inch out of plumb in 8 feet to be acceptable. You don't even need a level to get that close. What a joke. Maybe new home buyers should have the same "cooling off" period as condos. With a new home (and condo) you would be given the construction standards the builder agrees to adhere to, which a quality builder would make better than the Tarion (sub)standards, which would then become the insured-to standard. And Tarion's reporting windows/requirements are designed to further limit claims just on technicalities. You get to sumbit a "30 day list" only within a narrow window, and if you miss that, they don't want to hear from you again until a year goes by. Maybe we need laws/regulations that will mke it easy for legitimate competitors to Tarion (who actually intend to protect buyers - not builders) to enter the Ontario new home insurnce market.
And Spoinik never did answer why the city continued to let Wright REPEATEDLY build without permits, but supposedly did inspect while he was doing it.

The real estate industry makes used car salesmen look virtuous. Everyone in the chain, including CMHC, is only looking out for number one.

The most discouraging thing is how the municipalities are encouraging fraudulent developers and builders.

6 yrs ago we purchased a new home from Rosehaven Homes in Stoney Creek, Ontario. What a nightmare!!!! from having a huge crack in our foundation that was caused by a backhoe and ended up costing us over $1,000 for a engineers report so the builder would fix it properly to a kitchen that has facing missing and cupboards over the window.Our list of complaints on closing was pages long. I too registered a complaint with Tarion - total waste of time. They sent someone here to meet with myself and a rep from Rosehaven - and surprise,surprise - i was told this mess wasn't the responsibilty of the builder!!!! I still to this day wonder whoes actual responsiblity this disaster is. Unfortunately, we had just lost our daughter and mentally i had no stamina to fight them. Please, Mike and MarketPlace, pursue builders, City Hall, Tarion, and the Homebuilders Assn. - make them responsible. This should have been a wonderful experience - IT WAS A DISASTER!! Thank you for all you do. Jane

Good show. It was obvious from the evidence presented that the town bares most of the responsibility for the short comings of not acting as a public authority in enforcing the building code and local municipal requirements. As to the builder I hope he has insurance. After all if the town and builder have insurance it will be the insurer who will be coughing up the money. As to Tarion it is a well known fact it is builder friendly. Just take a look what the Ontario Ombudsman had to say in his report about Tarion as was as the licencing tribunal.

As to the owners, it appears they did not have a home inspection before taking ownership which may have found a good number of the issues exposed in the show.
Good show!

If we could convince Mike Holmes to donate six months of his time to kick some serious butt in Queen's Park, we would have much safer and healthier homes. I fail to understand why the Ontario Legislature has not gone to Mr. Holmes for advice as to how to change the system so it benefits both home owners and the contractors who work on those homes. As consumers and taxpayers, we should be insisting that our provincial government do their jobs from re-writing the "minimum" code to enforcement. Thank you for an excellent exposé.

people like this builder should be held accountable, they should be forced to pay for there screw ups, why should the insurance industry be putting up the funds, all this does is jack up the insurance rates, that we the honest people have to pay, all of these con artist's should be arrested and stripped of everything they own, they play the system and get away with, at are expense. It's the law makers that we have to go after and get the law changed, my family was also ripped off by a con artist to the tune of 300000.00 dollars, and the con artist is also still ripping people off today, and still living in his million dollar home

nice episode you had on new homes. You just can't win. Either you buy a "used" or "brand new" house, things can always go wrong. For buyers of new homes, just wondering if there is anyway to find out/check on the credibility of a builder. For example, is there a site I can check that will tell me which builders here in ON are considered negligent and who are the compliant ones?

Glad to see this story come out. The Hamilton Spectator did a good job last year exposing the practices (or lack of) of the City of Hamilton's building department. Brett Wright wasn't the only builder building without a permit. Its scary to think that it takes this much effort to get Tarion to act!

