New Construction
What does a new home builder's warranty actually cover?
By Steve Lockhart
The short answer
A builder's warranty is a repair promise with limits, and the limits matter as much as the promise. The industry standard is the 1-2-10 structure: one year for workmanship and materials, two years for major systems, and ten years for major structural defects.
Full answer
A builder's warranty is a repair promise with limits, and the limits matter as much as the promise. The industry standard is the 1-2-10 structure: one year for workmanship and materials, two years for major systems, and ten years for major structural defects. Normal wear and tear, landscaping, items you damage, and maintenance you skip are typically not covered.
Nevada adds legal protection on top of the builder's paperwork. Nevada law requires builders of new homes to give buyers a written disclosure of their rights and provide a builder's warranty that covers defects in workmanship and materials for at least one year after the punch list is completed. The warranty transfers to a future buyer, and Nevada courts also recognize an implied warranty that the home is habitable and free of hidden defects.
A warranty is only as good as your follow through. Register it, keep the documents, and do the inspections that make it useful, especially an 11 month walkthrough with a qualified inspector before the one year workmanship period ends. Problems found in year one get fixed under warranty. Problems found in year three are yours.
Go a little deeper
Frequently asked
Questions people often follow up on
What is an 11 month warranty inspection?
Somewhere around month ten or eleven of ownership, have an independent inspector go through the home for issues that showed up after you moved in, like settlement cracks, HVAC or plumbing problems, or failing finishes. Items found while the one year workmanship warranty is still active get repaired by the builder instead of becoming your expense.
Does the warranty transfer if I sell the new home?
In Nevada, the builder's warranty transfers to a subsequent purchaser. That can be a selling point when you list the home, and it means the next owner keeps the remaining coverage. Keep the warranty paperwork in the move-in folder so you can hand it over cleanly.
Are appliances covered by the builder's warranty?
Appliances usually carry their own manufacturer warranties that run parallel to the builder's coverage. The builder's limited warranty may not cover appliance repairs, so save the appliance paperwork and note the service numbers. The same goes for things like the water heater and the garage door opener.
The Lockhart Method
The Lockhart Method
Your Home | My Strategy | Proven Results
My strategy: treat the warranty as a schedule, not a document. We track the one year, two year, and ten year windows, do the inspections at the right time, and put every builder commitment in writing, so the coverage you paid for is the coverage you use.
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