PURPOSE
The purpose of this Procedure is to provide guidelines administering the warranty and guaranty provisions of the construction contract, including monitoring of the completed work, and conducting an 11th-month warranty inspection of the project.
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RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Manager (PM): The PM is responsible for the successful completion of projects. This includes ensuring that the appropriate warranties & guaranties needed by the Owner/Client for the project are incorporated in the contract documents.
Project Engineer (PE): On large or complex projects, the PM may bring on a PE to assist the PM with his/her responsibilities.
Construction Manager (CM): The CM is responsible for administering the plans and specifications. He/she is also responsible for the day-to-day management activities on the project and coordination of the Warranties/Guaranties activities with the Contractor and the Owner/Client. The CM is also responsible for ensuring that the warranties & guaranties are documented and understood by the Owner/Client and the Contractor.
Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA): The Lead Inspector is responsible for ensuring that the Contractor complies with all requirements of the contract documents.
Client Department: The Client Department is responsible for the maintenance of the facility after the Partial or Full Statement of Completion is issued and for contacting the CM for repairs covered under warranty/guaranty provisions.
PROCEDURE
A warranty is defined as "a written guarantee of the integrity of a product and of the manufacturer's responsibility to repair or replace defective parts or the whole product if necessary." The written guarantee is an assurance of the quality of or length of trouble-free use to be expected from a product offered for sale with a promise of reimbursement. The warranty is provided by the manufacturer. A guarantee is a collateral undertaking to answer for the payment of a debt or of another's debt or the performance of another's duty, liability or obligation. A guaranty is provided by the Contractor for all the work of a contract including materials, equipment and parts that are under manufacturer's warranty, and the work of subcontractors for a set period of time.
The General Conditions/Requirements of the Master Specifications require the Contractor to warrant and guarantee that all work performed under the contract will be free from defects of materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of the Statement of Completion (SOC). SOC is issued by the Bureau of Contract Administration. However, the individual technical specifications may require extended warranty/guaranty periods for specific items of work, materials, equipment or systems (Attachment 24.6-1).
As a project nears construction completion, all information regarding warranties/guaranties for materials and equipment must be transferred from the CM to the Client Department. Copies shall be retained by BOE in the project master file and electronic contract documentation (i.e. e2020). The CM shall ensure that the Contractor provides the following information, along with the pertinent completed Warranty Information Label Forms:
List of all equipment under warranty
Warranty periods (start and end dates)
Procedures for obtaining non-emergency warranty service
Emergency service contacts
Originals or copies of all written warranties/guaranties required by the contract
This information must be provided to the Client Department by the CM before the operations and maintenance staff assumes responsibility for care and maintenance of work under warranty. All information should be provided in orderly files or notebooks appropriately labeled for easy reference. If the Department of General Services (GSD) is responsible for the maintenance of the facility, they must also receive the information. GSD has a conveyance procedure for how they want the information transferred. The PM/CM should contact GSD before construction is complete to work out the details of the conveyance procedure. If portions of a project are placed into service by the City for its benefit (see Procedure 22.1 – Partial Final Inspection and Partial Acceptance) prior to final acceptance of the project, the warranty/guaranty period for those portions commences on the date shown on the Statement of Partial Completion.
During the warranty/guaranty period, City staff should monitor the completed work for proper performance. If defects in the work are found, the Client Department must determine whether the problem should be fixed under warranty/guaranty provisions or under the maintenance provisions. If the problem is one covered by warranty/guaranty, the Contractor is responsible for the repair. It is the CM’s responsibility to contact the Contractor for warranty work after the Contractor has completed the project. If the problem is a maintenance item, the Client Department's staff should perform the maintenance.
11th-Month Warranty Inspection
Prior to the expiration of the one-year warranty/guaranty period, City staff should conduct a “walk-through” of the project and prepare a written summary of any defects to be corrected by the Contractor. Special attention should be paid to items such as building superstructures, foundations, drains, sewers, pipes, valves, ducts, conduits, pavements, curbs, walks, walls, stairways, mechanical and electrical equipment, materials, appurtenances, accessories, and other surface and subsurface structures. The “walk-through” shall be coordinated by the CM and attended by the Contractor, PM, Inspector and Client Department representatives.
The Contractor shall repair or replace non-conforming work or damage resulting from such non-conforming work promptly and at no additional cost to the City, due to:
Faulty materials or workmanship, or
Defective installation of equipment or materials, or
Disturbance of, or damage to, City improvements caused by such nonconforming work
The Contractor shall submit a written report of the defect and method of repair/correction to the CM. Once approved, the Contractor shall commence such repair or replacement within 24 hours of receiving written notification from the CM directing him to correct such non-conforming work and shall diligently prosecute the corrective work to completion within the period of time as approved by the City. The requirement to correct non-conforming work shall continue until one year after the date the correction of repaired or replaced items has been accepted by the City.
In order to keep the warranty valid, City staff should not make repairs to equipment during the warranty/guaranty period beyond normal and routine maintenance without notification of the Contractor and without the Contractor's authorization when applicable. Emergency repairs are an exception. Conversely, routine servicing that is required to maintain the equipment in good working order is generally required to keep the warranty valid. Unauthorized repair or service (other than routine or emergency) could nullify the warranties/guaranties and should be avoided.
RELATED PROCEDURES
LINKS / ATTACHMENTS
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