Alberta’s New Home Buyer Protection Act, which took effect in February 2014, requires that all new homes have home warranty insurance coverage to ensure that homebuyers receive mandated protections. An ownership experience protected from unpleasant surprises. For information on pre-mandatory warranty, click here.
Year 1: Materials and Labour
Coverage for defects in materials and labour (baseboards, flooring, trim)
Year 2: Delivery and distribution systems
Coverage for defects in materials and labour related to delivery and distribution systems (heating, electrical, plumbing)
Year 5: Building envelope
Coverage for defects in the system of components that separate the conditioned space from unconditioned space (roof, exterior walls)
Year 10: Structual
Coverage for the load-bearing parts of the home (frame, foundation)
Extended two-year building envelope
Optional additional building envelope coverage protects you from defects in your home’s building envelope for two years over and above the mandatory five-year coverage, extending the coverage period to a maximum of seven years from the commencement date. Your homebuilder may opt for this coverage at the time of the project application.
Living expenses
Your warranty covers reasonable living expenses if your new home is uninhabitable due to a defect or rectification of a defect. Please see your policy for coverage details.
Warranty insurance coverage limits
- For a single-family home: the lesser of the original purchase price (excluding land) and $265,000.
- For a multi-family unit registered under a condominium plan: the lesser of the original purchase price and $130,000.
- For common warrantable property in a multi-family building or for the property for which a condominium corporation is responsible under its bylaws: $130,000 times the number of multi-family units in the building to a maximum of $3,300,000 per building.
- For a non-condominium multi-family unit (for example, a duplex unit or row townhome with no common warrantable property): the lesser of the purchase price and $265,000.
commencement dates
the earliest of (1) the date a new home is first occupied; (2) the date an accredited agency, accredited municipality or accredited regional services commission grants permission to occupy a new home; and (3) the date the transfer of title to a new home is registered.
(for example, a duplex unit or row townhome with no common warrantable property): the earliest of (1) the date a new home is first occupied; (2) the date an accredited agency, accredited municipality, or accredited regional services commission grants permission to occupy a new home; and (3) the date the transfer of title to a new home is registered.
registered under a condominium plan: the earliest of (1) the date a new home is first occupied; and (2) the date an accredited agency, accredited municipality or accredited regional services commission grants permission to occupy a new home.
in a multi-family building or for the property for which a condominium corporation is responsible under its bylaws: (1) the title to an inhabitable unit in a building or building in a phase of development of a condominium is transferred from the homebuilder to a purchaser of a unit in an arm’s length transaction; and (2) the homebuilder has agreed with a qualified person to have the qualified person prepare a building assessment report for the building or for the phase of development within 180 days of the transfer of title described in (1).