The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

85 BRIDGEPORT RD. E. WATERLOO (Across from the Bridgeport Rd. Plaza) Since 1971 519-893-8118 MON., TUES., WED. 10 AM - 6 PM THURS., FRI. 10 AM - 8 PM SATURDAY 9 AM - 5 PM SUNDAY 12 PM - 4 PM Furniture & Mattresses Since 1971 LOFTY IDEAS FOr SMALL SPACES NEED HELP DOWNSIZING? DISCOvEr Our CLASSIC, CONTEMPOrArY AND TrANSITIONAL STYLES FOr ANY SIZE SPACE • Free Blood Glucose Monitor & Teaching • Free Blood Pressure Check • Compounding Friendly Professional Team... where your total health is our goal! hours Mon.-Fri. 9am-7pm • Sat. 9am-4pm 519-747-0320 373 Bridge St. Waterloo www.thpharmacy.com Thursday, November 23, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 5Serving your community since 1856 By Bill Jackson For the Chronicle As the dream of home ownership might have some people cutting corners, the building industry is warning consumers about the pitfalls of illegal construction. "You're going to see more and more people engaged in the business of selling homes but not engaged in the business of building homes," said Joe Vaccaro, chief operating officer of the Ontario Home Builders' Association. Vaccaro was in Kitchener on Thursday for a roundtable dis- cussion with local stakeholders, including municipal building officials and a representative of Tarion, Ontario's new home warranty provider. "What you're going to see more and more of is people pulling a permit and selling it two years down the road for the capital gains opportunity," Vaccaro said. "But the reality is, they've left that consumer in that home without all the pro- tections they're entitled to." Tarion says its enforcement team has opened eight inves- tigations involving 11 homes in Waterloo Region since 2015. Three charges were laid result- ing in three convictions. "But you can't fully quantify the impact," said Siloni Wara- ich, Tarion's vice president of stakeholder engagement, who said the warranty provider pays out more than $1 million annu- ally in claims involving illegal builders in Ontario. "Whether it's eight or it's 80 in an area, it really is about the extreme scenarios -- the heart- wrenching stories that have come to us about people who have lost their entire life sav- ings because they didn't have a proper contract, because they were convinced to take a permit out in their own name and use a contractor." Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, any- one in the province who plans to build a home to sell must be registered with Tarion. Prior to being granted reg- istration, prospective home builders are required to suc- cessfully complete a technical evaluation based on the Ontario Building Code and undergo a financial viability and business competency analysis. But any landowner can cur- rently apply for a building per- mit, said Mike Seiling, Kitchen- er's chief building official. "If you're making your appli- cation and you're suggesting you're building a home yourself, for yourself, we have to take it at face value," he said. And, if you're building for yourself, you don't need to be insured. "So, this is where the trouble comes in," he said. "We have people that say they're going to build for themselves and have every intention of selling it as soon as possible. "What some of these guys do is they sell it right away, as soon as the building frame goes up." In British Columbia, anyone taking out a building permit is required to provide a "letter of confirmation" from the warran- ty provider that's says they're building for themselves, Vac- caro noted. "That letter clarifies quite clearly your obligations if should you sell that home, but it also provides a record for the next purchaser coming to understand what they've pur- chased." Vaccaro hopes to see simi- lar legislation introduced in Ontario, which would require every builder to stand behind their work. "If you want to go on your own, you have that right, but understand what you're getting into," he said. "In marketplace where people are challenged to buy a home -- if they can find a way to save $5,000, that temptation is there," Vaccaro added. "When you start seeing increased land values, you're going to see a correlation with illegal building," said Kitchener Coun. Bil Ioannidis, who was on hand for the discussion. Ioannidis said he frequently receives calls from people in regards to building concerns and says most issues come back to a lack of consumer knowl- edge. "They need to do their due diligence, period." As Waraich put it, the pur- chaser is ultimately responsible to safeguard themselves against illegal activity. "We live in a different world now where reality TV shows encourage 'do-it-yourself' and the Ontario Building Code is accessible on the internet," she said. And even though something might meet code, it says noth- ing of workmanship, Seiling stressed. Though illegal building was the focus of Thursday's round- table, it accounts for about 10 per cent of warranty claims paid by Tarion. However, much of it also goes unreported. "Building a home is a team effort that requires a behind the scenes effort to manage a sys- tem of standards, permits and inspections to ensure a home is properly built, safe to live in and covered by warranty," the collective highlighted in a press release as part of its awareness campaign. New home buyers are advised to visit the Ontario Builder Directory on Tarion's website before signing a pur- chase agreement to confirm that their builder is registered. Illegal building can be anony- mously reported by calling Tarion at 1-800-786-6497 or by emailing enforcement@tarion. ca. Illegal construction on the rise according to Tarion file photo Before building a home, people are encouraged to make sure their builders are legitimate.