General contractors, developers, and building envelope renovators must renew their residential builder licence every year to keep their licence in good standing.
If you’re a licensed residential builder who plans to build and/or sell new homes, or carry out building envelope renovations, in the 12-month period after your licence expires, you must renew your licence.
Continuing to build or sell new homes after your licence has expired is an offence under the Homeowner Protection Act. We’ll send you an email approximately 60 days before your licence expiry date to remind you to submit your renewal. We also recommend that you note your licence expiry date in your personal calendar so that you complete your renewal on time.
Home warranty insurance
One of the requirements to renew your licence is evidence of home warranty insurance. If your warranty acceptance expires the same month as your licence, you must contact your home warranty insurance provider to complete your renewal with them. Once confirmed, your home insurance warranty provider will notify us.
To check, log on to your account on the Licensed Residential Builders Portal with your account name and password. Your home page will show the status of your warranty acceptance.
Continuing Professional Development
All general contractor licensees must complete a minimum of 20 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points each year as a condition of their licence renewal. You may be eligible to carry forward a maximum of 20 extra CPD points from one licence term to the next, if the nominee for CPD stays the same.
Keep in mind, that if the initial CPD nominee earns more than 20 points, but a new nominee is selected at licence renewal, any carry over points will be lost. When carry over CPD points have been earned, it’s in your best interests to keep the CPD nominee the same when you renew your licence.
Make sure you enter your CPD points before your licence expiry date. CPD is a condition of licensing. Breaching that condition could lead to your renewal being denied, your licence being suspended or a monetary penalty.
When you’re looking for CPD training opportunities, start with our Education Registry. This helpful online resource offers a wide range of pre-approved CPD education providers and training to meet your needs.
Making a renewal
Go to your account on the Licensed Residential Builders Portal. Your home page will show the date your licence expires. If your licence is expired or will do so within 60 days, start the renewal application process. If you don’t have a valid email address, contact us for a paper application form.
Our Online Licence Renewals and Amendments Guide will take you through each step of the renewal process.
If you are eligible to renew your licence, click on the “Renew Licence” link. If you are not eligible to renew — your licence has been closed or will expire in more than 60 days’ time — this link will be greyed out and you can go no further.
Please note that under the terms of the Act we may close a licence for failure to renew if it’s not completed within 30 days from the date your licence expires. if you choose to build again in the future, you'll be required to re-apply for a new licence and meet the qualification requirements.
Payment and processing
You have three options to pay the renewal fee of $500:
- Credit card
- Manual payment, such as cheque
- Pay later
Only one $500 renewal fee is required for those acting as a licensed residential builder in a combination of general contractor, developer or building envelope renovators.
We advise that you pay by credit card. That way your application will be received immediately and put in the queue for processing. If you choose one of the other two options, your application will not be reviewed until we receive payment.
If we don’t receive payment after 60 days, we’ll withdraw your application altogether and your licence will be closed. We process complete renewal applications in the order in which we receive them.
Other delays to processing can include:
- Incomplete information
- Failure to complete CPD
- Failure to meet a condition on your licence
- No current warranty acceptance
- Wrong information
- The licensee, or persons associated with the licensee, are under investigation for non-compliance, or found to be in non-compliance with either the Homeowner Protection Act and Regulations or any conditions of their licence
Notification
Once we’ve made a decision, we’ll notify you by email or letter. We’ll also update your licence status on your account and on the Public Registry of Residential Builders. If successful, you can then download and print your licence certificate.