Construction subcontract warranties deserve a line-by-line review because the prime may pass down the Government requirement and then add broader private obligations. The biggest surprises are often the warranty start date, repeated warranty periods after repair, response deadlines, and responsibility for downstream damage.
The federal clause provides a useful benchmark, but the signed subcontract controls the prime-sub relationship.
Know the federal benchmark
FAR 52.246-21 provides a construction warranty framework under which covered work must conform to contract requirements and be free from defects in equipment, material, design furnished, and workmanship performed by the contractor or its subcontractors or suppliers. The standard clause uses a one-year period from final acceptance, with special treatment when the Government takes possession earlier.
Official source: FAR 52.246-21 — Warranty of Construction.
The subcontract may move the starting line
A prime-drafted subcontract may start the warranty at project completion, Government final acceptance, beneficial occupancy, prime acceptance, or another milestone. Those dates can be months apart. A subcontractor should identify the exact event and whether corrected work restarts the clock.
Compare scope and remedies
- Length of warranty and exact commencement event.
- Whether repair or replacement restarts a new warranty period.
- Required response time after notice.
- Responsibility for access, removal, testing, shipping, and restoration costs.
- Whether consequential or other downstream damages are added to the correction duty.
- Whether manufacturer and supplier warranties must be assigned or enforced for the Government.
Do not confuse warranty with acceptance
The FAR warranty clause expressly preserves Government rights under inspection and acceptance provisions for matters such as latent defects, gross mistakes, or fraud. In a subcontract, acceptance, warranty, indemnity, and limitation-of-liability language should therefore be reviewed together rather than as isolated clauses.