Yes. Nearly every newly built home comes with a builder’s warranty, and new homes typically carry it on a tiered schedule: one year for workmanship and materials, two years for mechanical systems like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, and up to ten years for major structural defects. The clocks usually start on the closing date or the day you take occupancy, whichever comes first, so knowing your exact start date matters. A claim filed even a day after a tier expires will almost certainly be denied.1Federal Trade Commission. Warranties for New Homes
Individual builders can offer more or less than these benchmarks, and the written contract controls. What follows is what the standard framework actually gets you, where it stops, and what to do when something goes wrong.
What Each Tier Actually Covers
The three coverage periods map to different parts of the home, and the protection narrows as the years go on.
The first year covers the visible, finished elements: siding, stucco, drywall, paint, doors, trim, and similar components. If drywall cracks beyond normal settling, or exterior cladding fails because it was installed wrong, the one-year window is when to report it.
The second year extends to mechanical systems. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical all sit in this tier. A furnace that stops working or a plumbing joint that leaks in month 20 is a mechanical claim.
The ten-year tier is narrower than it sounds. It covers major structural defects — problems that make the home unsafe, like a foundation that shifts enough to compromise the structure or a roof system at risk of collapse. Not every crack or shift qualifies. The defect generally has to threaten the home’s structural integrity or the occupants’ safety.
Common Exclusions
Most denied claims come down to exclusions, not disputes about the facts. Reading the exclusions before you need to file one saves a lot of frustration.
- Household appliances. Refrigerators, dishwashers, washers, and dryers are almost never covered by the builder’s warranty. They carry their own manufacturer warranties with separate claim processes.
- Components with their own manufacturer warranties. Roofing shingles, windows, and water heaters are typically excluded from builder coverage because the manufacturer already covers them. Those claims go directly to the maker.
- Minor cracks in hard materials. Small cracks in brick, tile, cement, and drywall from normal settling are excluded. The caution: a small crack can sometimes signal something larger. If cracks keep spreading or doors start sticking, the pattern may point to a foundation problem that is covered under the structural tier.
- Living expenses during repairs. If a covered defect forces you out while work is done, temporary housing, storage, and meals generally come out of your pocket.
Builder warranties also exclude damage from natural disasters, soil conditions the builder could not reasonably have anticipated, and problems caused by homeowner modifications. Finish the basement yourself, and the builder has a strong argument that any water intrusion that follows is on you.2Federal Trade Commission. Warranties for New Homes
A Builder’s Warranty Is Not a “Home Warranty”
The naming creates real confusion. A builder’s warranty comes automatically with new construction and covers defects in how the home was built. A “home warranty” is a service contract you buy separately, and it covers the cost of repairing or replacing items like appliances and HVAC systems when they break down from normal wear — not because they were installed wrong, but because they wore out.1Federal Trade Commission. Warranties for New Homes
The split shows up in cases like this. Your air conditioner fails 18 months after closing because the ductwork was improperly connected. That’s a builder’s warranty claim; the system was defective from construction. If the same unit fails five years later because the compressor reached the end of its lifespan, that’s a home warranty service contract scenario. The two don’t overlap much during the first couple of years.
Implied Warranties That Exist Alongside the Written One
The written warranty your builder hands you is an express warranty: a document that spells out exactly what is covered, for how long, and what you have to do to make a claim. Disputes about express coverage come down to interpreting that contract.
Alongside the written document, most states recognize some form of implied warranty of habitability for new construction, meaning the builder is legally expected to deliver a home that is safe and suitable for living in. Courts have also recognized an implied warranty of workmanlike construction, which holds builders to a reasonable standard of skill and care. These protections exist so a builder can’t deliver substandard work and then hide behind the express warranty’s exclusions. Implied warranty protections vary significantly by state, and some builder contracts try to waive them. Whether those waivers hold up depends on local law.
What You Have to Do to Keep Coverage Valid
A builder’s warranty is not set-and-forget. The most common way homeowners void coverage is neglecting routine maintenance. If you never change your HVAC filters and the system fails, the warranty company will argue the breakdown resulted from neglect rather than a construction defect. The same logic covers ignoring a small roof leak until it causes ceiling damage. The builder is responsible for the original defect, not for the additional damage your inaction caused. Most warranty documents require you to report problems promptly and take reasonable steps to prevent them from getting worse.
