Founded 1998 | ||
The Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) is a branch of BC Housing, a provincial Crown agency located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is responsible for licensing residential builders and building envelope renovators province-wide; administering Owner Builder Authorizations; and carrying out research and education which benefits the residential construction industry and consumers.
The HPO serves buyers of new homes and people arranging for new homes to be built, homeowners (particularly owners of homes covered by home warranty insurance), developers, residential builders, building envelope renovators and owner builders. In undertaking its activities the HPO also works closely with warranty providers, building officials, industry and related consumer associations, all levels of government, educational institutions, research organizations, architects, engineers, property managers, the legal community and the real estate community.
The HPO was formed as a response to the need to create basic consumer protections for buyers of new homes. The Homeowner Protection Act (Act) which passed on July 28, 1998 for the main purposes of strengthening consumer protection for buyers of new homes and improving the quality of residential construction in the province. The Act provided for the creation of the HPO and officially opened on October 1, 1998.