An Airdrie home builder wonders whether new legislation to establish a builder licensing program in Alberta is really necessary.

The NDP government has recently introduced proposed legislation that they say will protect consumers and recognize the work of trustworthy home builders.  The New Home Buyer Protection Amendment Act, when approved, will create a builder licensing program in the province that is meant to help consumers distinguish good builders from bad.

Elaine McKee-Doel, the President of McKee  Homes in Airdrie thinks the previous Alberta New Home Buyer Protection Act, established in 2014, gave consumers sufficient protection.  "The existing act put into place mandatory warranty requirement for all builders, not a big deal for a company like us and many others, we've had warranty for a long time, but it really did a better job, I feel, of protecting the consumer because every home built in Alberta had to have a third party warranty attached to it, so, no third party warranty, no building permit. In my opinion it sort of handled concerns that could be out there for buyers."

McKee-Doel says the amendment to the act does not spell out all the requirements to be put in place.  "I'm not sure that it's going to handle what they perceive the problem to be.  I think mandatory warranty did that."

McKee-Doel fears that too many regulations may stifle entrepreneurship in the industry.  "A company like ours, we started 30 years ago and it was an incubator business if you want to call it that, in the basement of a home with someone who was dedicated to quality and doing things right.  I don't want to see that get lost in Alberta.  Alberta is sort of built on that entrepreneurship."

The government consulted with stakeholders on a licensing program during February and March, something McKee-Doel said she was a part of.  More than 1,200 Albertans also completed an online survey with 78 per cent of them saying they supported a licensing program.  McKee-Doel says an online registry will provide validation to a consumer's decision to go with a home builder.

"I think it will validate a decision so I think in that regard it's probably a good thing.  If I go in an look at a show home and do my research and say I feel pretty good about what I've seen, how can I confirm that I'm making the right decision.  I think a registry won't make the buying decision for a person, but it will help validate it."

McKee-Doel says builders don't have all the information that they need on the licensing program and will have to wait until it's rolled out before they understand what benefits it may bring, or drawbacks it could create.    

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