Warranty
Department: Office Operations/ Field Operations
Topic: Warranty Procedures
Objective
Utilize a standard warranty meeting and documents schedule to prepare and communicate warranty expectations, durations and other key points with ownership and property management. This will allow Koester to set the expectations and follow up timing as the project passes from completion through the one-year warranty phase.
Background
Koester Construction incurs costs every year that could be reduced by applying common warranty procedures and tracking that eliminate costly rework.
Things to Consider
Warranty is tied to other SOP items such as owner trainings, job closeout documentation and owner maintenance. See Also below.
Prerequisites
Job Closeout Requirements
Warranty Meeting Agenda (Procore)
Steps
1. Add warranty action plan to team meeting agenda
2. Identify Koester warranty manager for the project.
3. Import Warranty Action Plan in Procore.
a. The Warranty Action Plan should be added to the team meeting agenda several months prior to substantial completion.
b. Use the Warranty Action Plan to prepare the documents required for the Owner Warranty Packet to be submitted to and signed by ownership at substantial completion.
4. Within a month of substantial completion, schedule a meeting with ownership and any property management and maintenance personnel. This meeting should occur just prior to substantial completion or turnover of any part of the project if the project has phased occupancy. Use the Warranty Meeting agenda in Procore. Verify architect or other party involvement required by specification or owner request if those parties will be involved in warranty.
5. Obtain warranty request procedures or other requirements for submitting a warranty claim from subcontractors prior to the warranty meeting. These requirements should be added to the Warranty Claim Form as well as the warranty meeting agenda.
6. At the warranty meeting, several documents will be reviewed by all parties. Be sure to communicate clearly what documents will be presented for signature during the warranty meeting. These documents will have been created through the Warranty Action Plan. Template documents can be found in the Koester CMS system. Documents to include but not limited to the following;
a. Initial 1-Year Warranty Letter
b. Owner Supplied Equipment Log and associated warranty procedures and documents.
c. Warranty Claim Form including any specific subcontractor requirements.
d. Key logs, attic stock documentation.
e. Appliance or other equipment model and serial number logs.
f. Standard Maintenance Checklist.
g. Building Systems Training Log with sign off. Determine additional training costs due to management turnover, etc. This should include any charges that subcontractors may apply for additional training sessions after initial training.
h. 1-year Warranty Expiration Letter.
i. Emergency Warranty Contact Log.
j. Other documents required by specification.
7. Create a follow-up warranty meeting schedule. These dates should be confirmed and scheduled at the completion of the initial warranty meeting. It is suggested to have a follow-up meeting two weeks after substantial completion and at a minimum monthly through the initial 6 months of the warranty period. It may be necessary to have weekly or more frequent meetings pending the scope of the project. Adjust meeting frequency after the 6 month mark.
8. Schedule the 11-month warranty walk through at the end of the warranty meeting.
9. Out of town jobs and jobs using traveling subcontractors not local to the area need to consider what measures need to be taken to ensure prompt warranty service. Additioanlly, emergency contacts should be provided when subcontractors are not local to the job site. Ideally, a local contact “Koester surrogate” can be identified early in the construction process that can be utilized for help with warranty issues when time is of the esscence or we need “eyes on “ an issue. Local MEP and other trade contacts should be sought out to perform emergncy work if needed. For example, a broken water pipe on a project who’s subcontractor is hours away can cause major damage if not attended to immediately. All out of town jobs need to have emergency contacts in place. These contacts can also be used by owner or management for maintenance after the warranty period.
10. Document all warranty claims with the “Observation” tool located within Procore. Use the Type description as “Warranty”. Title the observation with a brief description of the warranty issue and Location. Documentation should include corrospondence, description and photos of all warranty claims. A warranty log can be created filtering by type/warranty. Update warranty log that will be shared with the owner for documentation of settled warranty claims.
11. Document all costs associated with warranty claims. Documentation should include a cost spreadsheet, labor reports, copies of invoices, etc.Procore??
12. Notify accounting of all warranty claims that will have costs associated.
13. Upon completion of any warranty items related to the 11 month walk, update the final warranty log.
14. Complete 1-year Warranty Expiration Letter to include Koester and Owner signatures.
See Also
- 1-Year Warranty Initial Letter
- 1-Year Warranty Expiration Letter
- Standard Maintenance Checklist
- Warranty Claim Form
- Building Systems Training Log
- Key Sign Off
- Attic Stock
- Emergency Warranty Contact List