What happened to the one year warranty?

摘要

It happens all the time. I get a frantic call from a contractor client about claims for defective work. The client insists the warranty has expired because more than a year has passed since completion of the work and can't understand how the owner, or general, thinks it has a claim. Then I look at the contract and, nine times out of 10, I see what I have come to expect - there is no one year warranty. Instead, it's an open warranty, with no express time limitation, and it lasts as long as the work warranted should last if properly constructed. So I have to tell the client the bad news: it is exposed to liability for the defective work, and it's probably not covered by insurance.