11.2 Contract Administration

I.    Construction Warranties. The warranty period for all construction work should be at least 365 calendar days from the date of final acceptance of the work in question or such longer period as otherwise specified in the contract. For complex equipment or systems (such as boilers, air conditioning units, thermal paned windows or storefronts, or membrane roofs), the PHA should consider using a full two-year warranty. The extra year will help to ensure that the PHA can discover and report any hidden or latent deficiencies while the warranty is still in force. The contractor is fully responsible to correct any and all legitimate deficiencies reported within the warranty period. It is often a good approach to specify the additional warranty period on replaced or repaired items; one full additional year is generally reasonable and appropriate.

1.   Warranty Inspections. The PHA is responsible for performing required warranty inspections, including the 11-month inspection, during the warranty period and promptly notifying the contractor in writing to remedy any defects relating to manufacturer or contractor warranties on equipment and systems and contractor warranties on materials and workmanship. This is an area that has been frequently overlooked by some PHAs and their A/Es. Failure to enforce warranties is a violation of the ACC requirement for economy and efficiency and can be very costly to the PHA. In such cases, the PHA will have to use its own funds after the expiration of the warranty to correct defects that were the contractor’s responsibility.

2.   Corrective Action. Upon receipt of the PHA’s written notice, the contractor should promptly remedy any defects due to the use of faulty equipment or materials or poor workmanship. The contractor is also responsible for paying for any damage to other work resulting from such defects. If the contractor fails to resolve such warranty issues, the bonding company should be contacted by the PHA for final resolution.