Warranties provide an assurance to the owner that the contractor’s completed work will remain up to a specific standard for a defined period of time. The court system has set this time frame typically as one year in the absence of a written extension.
So to what advantage to you is it to extend that period of time?
Two advantages:
1. You can define the standard for the completed work in writing and have agreement from the owner.2. You can create a duty for the owner to report potential issues early, becoming part of a process that shifts some of the potential public liability.
Implied warranties use phrases such as “workmanlike manner”. Tough to defend that standard because it changes over time, materials, and site conditions. Certainly basements were built in a workmanlike manner prior to radon gas accumulation discoveries. Once that potential issue is part of the equation, “workmanlike” changes.
Sink-swell soils forced a change in foundation design and build.
You can build to an excellent standard today; you cannot predict the future or know everything about the subgrade of the site. Use a warranty to assure the best possible work has been completed with today’s knowledge.
Transfer some of the reporting duties to the owner. After all, it is their site and they at least casually inspect it every day. The warranty spells out the conditions for the warranty to be in force. Require the owner to report frost heave in sidewalks or subsidence around drop inlets, or other early warning signs of trouble related to your specialty.
The bottom line is that both parties are better off fixing these problems early rather than after a trip and fall incident or a total collapse of a stormwater structure during a storm.
Consider this approach and discuss it with your attorney. Each state is a bit different in what they allow. If nothing else, these warranties help the owner understand the variables in your work. Reward them with some more time as a bonus for cooperation.
