Consumer advocates warn of lax homebuilding standards after Fort Erie couple’s ordeal

The story of a Fort Erie couple who say they unknowingly bought a new home that had severe deficiencies did not come as a surprise to the co-founder and president of a Canadian homebuyers’ consumer protection organization.

Karen Somerville said the story published by the CBC earlier this week is just another example of how the homebuilding industry in Ontario is failing buyers.

“Most of us assume that there’s a building code and that the building code is being enforced,” said Somerville, who’s president of the organization Canadians for Properly Built Homes.

“Yes, there is a building code but far too often the building code is not enforced.”

On Wednesday, the CBC published a story on the couple–Carolynn Mayers and James Durban–who bought a home on Sharon Drive in 2021.

They bought their High Pointe Meadows home from the original owner about a year after it was built but soon found significant deficiencies. Those deficiencies led not only to toxic mould but also recommendations from several experts to tear down the home and build a new one.

According to the CBC, Mayers and Durban have since taken legal action against both the Town of Fort Erie and the builder, Mississauga-based Marina Homes.

As difficult as their situation appears to be, Somerville said it’s not uncommon in Ontario, which she said lags behind much of Canada when it comes to consumer protection for homebuyers.

“We volunteer because so many consumers, new home purchasers, are finding themselves in a serious situation with newly built homes that don’t even meet the minimum code,” she said.

Somerville and her husband started the non-profit 20 years ago after they had issues with a home they purchased. They quickly realized there were shockingly limited protections.

To her, the major problem is a lack of oversight and regulation from the provincial government, which years ago offloaded to the municipalities the responsibility of enforcing the building code and doing construction inspections. More recently, she said the Ontario government approved allowing remote inspections done by drone or smartphone.

“We see it getting worse, not better,” she said.

One of the major issues is a lack of qualified inspectors, Somerville said.

“So there are corners that are sometimes cut. Sometimes we see that these inspections are done via a sampling method, not all homes are inspected,” she said, adding it’s not just an issue for smaller towns like Fort Erie. Large cities like Toronto have also identified issues, she said.

“There are problems with small municipalities, there are problems with large municipalities.”

A builder in Fort Erie, who asked not to be named to protect their working relationships, had similar thoughts to Somerville. The builder told Fort Erie Radio that while there are good companies out there, there are others that fail to meet the minimums required under the building code.

Some do so intentionally, while in other situations it could be an honest mistake, they said.

Thinking back a few years ago to when the subdivision in Fort Erie was built, the local builder pointed out it was an especially challenging time in the industry with sky-high demand.

Challenging times or not, Somerville said proper construction should be at the forefront of any project. While there are issues across the country, she said other provinces–such as B.C.–do a much better job with their new homebuilding.

“There’s a fine line between licensing and regulations, and red tape,” she said.

So while her organization understands the need to address housing shortages and build new homes, Somerville said it can’t be done by “cutting red tape when it comes to these kinds of things, like enforcing the Ontario building code during construction.”

Somerville also stressed that it’s not everyone.

“There are good builders. There are also far too many poor and marginal builders. And consumers have no reliable, objective means of knowing who the good builders are,” she said.

To underscore just how common the issue is, Somerville said she spent Wednesday evening–the day the CBC story on the Fort Erie home was published–speaking with two different homebuyers in similar situations.

She said they were older people now put in extremely challenging positions.

“We see this at all stages of life,” Somerville said.

A brief emailed statement from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing didn’t directly address the call for more regulation, and pointed out the enforcement of the building code rests with the local municipality.

“The Building Code is enforced locally, by municipal building departments, who determine how the Code applies in a particular circumstance,” their email to Fort Erie Radio said.

“The Ministry does not play an overseeing or supervisory role over local municipal governments. Local municipalities are responsible and accountable governments that are responsible for the decisions they make.”

The statement also didn’t answer a question about how the province would balance ensuring quality construction with the push to get more homes built.

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