How Long Are You on the Hook for a Job? Warranties, Statutes of Limitation and Statutes of Repose, State by State

Quick answer: A contractor's exposure on finished work has three layers. The implied warranty that the work was done in a workmanlike manner exists in every state by common law and cannot be waived by a short written warranty. The statute of limitations sets how long after a defect is found (or should have been) the owner can sue: four years in California for visible defects, four years from discovery in Florida and Illinois, two in Colorado. The statute of repose is the outer wall measured from substantial completion no matter when the defect appears: 5 years in Virginia, 6 in North Carolina, Washington and Colorado, 7 in Florida, 8 in Arizona and Georgia, 10 in California, Texas, Nevada, New Jersey and Illinois. Texas cuts its 10 years to 6 for a contractor who gives a written warranty of at least 1 year on workmanship, 2 on plumbing, electrical and HVAC, and 6 on structure. Federal law adds a trap: the moment you put a warranty in writing on equipment you install (a furnace, a water heater, an air conditioner) or on the parts and labor of a repair, Magnuson-Moss forbids you from disclaiming the implied warranty and requires nine specific disclosures. Most states also force the homeowner to send written notice and let you inspect and repair before suing: 60 days in Texas and Florida, 75 in Colorado, 90 in Georgia, with a 90-day response clock in Nevada.

Three different clocks

Implied warranty of workmanship. In every state surveyed, a contractor who does residential work impliedly warrants that it will be performed in a good and workmanlike manner. The source is court decisions, not a statute, which is why it is rarely quoted and often waived in contracts that courts then refuse to enforce. Three states have put a version in statute for new homes: New York's housing merchant warranty (one year skillful construction, two years systems, six years material defects), New Jersey's new home warranty (one, two and ten years), and Texas's 1-2-6 minimums as the price of a shorter repose period. Those statutory periods are the best available evidence of what "workmanlike" is expected to hold for.

Statute of limitations. Starts when the claim accrues, often when the owner discovers or should have discovered the defect. Florida's is four years from discovery; Illinois's is four years from when the owner "knew or should reasonably have known"; Colorado's is two years from discovery of the "physical manifestations of a defect"; California's is four years from substantial completion for patent defects.

Statute of repose. Starts at substantial completion and does not care about discovery. Virginia's reads: no action "more than five years after the performance or furnishing of such services and construction." Nevada's reads ten years. After that date the claim is extinguished.

Pre-suit notice. A fourth clock that runs in the owner's direction: in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona the owner must send you written notice and give you a chance to inspect and repair before filing. Many contractors do not know these rights exist and settle claims they could have cured.

Errata: what the ranking pages get wrong

The federal layer: what writing a warranty does

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act does not make you give a warranty. The FTC's own guide: "The Act does not require any business to provide a written warranty." It regulates the warranty you choose to write, on a "consumer product," defined as "any tangible personal property which is distributed in commerce and which is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes."

When a contractor is inside it. The FTC's rule on the definition draws the line between realty and equipment: products "at the time of sale integrated into the structure of a dwelling … are not consumer products as they cannot be practically distinguished from realty," but the Act covers "separate items of equipment attached to real property, such as air conditioners, furnaces, and water heaters," including "appliances and other thermal, mechanical, and electrical equipment." Building materials in a construction contract are out; the condensing unit you install is in. And for service work the FTC is explicit: "The Act does not apply to warranties on services. Only warranties on goods are covered. However, if your warranty covers both the parts provided for a repair and the workmanship in making that repair, the Act does apply to you."

What it then requires.

