as well as to define what the builder-warrantor’s obligations are or should be to effect the
necessary repair or replacement to achieve warranty compliance. For example, a typical
warranty manual will contain rules concerning:
“First year only” coverage involving items of construction where defects may arise
concerning site work (e.g., grading, drainage, landscaping); concrete (basement or
foundation walls, garage floors, etc.); masonry (block, brick or stone); carpentry
(rough carpentry, framing, floors, finishes, etc.); thermal and moisture protection
(waterproofing, leaks, insulation, louvers and vents, exterior siding, shingles, etc.);
roofing and roofing systems; sealants (water or air leaks, caulking, caulk joints,
interior and exterior, etc.); sheet metal (e.g., gutters, downspouts); interior and
exterior doors, garage doors (attached); windows (wood, plastic or metal);
hardware; storm doors, window and screens; weather-stripping and seals; glass and
glazing; finishes (e.g., lath and plaster, gypsum or sheetrock wallboard); hard
surface flooring (flagstone, marble, quarry tile, slate, ceramic, etc.); resilient
flooring (e.g., linoleum); plywood wall covering, finished wood flooring; other
finishes such as painting, wall covering, carpeting; and specialty items such as
fireplaces, built-in sauna and steam bath units; and kitchen cabinets and vanities.
“First or second year” coverage involving items of construction where defects may
arise concerning mechanical systems. Such systems would include septic tanks (if
applicable); plumbing; water supply; heating and air conditioning; electrical
systems (conductors, switches, receptacles, service and distribution, etc.).
Year “2 through 10” coverage for “major construction defect(s)” or “major
structural defect(s) involving items of construction where defects may arise or
manifest themselves in years 2-10 from and after the “warranty date”. Here, the
typical warranty manual will attempt to be even more specific in its definitional
criteria by describing, for coverage purposes (i) what a “major structural defect” is
or means, e.g., the failure of the load-bearing portion of a new home (itself
typically defined to mean the framing members and structural elements that
transmit both dead and live loads of the home to the supporting ground, e.g., roof
rafters and trusses, ceiling and floor joists, bearing partitions, supporting beams,
columns, basement and foundation walls and footings); and (ii) what warranty or
accepted “tolerances” of enumerated structural elements – e.g., arches, floor
systems, foundations, lintels and headers, roof framing, structural beams and
girders, structural columns (concrete, masonry, steel or wood), load bearing walls
and partitions, roof and floor sheathing – which, if not met, will qualify the claimed
defect as a structural failure for which coverage and remedy is appropriate.
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Here, the warranty manual will enumerate minimally acceptable “tolerances”, or measurements, as
established under either the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code (“UCC’) or generally accepted industry
practice, by which to gauge or determine if a structural element has met, exceeded or fallen below that which