With respect to Mattamy ban on Home inspectors at PDI

[New Home Inc (NHII)]

Hello Everyone,

As many of you may already be aware of Mattamy Homes has placed a ban on my company New Home Inspection Inc from assisting new homeowners with their PDI inspections.

This started back in September 2009 when I became aware through my clients who had booked PDI appointments with us, that Mattamy Homes had advised them through email (email quote) “Mattamy Homes no longer allows New Home Inspections Inc or their employees to attend any of our Pre Delivery Inspection appointments or gain access to our homes prior to closing” (unquote). Threats were made and has been carried out to have us removed from the property should we turn up at the PDI appointment. Some homeowners who choose to ignore the warning and had me attend the PDI anyway, were less than impressed with the way Mattamy handled my presence on site. I was denied entry and then was told, entry would be granted, IF I agree to sign this new (made by Mattamy) ‘Code of Conduct Form’ which of course I refused to sign. I was then kicked off the site and the homeowner was left to conduct the PDI with out assistance.

The situation has since escalated to include pretty much a complete ban on home inspectors at the PDI on all of Mattamy sites. New home owner are being told as early as Mattamy University that home inspectors are not allowed at any of Mattamy PDI inspections, and specifically New Home Inspections Inc. unless that inspector agrees to sign a Code of Conduct Form which in fact ties the hands of the home inspector, and impede them from properly representing the client.

This came as a shock and surprise to me, even though I was fully aware that Mattamy Homes and other builders in general, has for some time been struggling with the fact that homeowners were better informed and educated than ever before, and were fully exercising their right to have professional representation at a PDI.
This was largely in part to the positive changes that came about through Regulation 894 Section 1.11 of Ontario New Home Warranty plan act which allowed homeowners the right to have a designate/inspector at the PDI. Coupled with of course, the very useful information available to homeowners through website forums such as this one, providing new homeowners especially ones buying a new home for the first time, with an opportunity to exchange valuable information and experiences about their builder and the home’s building process in general.

It was not a norm in the industry a few years ago, to have a Home inspector accompany homeowners at the PDI; as a matter of fact homeowners were forbidden from bringing a home inspector with them at the PDI prior to bulletin #42. Regulation 894 Section 1.11 of the ONHW Plan Act as a result builders are not use to dealing with home inspectors being present at the PDI, pointing out issues, defects, etc, basically inspecting on behalf of the client/purchaser. Builders no longer had the one on one control with the homeowner at the PDI and clearly some were not happy about this.

As one Mattamy PDI representative once said to me, they don’t feel they have control of the PDI when I am attending with the homeowner. Maybe because they knew I was observing the way they conducted the PDI and themselves, and was vigilant in ensuring proper procedure as outlined by Tarion was being carried out, that my client’s rights was first and foremost at the PDI, and that I would not hesitate to report to Tarion and to Mattamy’s GM when lines were crossed. Which I have had to do in the past with a certain PDI representative that was clearly out of line at a PDI walk through.

Having said that, I can think of several reasons why Mattamy homes would want me banned from their PDI. Given my no nonsense approach with the builder and complete dedication to the homeowner for starters. So my surprise is not that Mattamy did ban Home inspectors namely my company from attending the PDI, because that has always been Mattamy’s intention. My surprise is however that Tarion has allowed this to happen and has not intervened on behalf of homeowners.

I have since however, retained a lawyer to assist me with this matter and as such this unfortunate situation is currently being dealt with through my lawyer.

Presently, it is business as usual for us. We are happy to inform you that New home Inspections Inc are still conducting PDI inspections with all the usual Tarion follow up 30 Day and Year end inspections for all other builders in Milton and the GTA area, and we are still available to perform 30 Day and Year end inspections for Mattamy homeowner on all of Mattamy sites, since thankfully, Mattamy has no control on who you choose to hire for your follow up inspections beyond the PDI.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our clients for all the calls expressing your disbelief and astonishment with Mattamy Homes decision, and for your patience and continuing support through this very trying time, as we continue to provide homeowners with the usual high standard of inspections they deserve to protect their investment.

We will be posting updates as necessary on this and other forums. If you wish to view more on this issue please click here. As well please feel free to contact me if you have any questions with respect to this situation.

Thank you again for your continuing support. We remain positive moving forward on all fronts.

[K.C.]

