Guess what folks – it’s almost budget season.  I can hear the collective groan all the way over here in Kentucky.  When you are working on your Repair and Maintenance budget, let me tell you one place where you can probably save some money: parts spend.  In all likelihood, you are purchasing parts that are covered under warranty.

We find that many organizations don’t track warranty periods of the different products installed in their facilities because it is a very cumbersome process.  However, what if I told you that for one national chain that we work with, the current total value of door and locking hardware they have covered under warranty amounts to $4,570,000?  I bet that got your attention.  Now are warranty periods something you want to start tracking?

General Contractor Warranty

Many organizations are only concerned with the one-year warranty provided by their general contractor.  Almost all general contractors honor a one-year warranty for any jobs they do.  This covers both parts and labor.  So, if your door starts dragging, your closer breaks, or a lever starts sagging, as long as it’s within the first year of the building’s operation, you can call your general contractor and you won’t be out any money.

If it’s just outside the one-year window, you are left footing the bill.

Actual Warranty Periods

While there are some products that only have a one-year warranty, most are higher than that.  Often times, grade 1 and grade 2 products will have at least a two-year warranty, and many will be five or ten-year warranties.  Some of your higher quality (re: more expensive) hardware can have a lifetime warranty.

So, if you are leaving your warranty management up to the general contractor, you are missing out on years’ worth of potential savings.  For the customer I mentioned above, on average, they save around $75,000 on three of the main pieces of hardware found in facilities: levers, closers, and exit devices.  Keep in mind that this is a customer we have done a specification review for to ensure that they have properly specified hardware installed.  If improper hardware is specified, you can count on this number doubling or even tripling.

How to Track Warranty Periods

Like I said earlier, tracking warranty periods is no easy feat.  If it’s left up to you to track the warranty for every piece of hardware in your facility, it simply won’t get done.  Because of this, we recommend working with your vendors and ensuring that they are handling the warranty management component for you.  If they aren’t, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.