Hi Folks,

I can't understand why the new home warranty program would not have the ability to get compensation from the builder, plus fines, if required as in this case bankrupt his company and disallow any corp. associated with him to not get a permit. ( even as an employee) Sometimes I think this country has to many buyer protection laws, enabling customers to lie, and win, because the company has to prove the salesman did not misrepresent the product. That is not possible to prove, unless, all salespeople work with recorders. ( which is not legal, or accepted in court) But yet the only real investment ( other than retirement, another topic) people buy, has no protection and as long as the contractor shows up, he tried. Good luck
I watch Mikes show often and agree, there is a problem. The problem is not only the accountability of contractors, but the system, building codes and warranty programs, are out of the loop.
As a contract salesperson, I am always amazed at how many people take the best price, and believe the work will be done as well as the more expensive contractor, regardless of how much time is spent explaining what should be done.
My theory is to only buy to gut completely, stay on site and trust my building inspector ( and do my own research ) It worked this time.....

Thanks for doing the show... but don't stop! It is far from over.

Unbelievable! ... I have seen and heard horror stories about shoddy house construction before, but have never seen anything near this bad.

This episode of Marketplace is real eye opener and a fantastic public service!

If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would find it hard to believe that this could happen with the Ontario Building Code and all the inspections which are supposed to take place.

It is obvious that our very well paid government employees are sleeping on the job!

Keep up the good investigative work, and having an experienced builder like Mike Holmes helps give the story credibility.

Good segment - but it is the tip of the iceberg literally. Tens of thousands of homes have been built throughout Canada in the last 7 year real-estate run-up. There are good builders and sub-trades out there and there are a lot which are not so good. Many builders are just fly by night types who incorporate a limited company for every home they buy - pocket the profit and close it up so there is no one to sue in the end. Most provincial home warranty programs only cover structural problems if you can get them to pay you claim and shoddy below code construction does not fall into their scope. My father in-law runs a Home Inspection Business in Edmonton and he has inspected brand new homes before occupancy which have been inspected by the City of Edmonton. Compliance stickers have been found on the heating systems and when inspected by him, numerous faults have been found. The owner reports the concerns to the City and the City inspector returns and removes the compliance sticker. These municipalities are liable and with the number of new homes built in Western Canada in the last 5 years there is a problem. More homes have been built than there are inspectors and it would not surprise me to learn that they just rubber stamp compliance without even viewing the home.

CBC should run a segment as an follow-up an talk to some reputable home inspectors to see what they have found too. Many new home owners have no idea what is going wrong on their home until the damage is done.

WHY ARE THEY JUST MENTIONING BRETT WHAT ABOUT SHAWN MURRAY THE OTHER BUILDER PARTNER OF BRETTS? HES A PROMINENT REAL ESTATE AGENT AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE HAMILTON REAL ESTATE BOARDS AND CURRENTLY SITS ON THE EXECUTIVE OF THE BOARD....WHAT A JOKE

I grew up in Oakville and I am disgusted with the lack of care -by all parties involved- that is being put into building new homes in the area. With the number of new sub divisions always popping up, I wonder how much illegal building is going on southern ontario?

Funny how this little show teamed up with Mike to open the door just a little, to the truth that most people don't even know. Truth Being new homes are Minimum Code at best. Some contractors, a fall back job for winter because the landscaping can't be done over winter. Payoffs, Kickbacks, from inspectors to builders and yes i have first hand knowledge across the country of these issues. and when you tell people they don't care. i just hope now people will understand and realize that the safety blankets put in place are a false sense of security, and under no circumstances do they even put a band aid on the problems. I think people need to wake up and when you hear the famous words I have been doing this for 30 years. RUN don’t look back >>>>>

Great first episode and I'm looking forward to the new season!

Question: Are you now going to allow downloads of new episodes anymore? This is disappointing, as it was nice to be able to watch episodes while offline (such as when traveling). Perhaps you could make them available for download? It would be even better if you made the show available on iTunes as a video podcast.

Keep up the great work!

The "Marketplace" show is very well done very informative. I watched the show about construction nightmares, at "Hamilton Ont" the one with "Mike Holmes". Please can you do a follow up, I will like to know, if this ... Brett Wright will be punished and his license revoked. This guy should be put in jail. Thanks for your effort and keep up the good work. Marko Galante

I found 'New Home Nightmares' very informative and I am very pleased to see that the media has finally aired such a program so society can see the problems that have existed in the residential construction industry. I am a contractor in a City just outside of Hamilton and these problems exist in every City from Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, London etc. Of course other municipalities will indicate “we do not permit any construction without the required permits” what else are they going to say.

