Warranty

How coverage is structured

Steel building warranties normally separate two things, because they fail in different ways and on different timescales:

• Structural coverage — the steel framing and its capacity to carry the loads it was engineered for. This is the long-duration part of the warranty.
• Panel and coating coverage — the metallic coating and any factory paint finish, against perforation, excessive fading or chalking. Coating warranties are typically stated separately from structural coverage, and often carry different terms depending on the environment the building is in.

Accessories supplied by other manufacturers — overhead doors, ventilation equipment, windows — normally carry their own warranties from those makers rather than being covered under the building warranty.

What affects coverage

Warranties assume the building was assembled correctly and looked after. In practice the things that jeopardize coverage are consistent:

• Assembly that departs from the instructions or from the stamped drawings.
• Foundation or anchoring that does not meet the engineered specification.
• Field modification — cutting openings into a stamped structure without engineering.
• Loads beyond the design values, including hanging equipment from the frame or adding a mezzanine that was never engineered.
• Neglected maintenance, particularly standing water, blocked gutters and debris left on the roof.
• Contact with incompatible materials — copper runoff, some treated lumber, dissimilar metals.
• Corrosive environments not disclosed at order, such as coastal salt exposure or certain agricultural and industrial atmospheres.

None of these are unusual exclusions. They are the same list any building product warranty carries, and all of them are within your control.

Making a claim

1. Contact us with your order number and a description of the issue.
2. Provide photographs showing the condition and its location on the building.
3. Have your stamped drawings and delivery documentation available.
4. We coordinate with the manufacturer on the claim.

Shipping damage is a separate process and it is time-sensitive. Inspect the shipment against the packing list before you sign, and note any damage on the bill of lading at the time of delivery — that record is what makes a freight claim straightforward.

Records to keep

Keep these together with your property documents:

• Your stamped engineering drawings
• Order documentation and the warranty statement supplied with it
• The signed bill of lading and packing list
• Foundation and concrete records, including the anchor plan used for the pour
• Permit and inspection records
• A dated note of maintenance carried out

That last one sounds fussy and is genuinely useful. A short annual record of roof clearing and fastener checks is exactly the evidence that resolves a maintenance question during a claim.