A Promise Is A Promise: Managing Contractual Warranties

A warranty is a promise of performance that is written into a contract. They are often express promises related to quality of product or workmanship. A properly worded warranty is a good marketing tool for your company and will also provide you with protection against customer claims.

When drafting a warranty, consider the following:

Be careful what you promise

• Promise only what you can and will fix, refund, supply, etc.
• Don't fix someone else's work
• Restrict the warranty to the cost of repairs/replacement of materials or work only

Restrict time limits

• Fix a deadline for claims under the warranty (e.g. 1 year, 6 months)
• Require your customer to provide written notice of a claim within a certain number of days of discovery; no written notice of the claim, no remedy under the warranty – this also permits you to assess the problem when it first surfaces and damage is reduced