What about hiring your own repair company? Federal law protects you here. The FTC has enforced the principle that companies generally cannot void your warranty or deny coverage just because you used a third-party repair service or non-original parts. A builder can refuse to cover damage directly caused by that third-party work, but the warranty itself stays intact. Getting your plumbing snaked by a local company does not void your builder’s warranty on the plumbing system. If that company damages a pipe during the work, though, the builder is not on the hook for the new problem.3Federal Trade Commission. FTC Says Companies Warranty Restrictions Were Illegal
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act also requires any written warranty to disclose its terms in plain language: what is covered, for how long, what the warrantor will do about defects, what you have to do, and all exclusions. Any informal dispute resolution process must be disclosed too.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2302 – Rules Governing Contents of Warranties
Filing a Claim
When something goes wrong, the strength of your claim depends as much on your documentation as on the defect itself. Pull out your warranty contract and confirm three things: the coverage start date from your closing documents, whether the defect falls within a covered category, and whether you are still within the applicable coverage period.
Take clear photos and video of the problem before anything gets moved or patched. If water is coming in, document the source, the path, and the resulting damage. Keep a written log of when you first noticed the issue and every communication with the builder about it. That paper trail becomes critical if the claim is disputed later.
Most builders accept claims through an online portal or by mail. If you mail anything, use certified mail so you have proof of receipt. After filing, the builder or warranty company will send someone to inspect and verify the defect, usually within 30 days. If approved, the builder or a designated contractor schedules the repair.1Federal Trade Commission. Warranties for New Homes
If the Claim Is Denied
Denied claims are not always the final word. Request a written explanation that details exactly why coverage was refused. Sometimes the denial rests on a misunderstanding or an incorrect classification — a structural issue dismissed as cosmetic settling, for example.
Most warranty providers have a formal appeals process. Gather additional documentation: an independent inspection report, photos showing the defect has worsened, maintenance records proving you upheld your obligations. If you believe the original inspector miscategorized the problem, a report from a licensed structural engineer or home inspector carries real weight in an appeal.
Something many homeowners don’t realize until they are in a dispute: most builder warranties contain mandatory arbitration clauses. If the internal appeals process doesn’t resolve the issue, your next step is not a lawsuit but binding arbitration, where a neutral third party reviews the evidence and makes a decision both sides must accept. Federal warranty law permits this structure as long as the warranty discloses the arbitration requirement and any informal dispute resolution procedures upfront.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 2302 – Rules Governing Contents of Warranties
If the provider is unresponsive, filing a complaint with your state’s consumer protection agency or the Better Business Bureau can sometimes get things moving. Those complaints create a formal record and may prompt reconsideration.
Selling the Home, and Losing the Builder
If you sell while coverage is still active, the warranty can often transfer to the buyer, but it does not always happen automatically. Most warranty contracts allow at least one transfer, and some require the new owner to submit paperwork within a set window after closing, commonly 30 to 60 days. Miss the deadline and the new owner can lose coverage entirely.
Some warranties also reduce coverage on transfer, particularly for the structural tier. A ten-year structural warranty might drop to a shorter period or add exclusions for second owners. The specific terms are in the warranty booklet, so ask for the documents during the purchase process and verify what actually transfers.
The scenario that catches homeowners off guard is a builder that goes bankrupt or shuts down. If your warranty is backed only by the builder, it becomes effectively worthless. There is no one left to honor the claims. Small and mid-size builders go out of business with some regularity, especially during housing downturns, so this is not a remote risk.
The protection is a third-party warranty, where an independent warranty company — not the builder — assumes the coverage obligation. If the builder folds, the third-party provider is still in business and still responsible for valid claims. When shopping for new construction, asking whether the warranty is builder-backed or insured through a third-party provider is one of the most important questions you can raise. The answer tells you whether your coverage survives the builder.
Even without a third-party warranty, you still have some recourse if the builder disappears. Manufacturer warranties on components like windows, roofing materials, HVAC equipment, and water heaters are separate and remain valid. State-law implied warranty protections may also survive, though enforcing a legal claim against a defunct company is difficult in practice.
The Outer Deadline After the Warranty Ends
Even after your builder’s warranty expires, you may still have legal options for serious construction defects, but not forever. Every state has a statute of repose that sets an absolute deadline for filing a construction defect lawsuit, regardless of when you discovered the problem. These deadlines range from about six to twenty years depending on the state, with most falling in the six-to-ten-year range. The clock generally starts from the date of substantial completion of the home, not from when the defect appears.
The statute of repose is separate from the statute of limitations, which governs how long you have to sue after you discover or should have discovered a defect. The repose period is the hard outer boundary. Once it passes, your right to bring a construction defect claim is gone even if you only found the problem last week. For issues that develop slowly, like foundation settlement or water intrusion through improperly waterproofed walls, this deadline can arrive before the damage becomes obvious. If you suspect a significant defect as your warranty periods wind down, talking to a construction attorney before those deadlines pass protects options you cannot get back.