COOTE, HILEY, JEMMETT LIMITED

New homes and old homes:

When one buys a newly constructed home in a subdivision, the builder may have had a survey made of the building or its foundation during the construction of the building, as part of building permit requirements and to ensure that the building has been sited in accordance with the municipal by-laws. This plan of survey is normally part of the disclosure material provided to the purchaser prior to closing and is sufficient for the purposes of acquiring a mortgage. Similarly, the research and opinion of title provided by the purchaser’s lawyer is sufficient assurance of the quality of title.

In such a case a purchaser would have little need of either a new Surveyor’s Real Property Report of Title Insurance.

In the case of resale homes, a survey made for the builder when the building was under construction on an unimproved lot, will not show the fences, hedges, outbuildings, additions, decks, and other features that may have been added over time. There is no assurance, in relying on the survey of the foundation made during construction, that the present occupation and use of the property conform to the by-laws of the municipality or are entirely consistent with the extent of ownership. Only a survey and report in the form of a Surveyor’s Real Property Report and a review of title by a lawyer can assure a purchaser that there are no potential problems or contentious issues that need to be resolved.

A Title Insurance policy provides no information to the purchaser of a property about specific details of the property, although the insurer will have had access to a lawyers report and may have had a cursory inspection of the property made, before issuing the policy. If there are potential problems, the insurer may require a survey be undertaken or may exclude the potential problem from coverage.