
Emergency Situations
Once you have taken possession of your new home, builders in Ontario are deemed to provide statutory warranty coverage as described in the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and backed by the Tarion Warranty Corporation. Your new home must meet or surpass the structural requirements and health and safety standards of the Ontario Building Code. Your new home is also protected by a mandatory warranty provided by Ballantry and backed by Tarion Warranty Corporation.

A warranted emergency is a situation that occurs which affects your ability to safely inhabit the home or requires immediate attention to mitigate further damages and is not a result of municipal or act of nature conditions. They are typically defined as follows:
- Total loss of heat between September 15 and May 15
- Plumbing leak that cannot be shut off at the source or requires complete water shut-off
- Complete loss of electricity in the home
- Major water penetration
- A situation where the home would be considered uninhabitable for health and safety reasons (as it relates to builder-supplied items).
Items that could fall under the builder’s responsibility but could also be due to other circumstances include:
- Gas leak
- Total loss of electricity
- Total loss of water supply
- Sewage stoppage
In all situations, you will be required to reach out to the Ballantry Homes Service Department at service@ballantryhomes.com and provide details of the concern. If emergencies happen outside of business hours, holidays, or weekends, you can contact the appropriate trade partner as noted in your Homeowners’ Manual.
Situations due to the failure of a municipality, utility, third party, or an act of nature are not covered under warranty since they are beyond the builder’s control. If you need to contact a third party for repairs, make sure to obtain a full report of the issue, what was done to temporarily repair it, and include pictures to substantiate.
Here are some quick troubleshooting tips for specific emergencies:

TOTAL LOSS OF HEAT
- Check the function of the thermostat. Has the main floor thermostat been switched to the OFF setting?
- Has the master electrical power switch been shut off (generally located near the furnace in the basement)?
- For high-efficiency furnaces, check the exterior air/exhaust vents to ensure they are not blocked by snow, as this condition can trigger a shutdown of the furnace.
- What is the temperature inside/outside of the home? If outside temperatures are moderate (fall/spring), the home will not cool down to an unreasonable temperature. We recommend waiting until business hours to start a service call.

GAS LEAK
- Evacuate the home immediately, and the appropriate gas utility should be contacted.

TOTAL LOSS OF ELECTRICITY
- Determine whether the electrical failure is of an area-wide situation. If so, the local electrical utility will handle the problem in their usual manner. You do not need to contact the builder.
- If part of the home is off, check the circuit breakers, ground fault interrupters, etc.
- Only in a case where there is no electricity in the entire home (unique to your home only) will an emergency service be required.

SEWAGE STOPPAGE (BLOCKED MAIN SEWER)
- Determine whether an entire blockage exists. Typical indicators include odour in the basement and/or sewage spilling into the basement.
- Where a fixture (sink, toilet) is blocked but all other fixtures function normally, a regular service call on the next business day is required.

PLUMBING LEAKS
- Determine the nature of the leak and whether shutting off an individual water line or fixture valve will temporarily solve the problem. Where a leak cannot be stopped in this manner and the homeowner has other plumbing fixtures, this situation is not deemed an emergency and can be handled by a normal service call.
- In a situation where the entire house must be shut down at the main shut-down valve or where service from the street is broken, frozen, etc., the homeowner should contact Ballantry Homes immediately. For after-hours calls, contact our trade partners directly.

MAJOR WATER PENETRATION
- Assess the location and severity of the leak. Where the leak is minor, such as through window or door seals or minor seepage through basement cracks (no major/continuous accumulation of water), the homeowner should be able to contain the situation until a service call can be arranged.
- Where water penetration is continuous, through walls and roof that may cause severe damages to interior finishes, Ballantry Homes should be contacted immediately. Temporary measures will be required to stop or reduce water penetration to a manageable level until the exact cause can be determined before permanent repair takes place. If necessary, you can contact a third party to temporarily stop leaking until Ballantry Homes representatives can assess.