A 1-year builder warranty covers defects in workmanship and materials — the drywall, trim, paint, doors, windows, cabinetry, flooring, and minor mechanical adjustments a builder must correct during the first year after closing. It is the "1" in the 1-2-10 new-home warranty, and the tier nearly every homeowner actually uses. Operationally it is the mirror image of the 10-year structural tier: structural claims are rare but severe, while year-one workmanship claims are frequent but small. Most of a builder's warranty volume lands here, so the year-one problem is not decade-long record-keeping — it is speed and triage at volume. WarrantyHub is the software builders use to run that workflow. To be clear from the start: WarrantyHub is warranty management software, not an underwriter or insurer — we don't issue coverage; we help builders run the obligations they already carry.
Last updated July 30, 2026 · Reviewed by Michael Schroeder, Co-Founder & CEO at WarrantyHub
What is a 1-year builder warranty?
A 1-year builder warranty is the first and shortest tier of a new home warranty, covering defects in workmanship and materials for one year after closing. It is the first number in the 1-2-10 model: 1 year on workmanship and finishes, 2 years on distribution systems (HVAC, plumbing, electrical), and 10 years on the structural elements that hold the house up. The 1-2-10 framework is an industry standard documented by builder authorities like the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which is why nearly every U.S. production builder carries all three windows.
"Workmanship and materials" is deliberately broader than the other two tiers: it covers whatever a builder or its trade partners installed incorrectly, finished poorly, or built with defective material — the parts of the home a buyer sees and touches every day. That breadth is why year one produces the volume it does. A single home can generate a long list of small requests in its first twelve months, none individually expensive; collectively, across a community, they are the bulk of what a warranty department does.
Who backs this tier also differs from the structural conversation. The 10-year window is frequently placed with a third-party underwriter that assumes catastrophic risk; year one generally is not. The workmanship and materials obligation is almost always performed and paid for by the builder directly, even inside a third-party program, where the builder typically handles the first- and second-year obligations and the underwriter backs the structural tier. So the year-one question is rarely "who insures this?" It is "how fast can we resolve it, and can we prove we did?"
| Tier | Duration | Scope | Typical claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workmanship & materials | 1 year | Cosmetic finishes, trim, drywall, paint | Drywall cracks, sticking doors, nail pops |
| Systems (distribution) | 2 years | HVAC, plumbing, electrical, ductwork | HVAC imbalance, supply-line leaks |
| Structural | 10 years | Load-bearing components only | Foundation movement, major settlement, load-bearing failure |
What the 1-year warranty covers — and what it doesn't
The 1-year tier covers defects in workmanship and materials; it does not cover normal wear, homeowner-caused damage, routine maintenance, cosmetic variation inside published tolerance, or items that belong to the 2-year systems tier or the 10-year structural tier. Getting that boundary right on every request is the highest-leverage thing a warranty team does in year one, because a misrouted item costs money twice — once when the builder pays for something it doesn't owe, and again when a homeowner is wrongly denied and escalates.
Typically covered under the 1-year workmanship and materials tier:
- Drywall and paint — nail pops, seam cracks, tape separation, and the touch-up work that follows a covered repair.
- Doors and windows — sticking, binding, misalignment, latching issues, screen and hardware defects, improperly installed weatherstripping.
- Trim, millwork, and cabinetry — separating joints, misaligned doors and drawers, defective hardware, countertop installation defects.
- Flooring and tile — lifting or hollow tile, defective grout and caulk lines, seam and transition defects, installation-related subfloor squeaks.
- Minor mechanical adjustments — registers, vent covers, and fixture alignment: installation corrections rather than system failures.
- Materials defects — a component that failed because the material itself was defective, not from normal use.
Typically excluded — and where it goes instead:
| Request | Not a year-one item because | Where it routes |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC won't balance the second floor | It's a distribution system, not a finish | 2-year systems tier |
| Foundation movement damaging load-bearing framing | Load-bearing defect with physical damage | 10-year structural tier |
| Scuffed floors, dinged trim after move-in | Homeowner-caused damage | Not covered |
| Filter changes, caulk and grout upkeep | Routine homeowner maintenance | Not covered |
| Hairline cracking within published tolerance | Normal settlement, not a defect | Not covered |
| Dishwasher stops working | Consumer product, not builder workmanship | Manufacturer warranty (installation defects stay with the builder) |
Notice how many of those exclusions are really routing decisions rather than denials. A homeowner doesn't submit a request tagged "2-year systems" — they submit "the upstairs is always hot." Tiering that correctly at intake means knowing the home's closing date, which windows are still open, and what each tier covers. For the full three-tier picture, see the new home warranty guide; for the tiers on either side of this one, see the 2-year systems warranty guide and the 10-year structural warranty guide.
What happens at the 11-month warranty walk?