Carole, on the Hawthorne Villager forum you posted this (emphasis is mine):

Another common practice with many builders is to encourage home owners to defer items of concern or issues found at the PDI to the 30 day list, this is unacceptable. Every item found to be defective, damaged, missing etc at the PDI should be reported and listed on the Tarion official PDI list, and not be deferred to a later inspection such as the 30 day or year end. That includes cosmetic items such as nail pops, drywall cracks poor finishes etc. When deferred to year end nail pops and wall cracks will fall under the year end ‘normal shrinkage of material’ and is not covered by your Tarion warranty. Most builders will do drywall repairs as a courtesy but will not sand or paint the repaired spot, hence my reasons for identifying these items at PDI as poor workmanship.

While I agree that Mattamy plays games with some homeowners that are completely unacceptable I don't think a home inspector that wants to find every nail pop during the PDI can do their clients justice. You are allowed 1 hour per 1000 square feet per Tarion rules. That time should be better allocated.

I am one tough customer and in Mattamy's defense I will say that they fixed about 200 nail pops and repainted the entire house several months after closing and these issues were neither on the PDI or 30 day list. I found all the nail pops after submitting both of these lists, they were long enough as it was. I asked them if I should wait for the year end to fix the nail pops and they said no let's fix them now since we have to repaint anyway. I know I'm not the only homeowner they repainted entire houses for.

It took me well over 15 hours to cover every inch of the walls in our 3,000 square foot house to find the endless nail pops. Tarion allows 3 hours for a PDI for a house this size.

Unless you offer the world's longest home inspections you are not going to find every nail pop, the homeowner will have to do that.

This has been a very difficult experience and absolutely everything in our home has been fixed.

We hired Andy Shaw as our home inspector and he not only did what we expect someone we pay to do but he educated us on the process and the best way to handle things. I wasn't too thrilled with his approach when I first spoke to him on the phone but everything he told us to do worked.

Andy didn't get us all worked up about the builder (we didn't need help in that area). He didn't build up our hopes too high or mislead us about what we could expect. We hired a professional to help us navigate a difficult process and it was a success.

[K.C.]

Carole sent me a PM she's unable to respond to public comments. I think there's a glitch in the system and I've sent a PM to Dave the administrator to look into it. I had a similar problem a while back at the same time that new users were not able to register. Hopefully Dave can fix this soon.

[Dave]

Not really sure why that would be... everything seems to be working fine. I have PM'd Carole to see what the issue is.

[K.C.]

Is there a limit to the number of characters in the post? There's a minimum limit, is there a maximum? I'm not saying Carole talks too much.

[New Home Inc (NHII)]

K.C in response to your post.
You said
Carole, on the Hawthorne Villager forum you posted this (emphasis is mine):

Another common practice with many builders is to encourage home owners to defer items of concern or issues found at the PDI to the 30 day list, this is unacceptable. Every item found to be defective, damaged, missing etc at the PDI should be reported and listed on the Tarion official PDI list, and not be deferred to a later inspection such as the 30 day or year end. That includes cosmetic items such as nail pops, drywall cracks poor finishes etc. When deferred to year end nail pops and wall cracks will fall under the year end ‘normal shrinkage of material’ and is not covered by your Tarion warranty. Most builders will do drywall repairs as a courtesy but will not sand or paint the repaired spot, hence my reasons for identifying these items at PDI as poor workmanship.

While I agree that Mattamy plays games with some homeowners that are completely unacceptable I don't think a home inspector that wants to find every nail pop during the PDI can do their clients justice. You are allowed 1 hour per 1000 square feet per Tarion rules. That time should be better allocated.

K.C, did you maybe take this out of context? nail pops and wall cracks was not the main part of that paragraph it was included with respect to the point I was making and that point was with regards to some builder’s reps who could not be bothered about listing items on the PDI form and prefers to defer items example, nail pops etc to the year end, I go on to explain why this is not a good practice. There was a lot of information given in that tread paragraph, the least of which nail pops was important. There is a bigger picture here, which I am hoping will not get lost. I personally would prefer not to focus or get hung up on the nail pop issue.

Your quote: I don't think a home inspector that wants to find every nail pop during the PDI can do their clients justice. You are allowed 1 hour per 1000 square feet per Tarion rules. That time should be better allocated.
K.C you are absolutely correct! Time does not permit for every nail pop; remember we have the orientation as well as the inspection. However the amount of nail pops found at the PDI should speak volumes to the quality or lack of quality with the drywall trade in that specific house, and if excessive should be repaired before closing, since this is a messy job and poses a great inconvenience to the homeowner after closing. I don’t think a home inspector that ignores the amount of nail pops at the PDI can be servicing their clients properly. A NEW home inspection includes cosmetic items as well, especially at the PDI walk through. I combine both in my inspections for the first year of the home, but then I am trained that way, any trained inspector can and will. It’s that eagle eye. Some inspectors don't think its important, that's their opinion.


