Your Contractor Warranty vs Florida's Repose Clock

Your Warranty Is Not Your Legal Deadline

A contractor warranty and Florida's statute of repose answer two different questions. The warranty is a private promise in your contract that says, "If this fails within a set time, I will fix it." The statute of repose is a public deadline in Chapter 95 that says, "After this date, no court will hear your claim — period." Treating the first as if it were the second is how owners forfeit real rights.

Here is the gap that catches people. A workmanship warranty that runs 1 year can expire long before a hidden problem surfaces — a slab that quietly wicks moisture, a shower pan that leaks behind tile, a settling crack that opens in year three. The warranty is dead, but your legal right to sue may be very much alive, because Florida law gives you a separate, longer window that no warranty can shorten.

Two clocks, not one

Picture two timers starting the day your project finishes. One is short and private: the warranty. One is long and statutory: the law. They run at the same time but for different lengths, and the longer one controls whether you can ever go to court.

Why Florida homeowners conflate them

Contractors understandably emphasize the warranty, because it frames the relationship in service terms. Few mention the repose clock, because it is a litigation concept. The result is a widespread, costly assumption: that once the warranty lapses, nothing can be done. In Florida, that assumption is simply wrong.

What a Contractor's Warranty Actually Covers

A contractor warranty in Florida is whatever the written contract says it is, layered on top of two warranties the law adds automatically. The most common written promise is a one-year express warranty on workmanship — a private term you negotiate, not a number Florida sets for remodels. Reading that language precisely matters more than its length.

Express warranty: the words in your contract

An express warranty is the specific promise written into the contract — for example, "all labor warranted for one year from substantial completion." It can be broad or narrow, can carve out subcontracted trades, and can set its own claim procedure. Because it is contractual, you can negotiate the term, the scope, and the response time before you sign.

Workmanship warranty

Covers defects in how the work was performed — a tile set out of plane, a fixture installed wrong. Commonly written for one year, but the number is contractual, not statutory, on a remodel.

Materials warranty

Often passed through from the manufacturer (flooring, fixtures, membranes). The contractor warrants installation; the maker warrants the product. Read which party owns which failure.

Pass-through exclusions

Many warranties exclude normal settling, wear, owner-caused damage, and acts of nature. In Florida that last carve-out matters during storm season — damage from a hurricane is not a workmanship defect.

Common exclusions to read before you sign

The exclusions decide what the warranty will never cover, so they deserve as much attention as the term length. Most Florida workmanship warranties carve out the following:

• Normal settling and shrinkage — hairline cracks and minor gaps the trade treats as expected, not defective.
• Wear and tear — surface aging from ordinary use, distinct from a failure of installation.
• Owner or third-party work — anything altered, repaired, or damaged by someone other than the contractor.
• Acts of nature — hurricane, flood, and lightning damage, a meaningful carve-out in a Florida storm climate.
• Manufacturer-warranted products — appliances and materials whose maker, not the installer, owns the defect.

None of those exclusions touch your statutory deadlines — they limit the free-fix promise, not your right to sue if the work itself was defective. That separation is the whole point of this article, and it starts in the fine print.

The new statutory one-year FBC warranty

Effective July 1, 2025, s. 553.837 (from House Bill 623) requires builders of newly constructed homes to warrant, for 1 year, defects of equipment, material, or workmanship that result in a material violation of the Florida Building Code. The clock runs from the earlier of conveyance of title to the first owner or initial occupancy. It is the first statutory workmanship-style warranty Florida has imposed by code.

For most homeowners hiring a licensed general contracting team to renovate, the statutory new-home warranty is not in play. The written workmanship warranty in the contract is what you negotiate and enforce — so the words in it, and the deadlines behind it, are what deserve your attention.

The Implied Warranty Nobody Writes Down

Even when a contract says nothing, Florida law implies a warranty that residential construction is performed in a reasonably workmanlike manner and is fit for its intended use. This implied warranty exists by operation of law, sits alongside any express warranty, and cannot be quietly assumed away. On a remodel it is often a homeowner's strongest protection.

Where the implied warranty comes from

Florida abandoned strict caveat emptor for new residences in Gable v. Silver (1972), recognizing that a builder-vendor is far better positioned than a buyer to know of latent defects. The implied warranty of fitness and habitability was the result — a promise the law writes for you. Later, Conklin v. Hurley (1983) limited it to the residence and improvements immediately supporting it, such as wells and septic systems.

Implied versus express, in practice

The two warranties answer different needs. The table below shows how they line up for a Florida remodel.

What "reasonably workmanlike" means

The implied standard is not perfection; it is the ordinary level of quality the trade expects. A floor that telegraphs every slab imperfection, a wall that was never made plumb, a waterproofing detail skipped behind tile — these fall short of workmanlike, whether or not a written warranty mentions them.

A clear implied warranty is why a remodel still has teeth after the express term expires: even a silent contract carries the law's promise of fitness, and only specific, bargained-for language can disclaim it. That is the floor beneath every Florida project, written or not.