The 11-month warranty walk — also called the builder warranty walk-through — is a scheduled inspection roughly one month before the 1-year workmanship warranty expires, where the builder and homeowner walk the home together and document every remaining workmanship and materials defect. It is the defining checkpoint of the year-one tier, and it exists for both sides: the homeowner gets a clear, final opportunity to raise items before the window closes, and the builder gets one documented batch of work instead of a scramble of eleventh-hour claims.
A well-run walk does three things. It captures every item in writing with enough detail — location, description, photos — that a trade partner can act without a second visit. It tiers each item on the spot, separating true year-one workmanship from systems items that still have a year to run. And it closes the loop: each item is dispatched, tracked to completion, and signed off, so the tier expires with a documented record rather than an open argument.
The walk itself is the easy part. The operational work is everything after it — chasing subs, sequencing trades so a homeowner isn't home for six separate visits, and tracking callbacks that bounce back. That playbook lives elsewhere on this site: builder warranty service management covers warranty service mechanics, subcontractor follow-through, and callback tracking in depth. And because the walk is essentially a punch list on a deadline, the handoff matters too — punch list software for home builders covers how pre-close punch items flow into post-close warranty tracking, so nothing gets re-discovered at month eleven that should have closed at month one.
Why year one breaks spreadsheets — for a different reason than year ten
Year one breaks ad-hoc tracking because of throughput, not longevity. The 10-year tier fails on spreadsheets because obligations outlive the people and files that recorded them. The 1-year tier fails sooner and louder: a shared inbox and a tracking sheet cannot absorb the request rate a growing builder generates in the first twelve months after closing, and unlike a structural claim that surfaces in year seven, a year-one homeowner is waiting for a reply today.
Three things break in sequence:
- Intake becomes the bottleneck. Requests arrive by email, text, phone call, and the occasional message to a superintendent who has already moved to the next community. Nothing is a record until someone types it into a sheet, so the queue is only as reliable as the busiest person's inbox.
- Triage becomes inconsistent. Tier decisions get made from memory and vary by whoever is answering. Two homeowners with the same issue get different answers — a margin problem and a reputation problem at once.
- Response time goes untracked. A spreadsheet records that a request exists, not how long it has been sitting. Nothing surfaces an item aging past target until the homeowner escalates — and by then the complaint isn't about a sticking door, it's about being ignored.
The scaling math is what makes this urgent. Year-one volume is driven by closings, so it grows the moment sales does, on a rolling twelve-month basis while every prior cohort is still inside its window — a builder that doubles closings gets a step change in daily request rate arriving into the same shared inbox. It's also the tier that shapes reputation: structural claims are rare and mostly invisible to the market, while year-one responsiveness is what shows up in reviews and referral conversations.
How builders manage year-one warranty requests in software
Builders manage year-one volume by replacing inbox-based intake with a system that knows each home's coverage windows, checks every request against them automatically, dispatches the responsible trade, and measures response time. The goal in this tier isn't archival depth — it's cycle time with a clean record behind it.
- Tier-aware intake and triage — every home is tagged at closing with its 1-, 2-, and 10-year expiration dates, so an incoming request is instantly checked against what's still covered. A month-nine drywall crack routes as workmanship; a month-eighteen HVAC complaint routes to the systems tier; an excluded item is identified before the builder pays for something it doesn't owe.
- A homeowner self-service portal — a 24/7 homeowner self-service portal gives buyers one place to submit and track requests, converting scattered texts and voicemails into structured, timestamped records and taking intake load off the warranty coordinator.
- Trade dispatch — for covered repairs the responsible trade partner is dispatched (via SMS) and the work order is tracked to a documented close, so scheduling isn't a chain of phone calls.
- Response-time and SLA tracking — open requests are visible by age against a target, so an aging item surfaces before the homeowner escalates rather than after.
- The same audit trail principle, on a faster clock — every request, assignment, repair, and sign-off is tied to the specific home. Documentation still matters in year one: it supports the tier decision if a homeowner disputes it, proves the work was completed before the window closed, and provides the audit trail to support back-charges to the responsible subcontractor.
- Pattern visibility across the community — when the same defect repeats across a plan or a trade partner, it surfaces as a pattern rather than as dozens of separate service calls.
WarrantyHub supports the full 1-2-10 structure natively — 1-year general, 2-year systems, 10-year structural — and integrates via API with the CRMs and construction-PM tools builders already use. Continuity is the point: the same system that absorbs the year-one flood still holds the record when a systems claim arrives in month twenty and a structural claim arrives in year seven.
