Does a record of site condition protect a buyer from cleanup orders?

A record of site condition, or RSC, summarizes a property’s environmental condition as of a certification date, based on environmental site assessments done or supervised by a qualified person. Buyers sometimes treat it as a clean bill of health. Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act gives it a narrower job: limited protection from certain government orders, not a guarantee about the land.

What the filing protects against

Under section 168.7 of the Act, once an RSC is filed in the Environmental Site Registry, no order may be issued under a listed set of the Act’s order powers to the person who filed it, a later owner, an occupant or a person in charge of the property. The protection covers a contaminant discharged before the certification date that was on, in or under the property on that date. The Ministry describes it as limited protection.

When the protection does not apply

The section switches the protection off in several cases. It does not apply if the record contains false or misleading information or certifications, if contaminant moves to another property after the certification date, or if the person consents in writing to the order. A change in use can remove it for the person who makes the change, unless the standards for the new use are no stricter than those for the use the record certified. Orders can still follow a breach of a certificate of property use or of the soil management rules.

What it does not tell a buyer

The protection is tied to the certification date, so contamination that arrives later is outside it. The section also speaks only to orders. It does not say what a seller has promised the buyer or how a cost found after closing would be shared, which is a job for the purchase agreement. An RSC is also separate from the environmental compliance approvals that let a business operate certain facilities, and those have their own process for a change of ownership. Ask when the RSC was certified, what use it covers and whether it is on the registry. For asset deals, see whether an asset buyer inherits cleanup liability.