Florida's Statute of Repose: the 7-Year Wall

The statute of repose is the outer wall on every construction claim in Florida. Under s. 95.11(3)(b), an action founded on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property must be commenced within 7 years of a defined completion event — full stop. Unlike the limitations period, it can run out even if you never discovered the defect.

Repose versus limitations

The distinction is precise and decisive. A statute of limitations bars a claim a set time after it accrues or is discovered. A statute of repose bars a claim a set time after a fixed event regardless of discovery. Repose is the harder deadline because it does not wait for you to learn that anything is wrong.

How SB 360 shortened it

The repose period used to be ten years. Senate Bill 360, effective April 13, 2023, cut it to seven and clarified when it starts. The change applies to actions commenced on or after that date, with a narrow grace period that has since closed. For any Florida project finishing now, seven years is the number that matters.

The 4-Year Clock to Sue for a Defect

Inside the seven-year wall sits a shorter, more common deadline: the 4-year statute of limitations to bring a construction-defect action under s. 95.11(3)(b). For a problem you could see at completion, the four years generally run from that completion event. For a hidden problem, a discovery rule moves the start.

Patent versus latent defects

Which clock-start applies turns on whether the defect was discoverable. The categories are worth fixing in your mind before you ever need them.

• Patent defect — visible or reasonably discoverable on ordinary inspection at completion, such as obvious tile lippage or a door that will not close square.
• Latent defect — hidden behind finishes or below grade, like a failed waterproofing membrane or an untested slab that telegraphs months later through a cupping floor.
• Mixed evidence — a symptom that looks cosmetic but traces to a structural cause; document it early, because the cause, not the symptom, drives the claim.

The label is not academic — it decides when your four years begin, and therefore whether a claim filed today is timely or already barred. That single distinction is why dating your evidence is the most valuable thing you can do.

The latent-defect discovery rule

For a latent defect, the four-year period runs from when the defect "is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence," not from completion. That rule is what keeps a buried failure actionable long after the job looked finished — but only until the seven-year repose wall, which the discovery rule cannot push past.

When the Defect Clock Starts in Florida

Both statutory clocks are anchored to the same completion event, and Florida defines it precisely. The period runs from the earliest of four dates: the temporary certificate of occupancy, the certificate of occupancy, the certificate of completion, or the date construction is abandoned if never finished. "Earliest," not "latest," is the operative word after SB 360.

The four trigger dates

Knowing which document fixes your start date tells you when both clocks expire. Each is issued by the authority having jurisdiction — your local building department.

Why "earliest" works against waiting

Because the statute counts from the earliest qualifying event, you cannot assume the latest paperwork extends your window. A temporary CO issued months before final sign-off can quietly start a clock the owner never tracked. On a permitted home addition, the certificate that closes the permit is the one to record and calendar.

The practical takeaway is to capture your completion document the day it issues and treat its date as the origin of every deadline that follows. Everything downstream — warranty expiry, the four-year limitations period, the seven-year wall — is measured from that single point.

Warranty vs Statute of Repose, Side by Side

The cleanest way to hold these straight is to compare them on the attributes that decide outcomes: who sets them, how long they last, when they start, and whether they can be waived. A warranty is a service promise; the statutes are jurisdictional deadlines.

The single biggest misconception

The myth is that "the warranty is my deadline to complain." It is not. The warranty governs the contractor's free-fix obligation; the statutes govern your right to sue. A defect can fall outside the warranty and still be well inside both statutory windows — which is exactly when knowing the difference pays off.

Read together, the three columns tell one story: the warranty is the easy, early remedy, and the statutes are the long backstop. Use the warranty first because it is fast and free, but never let its expiry convince you the law has closed its doors too.

A Florida Owner's Warranty-and-Deadline Playbook

Protecting both clocks comes down to documentation and timing. The owners who recover on defects are the ones who recorded the completion date, kept the paper, and acted before the four-year limitations period — not the warranty — ran out. Use the sequence below from day one of the project.

1. 1

   Get the warranty in writing

   Make the express warranty term, scope, and claim process explicit in the contract. Verify the crew's license and insurance before signing — start with our guide to choosing a Florida contractor.

2. 2

   Record the completion date

   Save the temporary CO, CO, or certificate of completion the day it issues. That date is the origin of every deadline, so file it where you will find it years later.

3. 3

   Use the warranty first

   For anything that fails inside the warranty term, make a written claim immediately. It is the fastest, no-cost path and it preserves your relationship with the contractor.

4. 4

   Document any latent defect on discovery

   Photograph and date a hidden problem the moment it appears. The four-year clock for a latent defect runs from reasonable discovery, so your dated record defines the start.

5. 5

   Mind the four-year clock, not the warranty

   If a serious defect surfaces after the warranty lapses, act well inside the four-year limitations period and the seven-year repose wall. The Chapter 558 notice process comes before any lawsuit.

The surest way to never reach a deadline dispute is correct scope and inspection from the start. Our home renovation and addition work is permitted and documented to the Florida Building Code precisely so the completion paperwork — and your warranty — start clean and on the record.