WHEREAS consumer confidence in new home construction is important to have a healthy and growing industry;AND WHEREAS consumer confidence is eroded by issues such as pine shakes, leaky stucco exterior walls, and new homes where costly repairs not warranted by product suppliers and installers occur;AND WHEREAS the Safety Codes Act does not require building contractors to hold any trade qualifications or certification;AND WHEREAS with a voluntary Home Warranty Program, there is virtually no builder accountability for poor workmanship/construction quality in instances where a builder is not a subscriber of a Home Warranty Program;AND WHEREAS the purpose of the Safety Codes Act is to ensure safety and minimum building standards, and not to become involved in workmanship and quality control;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties support the introduction of mandatory new home warranty coverage in the Province of Alberta which provides a minimum standard of consumer warranty including code, workmanship, and structural issues;AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Association support mandatory certification through the Home Builder Association for all building contractors.

Recent issues, such as the pine shakes controversy, have resulted in homeowners across the province increasingly looking to government, at both the provincial and municipal levels, to provide a higher level of consumer protection. One facet of these demands is the expectation that the Safety Codes Act (Building Code) should provide a high level of workmanship and quality of construction protection, however, the purpose of the Safety Codes Act is to ensure safety and minimum building standards, and not to become involved in consumer issues related to workmanship.The Safety Codes Act regulation and codes require certification of applicants who do work in plumbing, gas, electrical and other disciplines. Exceptions are made only for homeowners/farmers who do their own work. In the building discipline, the Codes do not require building contractors to hold any trade qualifications or certification.