Manufacturer Warranty Management

A 20-year NDL manufacturer warranty is worth the paper it is printed on only if the maintenance requirements are met and documented annually. Most Atlanta commercial building owners discover this when they file a claim and the manufacturer cites a lapsed maintenance provision. We track the requirements and produce the documentation that keeps the warranty alive.

Every major commercial membrane manufacturer - GAF EverGuard, Carlisle Sure-Weld, Johns Manville, Sika Sarnafil, Versico, Firestone UltraPly - issues NDL (no-dollar-limit) warranty policies that carry explicit annual maintenance requirements. The maintenance provisions vary by manufacturer and by warranty tier, but the common thread is this: the building owner must demonstrate that the roof received documented annual inspection by a qualified contractor, that deficiencies identified in that inspection were addressed, and that repairs were made with manufacturer-approved materials. Failure to comply with these provisions gives the manufacturer grounds to deny or reduce a warranty claim.

In the Atlanta market, most commercial roof warranties issued in the 2005 to 2015 window are now in their maintenance-critical years - the period when the manufacturer scrutinizes maintenance compliance most closely because that is when membrane seam fatigue and flashing deterioration begin to show. Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and the Cobb Galleria corridor have large inventories of systems in exactly this age band. Owners who have not been actively managing warranty documentation are running a risk that is easy to quantify: the replacement cost of the roof they think they have warranty coverage on.

Our manufacturer warranty management service tracks the warranty terms for each system under management, schedules and conducts the required annual inspections, produces the inspection report in the format each The documentation we produce is the same documentation the manufacturer's warranty department will ask for.

Annual inspection: Most NDL warranties require documented annual inspection by a qualified contractor - sometimes specifically requiring an approved contractor for the manufacturer whose warranty is in force. The inspection must cover seam condition, flashing condition, penetration details, drain condition, and any repairs made since the prior inspection. Some manufacturers require the contractor to submit the inspection report directly to the warranty desk; others require the report be kept on file and produced on demand during a claim.

Repair with manufacturer-approved materials: Any repair to the warranted system must use materials approved by the warranty-issuing manufacturer. A TPO repair made with a competing manufacturer's patch material can void the warranty on the repaired area. This requirement is frequently violated in the Atlanta market when building owners or facility managers call any available contractor for an emergency repair without specifying warranty-material compliance.

Penetration and equipment changes: Adding rooftop equipment - new HVAC units, solar arrays, antennas, exhaust fans - after the warranty is issued typically requires manufacturer notification and approval of the new penetration detail. Atlanta's Class A office buildings routinely add rooftop equipment through tenant improvement projects without notifying the roofing manufacturer, creating warranty gaps at those penetration points.