People are forgetting the other side of the story…the ‘human factor’. I have worked with many building inspectors in many municipalities and they have permitted me to start without the required permit as they know it will be processed in a few days. They understand that there is a family (parents and children) waiting to move into their new home. So they work will me and other builders to meet those tight deadlines. There are only so many good months in Ontario where we can build homes at a reasonable cost. Yes we can build throughout the year but with increased costs that we must pass onto the home owner.

The key point that everyone has missed is that it is the Ministry of Housing that regulates the Ontario Building Code. The Code is the ‘bible’ with these minimum standards that Mike Holmes keeps on indicating that are too low. On the other hand there is the Building Code Act and this is where municipalities get the right to place ‘orders to comply’ and ‘stop work’ orders. At the end of the day these are just pieces of paper that hold no real weight. The process after giving someone one of these orders is to proceed through the long and tedious legal system. And maybe after 2 yrs of waiting and litigation the contractor might get an insignificant fine for starting without a permit. (I know this b/c I was charged and went to court and the end result was a very minor fine) So we can see that the system is seriously flawed. What the Ministry should do is include in the Act the ability for Municipalities to ticket/fine (like Police Officers) the general contractor and all subcontractors on site and fine them every day that there is no issued permit. I guarantee you that I would stop dead in my tracks if I received a ticket and even know my subcontractors would definitely stop if they received these tickets/fines. But we have to make an even playing field across the board.

In conclusion it seems that it was one (1) crappy builder that caused this entire problem, it does not seem to be a widespread issue with several builders. I personally know there are many good, trustworthy, respected, caring home builders in the Hamilton and surrounding area so don’t paint us with the same brush.

Thank you for using a flash player for the video instead of windows... Now if you could get the rest of cbc.ca to do that

As a Realtor I hear and see this problem all the time. There are too many self proclaimed "builders" who don't follow code or the system. To fix this it has to start at the top. Municipalities charge large developement and permit fees then do not follow up with proper inspections. On newer home sales the closing lawyer searches with the municipality to see if permits and inspections were done. Too often final inspections were not on file with the Town in my area and now they will not come out to inspect the home after occupancy. They feel it's not their problem even though they collected their fees and issued the permits. If the builder does not call for an inspection chances are it won't happen. If you complain they tell you they don't have enough inspectors! Codes, bylaws to enforce the codes, and permits and fees are all designed to protect the paying consumer. Better enforcement is needed badly. Mike Holmes will continue to make a good living exposing the flaws in the system. Keep up the great work Mike!!!

Thank you for finally bringing to the countries attention the problems with the the way houses are built. I was a constuction worker(concrete finisher) for 18 years and you would not belive some of the thing that I have seen go un-noticed. In Calgary where I worked for most of my years it was not unheard of for houses to get turned over to the home owner with no finall inspection. A thought you might want to look into is how come the banks and lawyers release the money to the builder without proper inspections done. When ever a homeowner came to talk to me I always told them to make sure thing were being done properly. The builders came back with the homeowners have no right to be on the property untill final turn over or to come with an authorized person from the builder. If you have a problem with what is going on good luck getting that person to come. Agin than you for the work you do; we need to change the government ideas of who they work for.

After watching this show and numerous episodes of "Holmes on Homes" I would be very reluctant to buy a new home anywhere in Ontario. It seems that there are just too many crooked contractors and developers out there and that the government has no interest in protecting the home buyer.

I think Marketplace should be double the broadcast time to raise awareness of consumer protection and code of ethic among businesses.

Our new home turned out to have several building code violations despite municipal inspection stickers showing everything had passed. Our very first morning (Saturday), upon flushing the toilet, all "contents" backed up into the bathtub! It was a long weekend and nothing was done until Tuesday afternoon. The cause: soil vent caps were never removed (or punctured), even though we specifically asked them to - their excuse was that they don't do that in the winter. We later learned from the head of our city's residential inspections that soil vent caps are to be removed BEFORE occupancy.