1. You cannot disclaim implied warranties. 15 U.S.C. §2308(a): "No supplier may disclaim or modify any implied warranty to a consumer with respect to such consumer product if (1) such supplier makes any written warranty to the consumer." You may limit their duration to the length of your written warranty, if "conscionable and … set forth in clear and unmistakable language and prominently displayed on the face of the warranty" (§2308(b)). The "as is, no warranties" line in many service agreements is void on any covered product the moment the same document promises a year on parts and labor.
2. Nine disclosures in one document. 16 CFR 701.3(a), for any covered product "actually costing the consumer more than $15.00": who gives the warranty and to whom, what is covered and excluded, what you will do, when it starts and how long it runs, the step-by-step claim procedure, any informal dispute mechanism, the implied-warranty limitation statement, the exclusions statement with its "some states do not allow" sentence, and "This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from State to State."
3. "Full" or "Limited." A warranty that meets the federal minimum standards may be called full; one that does not must be labeled limited. Nearly every contractor warranty is limited.
4. UCC on the parts. Separately from Magnuson-Moss, the parts you sell carry the implied warranty of merchantability, "fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used" (UCC 2-314), with a four-year limitation the contract may shorten "to not less than one year but may not extend" (UCC 2-725).

The manufacturer's warranty. Equipment manufacturers' warranties typically run to the homeowner on registration and cover parts only. Passing that warranty through, in writing, with the manufacturer's document attached, keeps your own written warranty narrow. Labor on a warranty part replacement is yours unless your warranty says otherwise.

State periods, verified

Years run from substantial completion unless noted. "Notice" is the pre-suit notice the owner must give you.

Two readings matter. First, limitation and repose stack: in Florida the owner has four years from discovering a defect, but never past the seventh year after the certificate of occupancy. Second, the notice statutes are yours to use: a Texas owner who sues without the 60-day letter has filed prematurely, and a Georgia contractor who answers the 90-day notice with a repair offer within 30 days changes the economics of the claim.

The written warranty that helps instead of hurts

A written warranty should do four things: define the period for the parts of the work you control, pass the manufacturer's warranty through on equipment, satisfy the federal disclosures on anything Magnuson-Moss covers, and, in Texas, meet the 1-2-6 minimums that buy the shorter repose period.

Limited Warranty. Company warrants that the labor performed under this contract will be free from defects in workmanship for one (1) year from substantial completion [Texas residential: and that plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning delivery systems installed by Company will be free from defects in workmanship for two (2) years, and major structural components for six (6) years]. Company's sole obligation under this warranty is to repair or replace, at Company's option, defective work reported in writing within the warranty period. Equipment and materials are covered by the manufacturer's warranty, attached, which Company assigns to Owner; labor to replace a manufacturer-warranted part after the Company labor warranty expires is not covered.

This warranty does not cover damage from misuse, lack of maintenance, work by others, or conditions existing before the work. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES ON COVERED PRODUCTS ARE LIMITED IN DURATION TO THE DURATION OF THIS WRITTEN WARRANTY. Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. To make a claim: [procedure, phone, email, address].

What the clause does not attempt: disclaim the implied warranty of workmanship (courts generally refuse to enforce that against a homeowner, and Magnuson-Moss forbids it on covered products), or shorten any statute of limitations (UCC 2-725 allows a reduction to one year on the sale of goods; most states do not allow it on construction claims).

What this means for callbacks

A callback inside your written warranty period is a warranty claim; you fix it. A callback after the written period but inside the limitation period is a claim on the implied warranty of workmanship; you are still exposed, and the question is whether the work was workmanlike when done. A callback after the repose period is not a legal claim at all; it is a customer-relations decision.

The record that decides the middle case is the same record that decides a chargeback: the approved scope, dated completion photos, the signed completion, and the date of substantial completion itself, which starts every clock in this reference. A job without a documented completion date has no defensible start for its statute of repose.

Method and limits

We read each statute at the legislature's site or, where that site blocks automated access, at a code mirror, on the dates shown, and quote the operative sentence. The table covers thirteen states chosen for contractor population; the remaining states have repose statutes of their own that this reference does not cover. The implied warranty of workmanship is judge-made law in every state listed and is described, not cited to cases. Periods for personal injury, wrongful death, public works, condominium associations and claims against design professionals can differ and are not covered. Statutes in this area moved recently: Florida's repose was shortened in 2023, Texas's warranty-linked six-year period was added in 2023, and Nevada's period has changed more than once in the last decade. Re-verify before relying on a row.

Last verified 2026-10-26. Not legal advice.