https://www.nachi.org/forum/f48/poor-attitude-and-bully-118356/
Kitec plumbing in condos should be revealed: BobAaron
Buyers andowners have the right to know up front what’s in their pipes.
Bob Aaron](https://www.thestar.com/authors.aaron_bob.html)Property law
Sat., Jan. 14,2017
[FONT=Georgia]Should condominiumcorporations disclose the existence of Kitec plumbing to potential buyers ontheir status certificates? [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]That was the question Natalie asked me after she had bought and sold acondominium townhouse on Kenneth Ave. last year. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Kitec plumbing is a type of flexiblealuminum and polyethylene piping, often orange or blue in colour](https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2015/03/06/kitec-plumbing-in-your-home-will-cost-you.html).[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]It was widely used in condominiumsbetween 1995 and 2007. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]It was marketed as a corrosion-resistantalternative to copper pipes and fittings, but was recalled around 2005 due to atendency to corrode at an accelerated rate. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]It is no longer manufactured.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]The status certificate on Natalie’spurchase made no mention of the fact that the units contain Kitec plumbing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Unfortunately, at the urging of heragent, the transaction was not conditional on a home inspection which wouldhave revealed the problem. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Although the board and property managerwere no doubt aware that Kitec was used in the building, Natalie was not toldabout it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]When she resold the unit last month, the buyers learned of the potentiallydefective plumbing and Natalie had to drop the sale price by $30,000. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Natalie blames the board, the former andcurrent property managers, and both real-estate agents on her purchase forfailing to disclose the existence of Kitec. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO)is the industry regulator and, in the summer of 2015, it reminded real-estateagents of their obligation to discover and disclose material facts in theirtransactions. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]The existence of Kitec, RECO’s website advised, was one of the issues “thatare often considered to be material fact.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]As well, the Ontario Real Estate Association, whichpublishes standard form sale agreements, has yet to amend them to include awarranty that there is [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]no Kitec in the properties.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Many agents insert into offers theirown clauses representing that the homes or condos have not been used to growmarijuana or produce methamphetamines. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]But I have rarely, if ever, seen a Kitec warranty. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Patrick Greco, a condominium lawyer atMiller Thomson, notes in a condo blog that where there are signs plumbingfailure is imminent and that repairs will be[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]billed to unit owners, the existenceof Kitec and replacement efforts should be reflected in paragraph 12 of thecondo status certificate.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]The situation is more difficult, Greconotes, where the condominium board knows of the existence of Kitec but there isno imminent risk of failure.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]In cases like this, the board has tobalance the risk of causing undue alarm against the need to protect thebuilding from litigation for failing to disclose the Kitec. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Greco’s opinion, and I agree with it, isthat in most instances a building that contains Kitec plumbing ought todisclose this fact in status certificates. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]“A corporation cannot favour resale pricesover complying with the Condominium Act in failing to disclose circumstanceswhich may result in an increase in common expenses,” [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]he notes. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]“There are no easy answers,” he concludes. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Natalie is contemplating suing the vendors,both real-estate agents on her purchase, and the condo corporation for failureto disclose the Kitec to her. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Litigation should not have been necessary in this case. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]My recommendation to agents and condocorporations is disclose, disclose, disclose. [/FONT]
Bob Aaron* is a Toronto real-estate lawyer. He can bereached at bob@aaron.ca , on his websiteaaron.ca and on Twitter @bobaaron2.*