Our problems are slowly being fixed, but we've discovered that in many cases homeowners either (a) get frustrated and give up complaining or (b) the builder stalls until the warranty runs out. As for Tarion - they are useless! Tarion was created by builders, and builders comprise the majority of board members. Tarion protects builders, not homeowners.

But I would like to know how municipal inspectors can pass such obvious building code infractions. Obviously, some people are NOT doing the job they're being paid to do!

After our experience, the only way I would ever consider buying a new home again is if I put in our contract a clause that would allow our home inspector to perform regular inspections at specific intervals to ensure the work is being done properly. Without that clause, the builder can refuse to allow your home inspector on the property until the entire job is done. And by that time it may be too late!

Excellent work. I get annoyed if I am overcharged for something at a store, I could not imagine the grief of a huge debt for structural repairs of a new home, which should not need any.

I was watching this program with keen interest and got very little in return: not much substance but lots of hype and generalities. Wendy Mesley and her crew (Mr. Holmes and Mr. Aaron) did a superficial job of concentrating on symptoms rather than the cause of the problem. The main question WHY ALL THAT COULD HAPPEN remains unanswered.
My suggestions to Wendy: engage a real professional instead of a pseudo-expert like Mike Holmes, involve Bob Aaron in researching the current legislation (especially Bill 124)instead of offering a few platitudes, use more TV time on a loaded topic like this one.

Thanks,

Jerzy Kisilewicz
Whitby, Ontario

Way to go Mike Holmes and Wendy Mesley! Trades people have wonderful people who get wrongly grouped with the %$#*, who are the problem. In this world nowadays, greed, deceit, manipulation, are rampant, and the slime that ruin lives need to be brought to justice! Next on your list should be Mechanics, and the garages that they work in! Whatever happened to integrity in retail? Know who your freinds are, and if a freind is being taken, make them aware of the situation! Look forword to watching your program in the future!

When we built our home almost 6 years ago, we were one of 4 homes built by the same person. We all ran into a lot of similar problems of varying seriousness. Our so-called "builder" left us with a mountain of repairs - expensive repairs. In our case, we spent tens of thousands in engineers reports and legal fees and got our names dragged through the mud for speaking up in a small community. Our basement floor had to be dug up in areas to ensure the structural integrity of the footings. Our house wasn't even attached to the foundation, and yet it passed a framing inspection. That was, in the end, a minor problem. We had a septic system that didn't work, leaving feces in a puddle of nasty on our lawn. We had to remove and replace our septic system and then install drainage around the outside of our home (which was never installed in the first place) within 2 years of the construction, costing us in excess of $13,000 on top of the original cost and these are just 3 of the items on our list of repairs. Our house had to be remortgaged twice within 5 years, just to pay for legal fees and repairs. It cost us our retirement and resulted in 25 years of payments, as well almost 4 years stuck in the judicial system. We went through absolute hell because of our experience, and we would not recommend building a house in this province until changes are made to the current system. It is our opinion that this industry is not regulated enough and the officials who are supposed to look out for the consumer, often don't bother to hold the builder accountable for mistakes and bad building practices. Things were supposedly inspected and passed in this house - standard basic framing and drainage was not done or not done as it should be - was the inspector asleep? Did he even see the "job". These questions remain unanswered. The builder wins everytime because they can get away with it, make their money, and move on. If they are caught, they simply fold up their business and re-open under another name. Why are they getting away with it? because they can. They should not be allowed to. What exactly does one do to become a builder? Seems to us anyone could go out tomorrow, take a 3 day septic installation course, (or have someone else write the test for them) then call themselves a septic design specialist. It's not good enough. There should be a public outcry and the good builders out there should band together to get rid of the incompetance, that in the end, ruins the reputation of their industry. New builders should be made to prove their abilities and knowledge before being allowed to construct anything, anywhere in this province. It is totally pathetic. As for Tarion - our builder was registered with them, and yet he apparently didn't HAVE to register our house - they too have loopholes for these so-called builders to get through. We have nothing good to say other than it's a waste of time, energy and money.

