- Weathertight Warranties are great
because they give commercial building owners
peace of mind that their metal roof installation
is going to perform and last over time.
For Sheffield Metals, we have a very specific
Weathertight Warranty application process.
That's what we're talking about in today's video
on The Metal Roofing Channel.
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What's up guys, welcome to The Metal Roofing Channel.
I'm Thad Barnette.
Make sure you subscribe.
If you're new, we release metal roofing
and metal construction content every Monday and Wednesday.
Today, we are talking about Weathertight Warranties,
specifically, how to apply for a Weathertight Warranty
through Sheffield Metals.
And today, I have Dave Stubbs,
the assistant technical director from Sheffield Metals.
He's gonna talk us through the process.
Dave, thanks for being here.
- Hey Thad, Weathertight Warranties come up quite often
and it's important that we have
that sort of a product in our platform
to make sure that our installers or contractors
have the ability to supply Weathertight Warranties
to a lot of different entities,
whether it's public facilities, government jobs,
things of that nature.
And a lot of times, we'd rather be on the front end
of the project during the bid process.
During the bid process,
we have a form, Weathertight Warranty quote form,
where we need some information.
We'd like to have roof plan, elevations,
and the specifications for the project,
just so that we can review
and make sure that our roof system
or our warrantable roof system
can achieve the performance level
of what the ownership, the architect,
and those entities get what they think they're getting.
But the quote form is important at the bid process,
that way that money, the funds,
and appropriate funds are in that job bid,
so they don't get hit with a couple thousand, $5,000,
whatever that warranty cost is, that's known upfront.
- Why don't we take a closer look at some of these documents
and you can walk me through the process even more.
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- Here is the first page of the Weathertight Warranty.
Weathertight Warranty procedures are super important
because it puts into place the procedures
and the Weathertight Warranty requirements.
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So the fill-in portion
of the Weathertight Warranty Quote Request Form,
we've got the project name,
location, which is super important.
I also am under the understanding that project names change,
so we start out in one,
and a lot of times, like for instance, schools,
schools will sometimes just be a school number
and a school district, school number 12,
and then by the end, it's named after some historian,
Abraham Lincoln High School, something like that.
So, we understand that.
So, this isn't necessarily a hard line document.
It just gives us the opportunity to name the job,
know the location, get the size, when's it gonna bid,
what type of facility it is, length of warranty,
standard warranty or no dollar limit,
those are the two options
as far as the quantitative structure of the warranty.
And what's important is roof slope.
And sometimes there's more than one roof slope,
so please list them all.
Panel profile and width,
sometimes the width is dictated by the specifications
and profile fits and the width changes,
as long as it's not more
than what we have in our engineering
and the width of the panel is less,
still applies for the engineering, which is key.
We also wanna know what the deck assembly is.
Is it plywood? Is it B-Deck?
Is it ISO over B-Deck?
All those things come into play
as far as giving that communication of what the assembly is.
It's important.
And then we start identifying some of the other parts of it,
which is are there any large penetrations?
Chimneys, roof hatches, skylights?
And we'll identify that
and make sure that the contractor,
the person that's submitting the project estimator,
has the appropriated funds for both warranty,
curbs that they're gonna have to purchase,
whatever cost is involved with the large penetrations,
chimney flashings,
make sure that those things are all accounted for.
And make sure that all the required documents
are also attached.
Roof plan, elevations, panel specifications.
Those are all very important.
And then, once again, we list some of the notes,
as far as fastener flange,
one inch panel is not approved for Weathertight Warranties,
roof slopes need to be appropriated for from the SMI,
we'll dictate how those are assembled.
Because we start getting to low slope conditions
and different parts of the country
are gonna require some different requirements.
And then we also list, again, all square penetrations
will require a pre-manufactured curb.
All these things are very important.
Sealant that's required.
We prefer Novaflex or APS 500 underlayment.
We just try to reinforce
that we wanna know what's going into it.
We need to know.
It's our warranty and these warranties are long.
