New home warranty

Almost every market has two tiers, and confusing them is the most common mistake buyers make. The short tier covers workmanship and finishes (a door that drops, tiling that lifts, a tap that leaks) and typically runs six to twenty-four months from handover. The long tier covers the structure and the elements that keep weather out, and runs for five, ten or twelve years depending on the country.

The distinction matters because the clock is different and so is the remedy. A finish complaint made in month thirty is usually out of time. A structural complaint made in year six may not be, even in the same contract.

What the obligation attaches to also varies. In some markets it is a contractual promise by the developer, worth exactly what the developer is worth when you come to use it. In others it is backed by insurance or by a statutory scheme, which survives the company failing. That difference is invisible in the sales material and decisive in a claim.

The period almost always runs from a date fixed by the developer's own certificate rather than from the day you take possession. Where practical completion and handover are months apart, which is normal in markets built around foreign buyers, a warranty described as twelve months can have eight left in it by the time you have the keys.

Warranties also exclude more than buyers expect: wear, movement within stated tolerances, anything the buyer or their contractor altered, and anything not reported within a notice period that is often much shorter than the warranty itself. A defect discovered in month four and reported in month ten is frequently outside the scheme even though it arose well inside it.