Further to my earlier note, Mr. Holmes said the insulation was unacceptable, he sees it all the time, which means it is per code and although not as good as foam, it does the job at a lower cost. He asked where the door closer was on the door, after 3 years is it possible the homeowner removed it? The lot is a walk out condition, therefore the rear wall is deeper than the front to avoid frost upheaval, therefore that wall can't have ant drainage, when the home was being built the cavity appears to be filled with stone, if water gets into the stone it is no problem as the stone provides the support and it is not possible to remove the water.

Also please review obc 9.27.3.5 where no sheathing is used, atleast 2 layers of sheathing membrane (the black paper) shall be applied beneath the cladding.

This house most likely was built per the code, it passed a final occupancy, if it didn't why did their lawyer allow them to close.

I saw your show last night and found that Mr. Holmes is as always given more credit then he deserves, you have gone to an exepert(?) and have come up short.

Your report was fair, and the homes were a mess and a disgrace, but just as there are bad tv hosts, bad teachers, bad politicians, etc., there is no need for Mr. Holmes to imply that all new homes are poorly built, yes they are built to the building code "minimum" , but that code is reviewed and revised every few years, the fact is homes are built much better today than they ever have been, a home of 25 years ago will not stand up to todays inspections, and the fact that Mr. Holmes decides to gold plate homes does not mean that the ones being built by 90% of the builders are not excellent homes, as a friend of mine always said,anyone can build a $300,000 home for $400,000.

Your show started with Mr. Holmes saying that the black pipe is not allowed to be on the same wall as the gas pipe, completely false, it simply must be a code distance away, and the gas would not be turned on if this was the case, it is inpected bye the gas company, Mr Holmes must check his sources.

When you start a show like that you lose a lot of credibility so I suggest you check your source experts better before you go to air.

Most importantly the home owners must accept responisibilty for not doing their home work, "caveat emptor" let the buyer beware, check the Tarion site, although this builder has no red flags, they built very few homes, did these homeowners knock on doors before they bought since there was very little information on this builder?

Nobody wants the bad builders out of this industry more than the hard workers who build excellent homes for Ontario residents, but people like Mr. Holmes are just wrong and not experts.

Thank you to CBC Marketplace for this important story. Thank you as well to Joe, Joanne, Sylvia and Dave for having the courage to tell their stories.

Tragically, this is happening across Canada far too often. Yes, there are good builders - but there are also poor builders. Based on information available to consumers, it is usually impossible for consumers to distinguish the good builders from the bad. And the safety nets that most Canadians assume are there to protect us are far too often not.

Litigation is not the answer. Governments need to step in and completely overhaul the entire system in order to adequately protect Canadians when it comes to the largest purchase most of us make: a home. For more information go to www.canadiansforproperlybuilthomes.com .

Welcome back!

I wouldn't be surprised if this type of thing was going on across the country. It's so important for future homeowners to get an independent appraisal of their future home. So many people let the real estate agent arrange for the appraisal. I wonder why the people featured on Marketplace didn't get an independent appraisal prior to purchase. I guess they just trusted that with local government being involved and the house being new that everything would be fine. How wrong they were!

Our relatively newer home in Oakville had its own set of problems, unbeknownst to us when we took possession a few years back. The 3nd floor windows had to be replaced-no one took responsibility so we found an installer and he showed us the problem.. they were insulated with nylons..yes, women's stockings. We've since sold our Oakville home and bought a house (another nightmare money pit what have you) in Brantford. While the house in in great shape, the inspector declared that the house was safe-no mold, asbestos or lead-it contained all three-plumbing had to be re-updated (plumber did it the year before we moved in); the lead piping removed; the bathroom sink re-installed and secured; OUR plumber came out to revamp the plumbing-pipes had tarlike substance in them; the basement is full of thick black mold (so we don't venture down there too often); we've had flooding in the basement from one window during each heavy rainfall; the fascia (new roof in 2000) has come down; there is still old wiring with a new electrical box; there is so much cold air coming into the house it keeps our gas bill up every month (we're on limited income); the front ballasts are sinking so we have to somehow get them repaired/replaced? and we cannot put a railing up outside as this house is deemed a heritage home.
Believe me, I understand people's frustrations-and while you should not have to put up with the bowels of bad construction on a new home, it is unfortunate that the government lets these builders slip away under their very noses... wonder what kind of house the builders live in? They most certainly wouldn't put those standards in their own homes.

