Tarion announces best new home builders as chosen by their customers

TORONTO, March 16, 2016 /CNW/ - The finalists for the 2016 Homeowners' Choice Awards, presented by Tarion, are announced today. These are the only awards that give Ontario's new home buyers the power to have their new home builder recognized for customer service excellence.

Formerly known as the Tarion Awards of Excellence, the Homeowners' Choice Awards recognize a builder's excellence in customer service each year in four categories: Small, Medium, Large Volume and High-Rise.  The process for selecting finalists has not changed, only the name has changed to better reflect how the award recipients are chosen.

"These awards have always been about new home buyers in Ontario and their level of satisfaction with their individual builder," said Tarion President and CEO Howard Bogach.  "Changing the name to the Homeowners' Choice Awards simply reflects the importance of the customer's experience in the new home buying process, and how each and every home buyer can have a say in whether a new home builder receives recognition," adds Bogach.

Finalists were determined based on the results of a comprehensive survey sent to more than 56,000 Ontario homeowners who took possession of a new home between October 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015. Almost 12,000 completed survey responses were received, representing a high response rate of more than 21 per cent.  The results were tabulated by Crunch Research and Nielsen. 

Survey questions focused on homeowners' satisfaction with their builder, covering every stage in the homeowner-builder relationship from the signing of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, through construction and the pre-delivery period, to after-sales service. 

According to Bogach, "This year marks Tarion's 40^th anniversary of protecting new home buyers in Ontario. Throughout the decades, we've witnessed home buyers having an increased impact on the new home buying experience based on the decisions they make. The Homeowners' Choice Awards reflects the importance of their opinions, and champions excellence in customer service."

To qualify for the Awards, builders must have at least five new home possessions during the survey timeframe and a specified number of completed questionnaires must have been received.

Award recipients will be announced at a luncheon in Toronto on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

The following new home builders compete in four award categories: Small, Medium, Large Volume and High-Rise.

High-Rise Category
(More than 100 high-rise possessions per year)
The Daniels Corporation –   Toronto
Del Ridge Homes – Markham
Domicile – Ottawa
Plaza – Toronto
The Tricar Group -- London
Tridel – Toronto

Large Volume Category
(More than 100 possessions per year)
Arista Homes Ltd. – Vaughan
The Daniels Corporation    – Toronto
Granite Homes – Guelph
Mountainview Homes – Thorold
Tamarack Development Corp.  – Ottawa
Tribute Communities – Pickering

Medium Volume Category
(21-100 possessions per year)
J .F. Markell Homes Ltd. – Cornwall
Klemencic Homes – Trenton
LEMAY Homes - Maisons LEMAY – Gloucester
Mikmada Homes Inc. – Burlington
SACA Homes – Casselman
Wrighthaven Homes Limited – Elora

Small Volume Category
(5-20 possessions per year)
Beisel Contracting Inc. – Kincardine
Bouma Builders Inc. – Chatham
Kolody Homes –Tecumseh
Marlo Homes Inc. – London
Menard Bros. & Associates Ltd. – Cornwall
Terry Waito Homes Inc. – Petawawa

Like Tarion on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tarionwarrantycorp or follow us on Twitter @TarionWarranty for more information about the 2016 Homeowners' Choice Awards.

About Tarion
For the past 40 years, Tarion has been enhancing confidence in the new home buying experience. Tarion is a private, not-for-profit corporation that administers the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, and backstops the warranty coverage. We set the standards for builder licensing and after sales service and step in when your builder cannot or will not fulfill their warranty obligations. Since 1976, Ontario's new home warranty program has registered close to two million homes and paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in warranty claims. Our mandate is to serve the public interest, and is what guides us every day.

SOURCE Tarion Warranty Corporation

Melissa Yollick, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, (Ph) 416-229-3863, [email protected]