Mississauga (City) v. Peel Standard Condominium Corp. No. 833 (Ontario Court of Justice)

The condominium corporation was charged for failing to take steps to remedy violations of the Building Code in relation to this 10-unit townhome condominium.  The violations were original violations by the developer, which had been brought to the attention of the municipality by the condominium corporation.  The municipality had issued compliance orders, and the condominium corporation had not satisfied those orders.  As a result, charges were brought against the condominium corporation under the Building Code Act.  The condominium corporation was acquitted.  The Court said:

Although the two Orders to Comply have still not been complied with by the (condominium corporation) at the conclusion of the trial of these four charges, the (condominium corporation) has nevertheless proven on a balance of probabilities that it has taken all reasonable steps in the circumstances in attempting to comply with the two Orders to Comply.  The (condominium corporation’s) pursuit of its warranty claim with Tarion to fix or repair the unauthorized alterations, which are the subject matter of the two Orders to Comply issued by the City of Mississauga Planning and Building Department, had been a valid and reasonable route for it to take for these exceptional circumstances.  Furthermore, in attempting to comply with the Orders, the (condominium corporation) and its Board of Directors have also expended a substantial amount of effort and money for several engineering reports and legal fees in their fight to have the unauthorized alterations fixed or repaired by the builder-developer or by Tarion.

 Moreover, it had been the (condominium corporation) that had been the one who had notified and informed the City of Mississauga Planning and Building Department about the unauthorized alterations made by the builder-developer and had been proactive in trying to get the builder-developer to fix or repair those unauthorized alterations or to get the City of Mississauga to force the builder-developer to fix or repair those unauthorized alterations.

 …

Equally, it had not been unreasonable for the particular circumstances for the (condominium corporation) not to have “as-built” plans prepared at its own expense and apply for a revision to the building permits or to have the builder-developer submit on the (condominium corporation’s) behalf “as-built” plans and a revision application, since the (condominium corporation) had not received any certified “as-built” plans from the builder-developer that had accurately reflected what had actually been built by the builder-developer.

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And, because there had been no immediate danger to the safety of the purchasers or to the public, it was not unreasonable for the (condominium corporation) to choose the much longer route in terms of time to eventually comply with the Orders to Comply by pursing its Tarion warranty claim for Tarion to do the fixes and repairs.