We really enjoyed your first show of the new year. Nothing works better than bringing in the BIG GUN, Mike Holmes, to show just how bad builders can and do get. A inherently drastic lack of good quality workmanship, blatantly dangerous building code violations, a city that just doesn't care and an ineffective warranty program run by a bunch of bumbling boobs. I am not surprised to hear that Tarion (formerly the Ontario New Home Warranty Program) and the City of Hamilton (or any Ontario city for that matter) failed the 2 couples in this episode. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that all 18 of those homes, with late issued building permits, had multiple serious building code violations. My wife and I are in no way strangers to this kind of builder incompetence. We battled the ONHWP for over 10 years to try and get our new home deficiencies (as Tarion would call them) resolved. Five different contractors making multiple visits and still our problems haven't been rectified. Most new home owners don't even see this. If the provincial government of the day is really, really serious about fixing this major broke down, pain in the butt issue, they need go no farther than my door step for an ear full of solution. And for that matter I'm sure that the other 10's of thousands of new home buyers who have the same issues would contribute likewise. Placing Bob Aaron on the Tarion board is a good but small start.

When I watched the show I recalled my own experience with one of the largest "reputable" builders. As a structural engineer (P.Eng.) I intimately familiar with the Ontario Building Code (OBC). I was upset to see that the builder violate the Part 9 of building code in every step of construction. During the construction of my first "dream" home I took about 200 photos of the areas where OBC was violated. I have sent two letter with the sketches and report on building code violation to the builder where I expressed my concern. They just ignored me. Then I met with manger of the building department of the City. I submitted my official report to the City. He took the side of the builder. Later he called me to the office and threatened me that the consulting engineering company I worked for will have a problem if I continue my complains. I did not realize that we have this type of corruption in Canada before my friend, who is architect told me that building departments are the most corrupted organizations in this country. This is probably the main reason why construction quality is so bad. In addition I should say that the majority of the city building inspectors I have a chance to communicate on my personal business and at work are not knowledgeable in structural part of the building code. Only a year ago, new Building Code Act required them to pass a technical exam...

Unbelievable. Canada still has no laws and people in cities that are bought and paid for by crooked builders. Nothing ever changes. Drumheller, AB is the same.

I really feel for those two families, one this that was not mentioned (I don't think it was) did the home owners get the houses inspected before they bought?? If so did the inspectors find anything wrong?? Yes I know that they can only find things that are on the surface, but it would be interesting to see that report.
I sure hope that their law suit falls in their favor.

how come you never disclosed the builder's company name? legal problem?

that's absolutely devastating! we consumers think these agencies etc are there to help us!! it's disgraceful that it's just an agency taking $$ with no complete satisfaction.

I was pleased to see the episode this evening citing unethical builders and incompetency surrounding the delivery of reliable inspections services to home buyers and renovators. I have, over the years become an advocate for learning as many practical skills as possible so homeowners can assess and maintain their homes, or oversee builds or renos - education and information helps when problems arise. How sad tonight's homeowners couldn't have been around more to keep an eye on Wright and his band of no-goods. I grew up on the same street as Brett Wright, and although I lost track of him many years ago, seeing him this evening was a shock - Mr. Wright, as we neighborhood kids used to joke, is all wrong. Shame on you, Brett . . . "Diddy" Morris Wright was a real estate broker back then . . . now his son is putting his own twisted spin on deals - not a broker, a breaker - hearts, dreams, and homes.