Why builders run year-one warranty on WarrantyHub
Builders run their year-one obligations on WarrantyHub because it turns a high-volume, high-visibility service problem into a measured workflow — tier-aware intake, trade dispatch, a homeowner portal, and a per-home record — live in 30–60 days, without the cost or learning curve of a full construction-PM suite. With $1B+ in warranty contracts under management and zero customer churn, it's proven at volume: a regional builder eliminated claims falling through the cracks (zero missed claims), cut repeat service calls by 40%, and stood up a 24/7 homeowner self-service portal. That repeat-call reduction matters most in this tier, where the cost isn't any single repair — it's the second and third truck roll for something that should have closed the first time.
"Builders use WarrantyHub to replace spreadsheet-based warranty tracking. The deployment was painless — we were live in weeks, not months, and nothing falls through the cracks anymore." — Operations leader at a regional home builder that eliminated missed warranty claims
The service model is the other half. Builders contrast WarrantyHub's responsiveness — a team that "makes it feel like we are their only customer" — with the "steep learning curve" and "pricing too high for small and midsize companies" complaints aimed at construction-PM suites. White-glove onboarding and engineering-led migration from spreadsheets and legacy systems are included, so open year-one requests and homes already partway through their window carry over cleanly.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 1-year builder warranty?
A 1-year builder warranty is the first and shortest tier of a new home warranty, covering defects in workmanship and materials for one year after closing. It is the "1" in the 1-2-10 model. It covers the things a builder or its trade partners installed incorrectly or with defective materials — drywall, trim, paint, doors, windows, cabinetry, flooring, and minor mechanical adjustments — and it is the tier that generates the large majority of a builder's warranty request volume.
What does a 1 year home warranty cover?
The 1-year tier of a builder warranty covers defects in workmanship and materials: drywall cracks and nail pops, sticking or misaligned doors and windows, trim and paint defects, cabinet and countertop installation issues, flooring and tile defects, grout and caulk failures, and minor adjustments to installed mechanical equipment. It does not cover normal wear, homeowner-caused damage, cosmetic issues within published tolerance, or items that belong to the 2-year systems tier or the 10-year structural tier.
What's the difference between a 1-year warranty and a 2-year systems warranty?
The 1-year tier covers workmanship and materials — the finishes and installed components you can see and touch. The 2-year tier covers the distribution systems behind the walls: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and ductwork. A misaligned register cover is a year-one workmanship item; an HVAC system that can't balance the second floor is a year-two systems item. Both windows run from the same closing date, so a request in month 18 is checked against the systems tier, not workmanship.
Does the 1-year builder warranty cover appliances?
Usually not directly. In most builder warranty programs, appliances, water heaters, and similar consumer products are covered by the manufacturer's own warranty, passed through to the homeowner at closing. What the builder's 1-year workmanship warranty does cover is the installation — an appliance hooked up incorrectly, vented improperly, or set out of level is a workmanship defect. Programs vary, so builders should confirm the exact split in their own warranty document.
What happens at the 11-month warranty walk?
The 11-month warranty walk is a scheduled inspection about one month before the 1-year workmanship warranty expires, where the builder and homeowner walk the home together and document every remaining workmanship and materials defect. It gives the homeowner a final opportunity to submit year-one items and gives the builder one documented batch of work instead of a scramble of last-minute claims. Items from the walk are logged, tiered, dispatched to the responsible trade, and closed out with documentation.
Is normal wear and tear covered under the 1-year warranty?
No. The 1-year tier covers defects in workmanship and materials, not normal wear, homeowner-caused damage, or routine maintenance items such as filter changes, caulk touch-ups, and grout upkeep. It also excludes cosmetic variation that falls inside the builder's published tolerances. This is why consistent triage matters: without a documented standard applied the same way every time, builders either pay for items they don't owe or deny items they do.
How do builders manage year-one warranty requests at volume?
Builders manage year-one volume by moving intake off a shared inbox into a system that tags every home with its 1-, 2-, and 10-year expiration dates at closing, checks each request against the active tiers automatically, dispatches the responsible trade, and tracks response time against a service-level target. WarrantyHub runs that workflow — tier-aware triage, trade dispatch, a homeowner self-service portal, and a per-home audit trail — so a builder scaling closings does not need a new coordinator for every increase in volume.
See year-one warranty triage on your own homes
WarrantyHub manages the full post-close 1-2-10 warranty lifecycle — tier-aware intake and routing, SMS trade dispatch, a 24/7 homeowner portal, and a per-home audit trail. Most builders are live in 30–60 days, with no long-term contracts.
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- 2-year systems warranty guide — what the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical distribution tier covers, and how it differs from year-one workmanship.
- 10-year structural warranty management — the rare-but-severe tier at the other end of the 1-2-10 model, and where underwriters fit.
- Builder warranty service management — the operational playbook for running warranty service, subcontractor follow-through, and callback tracking.
- Punch list software for home builders — how pre-close punch items flow into post-close 1-2-10 warranty tracking.
- Builder warranty software — how WarrantyHub manages the full post-close 1-2-10 warranty lifecycle for home builders.