Clarification/Follow-up by Dinero on 04/18/04 9:08 am:
Oh, ok. This type of warrantee is new to me. So does it sound like this one is along those lines and reasonable?

Contractor warrants the workmanship only. Subject to the limited warranty description below, for a period of 10 years following completion

Limited warranty --Unless contractor can prove interference by a third party after completion of the work:

Contractor will, for the warranty period, make repairs on its own work at its own cost if the workmanship is deemed to have been inadequate.

Within a 1-year period, if it is determined that the entire scope of the project was performed inadequately and is required to be redone, Contractor will do so at its own cost.

From the end of the Year 1 to the end of year 5, if it is determined that the entire scope of the project was performed inadequately and is required to be redone, contractor will do so at a 50% reduction in the prevailing rate of such projects at that time.

From the end of the year 5 to the end of the year 10, if it is determined that the entire scope of the project was performed inadequate and is required to be redone, Contractor will do so at a 10% reduction in the prevailing rate of such projects at that time.

Clarification/Follow-up by voiceguy2000 on 04/18/04 10:51 am:
I can give you my idea of what this document means, but I cannot decide for you whether it is reasonable or not. That decision is up to you. Moreover, my idea of what it means may not be the same as what someone else -- say, a judge -- decides that it means. Nothing I say constitutes legal advice.

Here is what I discern in your description.

First, by saying that only the workmanship is warranted, the contractor is stating that the manufacturer of the roofing materials will be the only one responsible if the materials should fail prematurely. Thus, if the contractor installs Owens-Corning brand roofing shingles, and those shingles disintegrate before their rated life, your recourse is against Owens-Corning and not the contractor. You should therefore review the separate warranty document offered by the manufacturer whose materials this contractor intends to use before making your decision.

Second, as to the relief available to you " if it is determined that the entire scope of the project was performed inadequately," this language is not crystal-clear to me, and it would be worth your while to ask the contractor to explain it to you with examples.

Speculating on what it might mean, I would guess that if the contractor was installing an asphalt shingle roof on you house and neglected to nail the shingles in place, such that they started falling off or blowing away in the wind, that would represent a instance where "the entire scope of the project was performed inadequately." In this case, your problem would arise not because the roofing materials were of poor quality, but because the contractor installed them improperly. Evidently the contractor is seeking to pro-rate this warranty on workmanship in a manner similar to the automobile-tire example I offered earlier.

The difficulty for me (and for you in seeking to enforce this guarantee) is that I can't tell who is supposed to make this determination, and by what standards. Thus, it is not clear to me how much protection this really offers if the contractor does not honor it in good faith.

Finally, the contractor is making a plausible exception for roof problems caused by the "interference" of a third party. This might apply where, for instance, a heating company opened the roof to install a roof-mounted heater or air conditioner.

My advice is to check the references of your contractor carefully (for example, request the names and telephone numbers of his last five jobs), and make sure you choose good-quality roofing materials. Be wary of low bidders, and be wary of the gypsies who roam neighborhoods looking for work. Ask your own neighbors for recommendations. Your best protection is to find someone who will do an honest, workmanlike job in the first place.