Your quote: I am one tough customer and in Mattamy's defense I will say that they fixed about 200 nail pops and repainted the entire house several months after closing and these issues were neither on the PDI or 30 day list. I found all the nail pops after submitting both of these lists, they were long enough as it was. I asked them if I should wait for the year end to fix the nail pops and they said no let's fix them now since we have to repaint anyway. I know I'm not the only homeowner they repainted entire houses for.

Please keep in mind K.C this was your experience, unfortunately it is not the experience for many others. While I am happy that Mattamy took care of all 200 nail pops for you and repainted your entire house and that of many of your neighbors, and did it sooner rather than later. I have several clients who can not share your positive experience. I am not surprised that you were serviced in that way. I know that site in Cambridge very well and have done a lot of work up there. Paul Alves and his team including Sofia are very easy to work with and I want to say they may be (in my opinion) one of Mattamy’s better sites. We should all keep in mind that every home is unique and as such all experiences are not the same.
K.C I know you are a tough customer (lol) I have read some of your other post, and I am glad that you are, but really 200 nail pops? That a lot, I am not surprised they had to repaint. Had the poor drywall quality been noted at PDI the repair and repainting may have been done before closing rather that after, maybe? Opps here I go getting hung up on nail pops.

Your Quote: We hired Andy Shaw as our home inspector and he not only did what we expect someone we pay to do but he educated us on the process and the best way to handle things. I wasn't too thrilled with his approach when I first spoke to him on the phone but everything he told us to do worked.

Andy didn't get us all worked up about the builder (we didn't need help in that area). He didn't build up our hopes too high or mislead us about what we could expect. We hired a professional to help us navigate a difficult process and it was a success.

That’s wonderful K.C, I am happy to hear that the home inspector of your choice did a great job for you, as he should. I know a lot of my clients have expressed their gratitude with respects to my good work as well, and that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.

I am respectful and supportive to all home inspectors out there trying to represent their clients, since I am aware of and can personally relate to many of the frustration encountered with this profession. As I have said time and again, there are not enough Good home inspectors out there representing the new home owner, especially first time buyers who are left to the mercy of their builder. Unfortunately, this opinion is not necessarily shared by other home inspectors out there, some without having all the facts has chosen to resort to finger pointing and being judgmental and even insensitive to this issue with Mattamy Homes and my company. One has even expressed his opinion quite rudely I might say in a PM to me.

However having said that and with all due respect to you I think you will understand when I say it is not my intentions and I would rather not turn this tread into a rating for home inspectors or have other home inspectors use this as an avenue to promote themselves and/or their services, having said that, I know I have no control over that. My only intention for starting this tread on the forum in the first place was to bring awareness to homeowners/purchasers of new homes in light of the new development with Mattamy Homes and my company. I hope that the message I intended to relay does not get lost in all the back and forth of information.

[K.C.]

I hope that the message I intended to relay does not get lost in all the back and forth of information.

Believe it or not Carole I do understand what you are saying. If Mattamy lived up to their reputation things would happen the way you think but they don't. I know some very nice people in this subdivision who were in tears during their PDI and it makes me very angry.

Yes 200 nail pops and we have one of the better built houses. The nail pops were the least of our problems. Like I said it took 100 visits to fix all our items. I made a remark after submitting our 30 day forms that Mattamy's new target market is unemployed people! You couldn't possibly go out to a job and get your house properly fixed. I got so comfortable with the warranty tech I wore pajamas while he was here.

The warranty tech was extremely efficient but some of the subcontractors will make you go postal with their inefficiency. I do realize how lucky we are that we had Dwayne as our warranty tech.

Our PDI was the day before closing and I had been in constant contact with the construction office so I knew that there were going to be some big unfinished things in our house and I had agreed to it.

I also consulted my lawyer's office and asked them what our options were and they said you don't have any, you have to close on time.

Homeowners' problems are not going to go away until Mattamy management decides that screwing people over is eventually going to cause them as much pain as they are causing their customers.

[New Home Inc (NHII)]

K.C Please come work for me as my spokesman/woman!!! lol

Thank you for relating to my frustrations with this industry.
So sorry you had to go through your own 'new home nightmare'
I call it. (lol) I am sure Andy will take good care of you.
Thanks Carole

[K.C.]

FYI Carole, I'm a woman. I've always worked in a male dominated industry and it's rubbed off on me, I often end up sounding like a man to people who don't know me. You wouldn't believe how many international customers send me emails referring to me as Mr. I even had my husband do the voice on the company voicemail for added effect!

Customers tend to behave themselves better if they think you're a man. By the time they realize I'm not it's too late, they're already terrified.

I think you said in one of your posts that Mattamy has some new management. Are these people better or worse than the old ones?