The warranty problem
Every building has equipment under warranty. HVAC units, roofing systems, elevators, generators, fire suppression — virtually every major building system comes with some form of manufacturer warranty.
Yet most facilities teams have no systematic way to track these warranties. The result: claims go unfiled, costs get absorbed, and money walks out the door.
What gets missed
The most commonly missed warranty categories include:
Equipment warranties
Major mechanical and electrical equipment typically carries 1-5 year parts warranties and 1 year labor warranties. Extended warranties on compressors and heat exchangers can cover 5-10 years.
Roofing warranties
Commercial roofing systems often carry 15-25 year warranties. These represent some of the highest-value warranty recoveries available — and some of the most commonly missed.
Building envelope
Curtain wall, window, and waterproofing systems frequently carry 10-20 year warranties. Failures in these systems can be extremely expensive to repair.
Control systems
Building automation and control systems typically carry 1-3 year warranties, with extended support agreements available beyond that.
Building a warranty tracking system
Effective warranty tracking requires four things:
- Complete inventory — you need to know what equipment you have and when it was installed
- Warranty terms — the specific coverage, duration, exclusions, and claim procedures for each warranty
- Proactive monitoring — alerts before warranties expire, not after
- Documentation — maintenance records that support warranty claims
The documentation challenge
Warranty claims require documentation. Most manufacturers require proof that equipment was properly maintained according to their specifications. Without maintenance records, claims get denied.
This creates a critical link between warranty tracking and preventive maintenance. Teams that maintain their equipment properly have both fewer failures and stronger warranty claims when failures do occur.
Technology solutions
Modern facility management platforms can automate warranty tracking by extracting warranty terms directly from construction documents and manufacturer literature. When combined with automated maintenance tracking, this creates a closed-loop system where warranty claims are supported by documentation from day one.
The key is getting warranty data into a system that can proactively alert your team — not relying on someone to remember when a warranty expires.