This story hits home as we too have serious defects and building code issues in our new home that we have tried to get fixed for almost 4 years now. Just walking into our home we noticed building code issues that were not addressed and to date have not been addressed.
We went to our builder who did not repair it, we went to Tarion who did not repair it. We tried to get help from all levels of government, however, they refuse to address the key issue of 'building code issues' after a purchase. They state that Tarion does not inspect for Building Code issues nor do they notify the municipality (at least in our case.)Then why does the ONWHP Act state a home must be free from defects from the Ontario Building Code? How can Tarion not inspect this key point under the Act? We cannot understand how the municipality could have missed the things in our home that they did.
I wonder how these builders/Tarion/the government ministers would feel if they were put in our shoes paying $1000's of dollars on assessments and having to live in a house that leaks and bedrooms that are so cold that you can see your breath. Having gone through thousands of repairs with no real fixes.
We have two small children who are constantly sick because the heat does not work properly and yet no one cares. Once the house is built, you get what you get.
The only person that truly cares about homeowners is the Ombudsman of Ontario. Were it not for him, there would be no hope. His 'Building Clarity' report reflected a number of people in need of help.
I wish the two Hamilton couples all the best. It's time that the government take action on new homes and protect homeowners both before and after their build. Why should the homeowners be made to endure litigation and pain and stress because of a builder, Tarion or the municipality's mistake. There is 'NO' consumer protection after a new home is purchased. Let's hope the government watches this video and starts to see how things are from a homeowners perspective.
Thank you CBC for airing this episode. It is media such as yourself and Bob Aaron of the Toronto Star that disclose the other half of newly built homes.
We need another 100 Mike Holmes out there who care enough to try to make a difference.
Brigette in Unionville,

Well done Market Place! Every builder has a vested interest in reducing costs and cutting corners to increase profits. By exposing the bad apples maybe building inspectors and Tarion will clean up their act and quit acting as agents for builders and protect consumers.

Wow! You ladies and all the staff at Marketplace absolutely ROCK! Keep up the great work and bust all the scammers. I bet there is a Bernie Madoff in the crowd somewhere.

I am so sick and tired of hearing of crappy builders, and contractors that dont know a clue about what they're doing. There are actually good ones out there, that do a reall good job. The unfortunate thing is that theres nothing to protect home owners against faulty workmanship. What is it going to take for governments to intervene to protect homeowners!

If you think the markets are bad in Ontario the new homes built in Newfoundland and Labrador are just as 'messy'. The boom for bidding wars and reduced skilled labour force makes it not only a sellers market but a builders one. There have been cases where they raise the prices of new homes because they can until the first hole is dug. Printed in the small print of the contract. New homes have furnace problems, sliding falling off, holes in their basements due 'assist' with moisture problems...it is one crazy market. New home warranties are a joke as the answer is always 'that is not covered!!"

I bought a new condo a few months back....watching this program scared me. There are lots of problems in the condo units and while most of them have been fixed, I am now wondering about the building itself.....

As a volunteer homeowner advocate in British Columbia (www.cashsociety.net) I can vouch that these same examples are prevalent here and on a large scale.

I believe this Marketplace program is touching the surface of a Canadian pandemic.

How is quality defined in the building industry?

The whole concept of working to minimum standards in this day and age is outrageous. All other industries world-wide, have been working to achieve zero defects for decades.

The legislation across the nation is pathetic and senior governments have turned their backs on protecting Canadians.

Home warranty insurance programs across the country are a joke.

Great program and very informative, thanks for showing.

I also bought a new house in milton and I am also facing alot of issues, mine basement floor full of cracks and I can see some water spots in the cracks. Its not only me others my neighbours similar issue.

I'll be hiring a professional Inspector for 1st year report.

Thanks again for showing very informative program.

Kudos to you Marketplace!!!
As an electrical contractor, I see frauds and disasters on a daily basis. Your half hour show is only the very small tip of the iceberg. In order to build a house, it requires several different tradespeople, but the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities requires certification of only three trades amongst all required to build a house.
Pathetic! All the trades listed should be certified and with a minimum 70% of English language skills.
Unscrupolous and greedy builders take advantage of many newcomers, permanent and temporary...who offer extremely cheap labour for extremely cheap workmanship.
It is a viscious circle which includes the Ministry, the various union forces, the builders and Tarion (the latter being a complete farse even when it was called Ontario New Home Warranty Program).
Considering the economic downturn that our country is facing, what all viewers saw on your show will only escalate to grow in mammoth proportions.
My integrity and pride are what is left to stand out from the slew. Sadly, being the good guy doesn't pay and is forced to become the bad guy to survive.
Trust yourself but don't trust anybody!
Thank you.

