What a 5-year workmanship warranty covers
A 5-year workmanship warranty is your roofing contractor’s written commitment that their crew installed the roof correctly, and that they will return and correct installation errors that surface within five years of completion. It covers labor and technique. It has nothing to do with the shingles themselves.
In practice, that means the failures traceable to how the roof was put together:
- Fasteners in the wrong place, at the wrong angle, or driven too deep.
- Shingles or tiles laid out of pattern, with insufficient overlap or exposure.
- Flashing at chimneys, walls, skylights and vents that was cut, bent or sealed incorrectly.
- Underlayment and ice barrier applied outside manufacturer instructions.
- Leaks that trace back to any of the above.
The workmanship term is set by the contractor. Some offer one year, some five, some ten. Five years is common, and it comfortably covers the window in which most installation defects reveal themselves, which is generally after the roof has been through a full cycle of seasons and a few real storms.
Workmanship and material warranties are separate documents
Two different companies stand behind two different things, and homeowners routinely discover the distinction at the worst moment.
The manufacturer’s material warranty comes from whoever made the shingles, tiles or membrane. It addresses defects in the product itself, and its terms, exclusions and claim process are set by that manufacturer.
The contractor’s workmanship warranty comes from the company that performed the installation. It addresses the labor.
A perfect shingle installed badly is a workmanship claim. A defective shingle installed perfectly is a manufacturer claim. You want both documents in hand, in writing, before the crew leaves. Note as well that many manufacturer warranties require documented maintenance and periodic inspection to remain in force, so read the maintenance clause rather than assuming there is not one.
What a workmanship warranty does not cover
These exclusions are standard across the industry and are worth reading before you need them:
- Defects in the roofing materials themselves.
- Storm damage, hail, high wind, falling limbs and other events outside the contractor’s control.
- Damage caused by other trades or by anyone walking the roof.
- Alterations made after installation, including satellite dishes, solar mounts, new skylights and added penetrations.
- Normal wear and tear, and damage that follows from skipped maintenance.
Exclusions are what make the coverage specific. Knowing where the edges sit is what lets you cover the rest with maintenance, a manufacturer claim or your property insurance.
Four ways homeowners void their coverage
Letting another company touch the roof. This is the most common one. Once a different contractor works on the roof, your original installer can no longer establish which conditions are theirs. Call the company that holds the warranty before you call anyone else.
Skipping inspections and maintenance. Many warranties require periodic inspection. Keep the reports and the receipts.
Making unapproved alterations. Anything that puts a new hole in the roof needs the original installer’s sign-off in writing.
Waiting to report. Most warranties set a reporting window. A slow leak reported late becomes rot, saturated insulation and mold, and the secondary damage is usually excluded even when the original defect was covered.
The company behind the paper
A five-year commitment depends on the business existing in year five. Contractors close, sell and reorganize, and a warranty from a company that is gone is a document with nowhere to send it.
Before you sign, check the practical things. How long the company has operated under its current name and license. Whether the license and insurance are current, including general liability and workers’ compensation. Whether the warranty is transferable to a future owner, which matters if you sell. And who honors the warranty when subcontracted crews perform the work.
Get every answer in the written contract. A warranty described verbally, or noted in one line on an invoice, is difficult to enforce.
Where a LeakFREE® certification is different
A workmanship warranty is a commitment from the company that installed your roof. A LeakFREE® Roof Certification is a record of condition produced by an independent, accredited inspector who has no stake in the installation.
An NRCIA member performs a LeakFREE® Check across five zones: interior, attic, exterior, perimeter and rooftop, and issues a LeakFREE® Roof Inspection Report. Where the roof meets the published criteria, the accredited individual who performed the inspection issues the certification through InspectionPLUS®. It records that a specific roof, at a specific address, met those criteria on a specific date. The term is set by the findings, the slope, the materials and the condition, to a maximum of ten years, and the expiration is printed as a date.
LeakFREE® is our federally registered trademark. Only NRCIA members can issue a LeakFREE® certification. It is not insurance, it is not a service contract, and it does not promise that a roof will never leak. Repairs performed by anyone other than an NRCIA member trigger a re-inspection.
Used together, the two documents answer different questions. The warranty tells you who is accountable for the installation. The certification tells you, independently, what condition the roof was in on a given date. That second answer is what a buyer, a lender or an adjuster tends to ask for.
Get an independent read on your new roof
Find an accredited NRCIA inspector near you in the member directory. An installation inspection while your workmanship warranty is young is the cheapest protection you will buy.
LeakFREE®, Forensic ROOF®, Mr. RoofCheck®, InspectionPLUS®, Today’s Inspection… Tomorrow’s Protection®, and Got Leaks?® are registered trademarks of Field Gate FLP, used by permission. RoofGUARD™, ForensicGUARD™, DisasterGUARD™, E3GUARD™, and Think Like a Raindrop™ are trademarks of Field Gate FLP.
