What to Ask For in a Render Warranty

A warranty is only worth what it actually covers. On render, builders often hear a number of years quoted without being told what sits behind it.

Asking the right questions before the job starts is much easier than arguing about cover after a defect appears.

Product warranty and workmanship warranty

There are usually two separate things:

• A product warranty from the manufacturer, which covers the coating products
• A workmanship warranty from the contractor, which covers how the work was done

They cover different failures. A product warranty rarely helps if the coating was applied wrongly. A workmanship warranty rarely helps if a product was faulty. You want to know both.

Questions to ask before the job

Put these to your render contractor:

• Who issues each warranty, and for how long
• What exactly is covered, and what is excluded
• What conditions must be met for cover to apply
• Does cover depend on using a particular system on a particular substrate
• Who does the owner contact if there is a problem
• Does the warranty pass to the owner when the home is sold

Ask for the answers in writing. A warranty described only in a phone call is hard to rely on.

What commonly voids cover

Warranties usually depend on the work and the building being right. Common problems include:

• The wrong system used for the substrate
• Missing or rendered over control joints
• Structural movement in the building itself
• Damage caused by other trades or impacts
• No maintenance, such as cleaning, over many years

Some of these sit with the builder, not the renderer. That is why the conditions matter to you as well.

The Queensland home warranty scheme

Residential building work in Queensland can be covered by the QBCC Home Warranty Scheme. It is separate from any product or contractor warranty. The QBCC website explains what the scheme covers and when it applies.

Care the owner should know about

Coated walls need some care over their life. Owners should know to wash off dirt and mould gently, and to avoid blasting the surface with a high pressure cleaner up close. Garden beds and sprinklers should not keep the base of the walls wet.

Tell owners to report cracks or staining early. Put this in writing at handover, because spoken advice is forgotten long before a problem appears.

Records that protect everyone

A warranty claim is much easier with records. Keep the system name, the product details, the application dates and photos of the work at each stage. Give the owner simple care instructions at handover.

How we handle it

Render King names the render system on every quote. We are happy to put the warranty terms for a job in writing before work starts, so there is no confusion later. Read more on our acrylic render page.

Send the drawings through our project portal or call 0452 295 212, and we will price the job.