This episode illustrates the importance of doing your research before purchasing a new home. I found myself in a similar situation with another builder... No one should buy a home from this builder without visiting one of their sites and closely examining the building quality and workmanship. Look closely at the brick work, concrete work as well as the state of their building site. Its well worth the time. The service people for the building were fond of saying, "these are not custom homes.' You will understand why.

I think you're program took it too far by announcing Brett Wright's name. You basically ruined this mans life. He may indeed have been a terrible builder, but there is always two sides to every story. Your show has to be very sensational to get viewership, but in doing so you played accuser, judge and jury. That is why we have a legal system in Canada, to give both sides a fair trial. If the judge comes to the same conclusion as Mike Homes - then by all means, ruin his life. But not until then.

I am concerned that when 18 houses were to be built in what appeared to be a new serviced subdivision that the City of Hamilton through Mr Spolnik didn't send a junior clerk to check that the number of foundations dug or houses started matched the number of permits issued. Clearly this should be the City and the public's first step in the protection from dishonest and incompetent builders such as Brett Wright. It appeared from the permit issuing sequence that the City of Hamilton could have stopped work on any one of these houses before the closing date of the sale. If the inspectors were capable, and had complete access to these houses, none of them would have been sold before corrections were completed. I hope that the owners' legal actions against the City of Hamilton are successful so that others don't suffer the same fate.

Great episode! As someone working for a builder and a new home owner, what was on tv tonight is not strange to me at all.It didn't reveal scratches but something deep under.

leaving the fact that all builders are different, I just want to comment on Tarion's position. I somehow have to work with Tarion staff closely and I have to say a lot of them are very digigent in serving builders; but my experience as a new home owner has been quite frustrating. Fairly speaking, they have been improving their services susbtantically, like following proper procedures in sending you letters; but obviously they are on purchaser's side. Take my experience as example, during inspection (it happens when the dispute between purchser and builder doesn't get solved in a certain period of time), they firstly questions what purchasers have done,and asked purchaser to prove them they are innocent; and though you try to explain to them, they will claim it is beyond thier knowledge, and leave their judgement as "not able to judge". Before inspection, they didn't even review what was already stored in their database after purchaser made tens of phone calls with hopefully wishes. And you have to pay for thier trip though you have already paid hundreds of Tarion warranty fees. And you have to resubmit everything you have done long time ago.

My experience convinced me never buy a new home again; only this whole process is able to drive you crazy. And we are among the lucky ones.

Now we have to local tribunal to solve the dispute. Why is it so hard to be purchaser? Didn't they say purchasers are God? well, maybe this gloomy housing marketing is not too bad in term of putting this bargaining power more into the purchaser's hands!

Thank you and wish you could produce more such meaningful programs!

Congratulations on your 2009 season of Marketplace! I can't be the only one surprised to find the new season of Marketplace is now 33% lighter on content. Your "half-hour" show has only 20 minutes of content plus some "when we come back... " padding.

Which of you has failed to understand that having commercials during a show of this nature does nothing but make it lose all credibility?

Why am I even surprised? Look what you did to 'Venture'.. you've turned it into 'Dragon's Den'. a show that has replaced anything to do with "entrepreneur" with "game show".

Just shows that it is better to be safe then sorry and that "slow and steady wins the race." In our society only some things can be done quickly and efficiently. Homes, especially ones being built, should be done with plenty of time so no problems are found. Hence, why you should make sure that the builder is willing to take the time to get the job done.

What happened to Marketplace being commercial-free? :(

Excellent show uncovering these dishonest builders in the trade. It is frustrating for all of us to know there is really no one there to protect you. Shame on government employees who aren't doing there jobs and don't know when to admit they have failed the people they are suppose to protect. This is no different then the Walkerton water scandal except it [didn't] end in fatality. The second part of these stories is the fallout of people fighting for there rights and fighting city hall. You just take what is being offered because you make your self sick with stress otherwise. I would bet that many of these homeowners are so stressed they end up with diseases like heart problems or diabetes or even in divorce and hopefully god forbid nothing worse.