I mean, if you look at it,
the most popular, the one that we do the most,
is the 20 year, no dollar limit.
20 years is a long time.
So, we really need to know what's going into it
because that thing needs to last.
And the way we do it, it's gonna last.
And then foremost, we quote the warranty, we sign off on it,
and that's the warranty cost for this job.
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So now, we get into the Weathertight Warranty application
and our procedures are all the same.
I mean, we just basically copy and paste
and make sure that everything is covered.
And then, the Weathertight Warranty project information.
It supplies everyone with our information,
as far as my email address.
We ask for the company name.
Who's gonna be paying for the warranty?
Who's gonna be responsible?
Who's gonna be the responsible party for the warranty?
You know, who's gonna get that call
if something were to happen.
And then we ask for a job name, address,
potentially phone number, if there is one available,
person to contact and email address.
Some of those things don't apply,
but all the information,
we'd like to have any information
that is applicable on this form,
that way if there's any problem we know who to call.
And then we ask that you provide
one set of installation drawings, shop drawings.
That's that approved installation details.
Those need to be provided to us
once that architect's drawings, roof plan, elevations.
Electronic copies are always preferred
because of the vast information that we get,
we like to have it electronically.
It's fast, quick, easy and it lets us prepare really fast.
And then more information that we need is
who's the owner of the project?
Who's the responsible party that we might get a call for
if we ever have a leak?
We don't wanna have leaks,
but we need to have that contact information.
Who's the general contractor?
Who are you in contract with, as far as the installer?
Who are you in contract with?
General contractor's company, their address, phone, email,
and then installation contractor.
That's generally the same as the contractor,
but we just need that information.
And then moving over,
panel supplier, we say this is not SMI.
Who's role forming your goods?
Who's supplying the panels?
Sometimes it's the installation contractor,
that happens a lot.
You can put same as
but we really like to have it filled out,
just so it makes sense.
So many times, people put Sheffield Metals,
that's why we said not Sheffield Metals.
We're not the panel supplier.
Whoever's role forming the panels,
that's the panel supplier.
And then we'd like to have the architect's name
and their pertinent information.
We need anticipated dates. When's it gonna start?
When do you think mid-point's gonna be?
When is completion?
And we know it's a little bit of throwing darts,
it's construction,
but anticipated dates are what they are.
What do you anticipate?
You know, when do we need to put a window out there
to make sure that we have
the approved installation details distributed?
When my inspector need to be out there?
Kind of gives us a rough idea, that's always nice.
And then some more pertinent information,
roof pitch, we discussed that earlier in the quote.
What's the roof pitch?
You know, list all that apply.
If you've got a two 12 or four, list them all,
we're fine with that.
Panel system or panel profile that's gonna be installed.
Please list those.
Sometimes there's more than one.
If you get a low slope and you need to do a mechanical same,
please list that.
List all the profiles that are gonna be necessary
in what is involved with the Weathertight Warranty.
Type of underlayment, please list that.
Sometimes they wanna do a different underlayment,
we're not against looking at other underlayments
if they fit the bill.
We look at underlayments all the time.
If somebody wanted to use GRACE ULTRA, VIPER.
Hey, that's Cadillac,
probably wouldn't have a problem with it,
but we've just gotta make sure
it's appropriate for the installation.
So, type of underlayment.
Type of deck.
What are we installing the panels on?
Is it gonna be a wood substrate?
So many times they just put wood.
Well, we wanna know the thickness.
We wanna know what it is.
They put 3/4 inch.
Was that a 3/4 inch OSB or is it 3/4 inch plywood?
We need to have that stuff listed,
just to make sure that everybody's on the same page
and we have clear identification
of what, in principle, the assembly is going to be.
Does it require specific UL, FM, or ASD engineering?
You know, 90% of the time, no,
but if that's the case,
we need to have that identified
and make sure that we have
appropriate engineering behind it
or if we need to do job site specific stuff,
we might have a channel for them to get that specific thing.
So, all these things needed to be filled out
and it's just information that's necessary.
And then, last but not least, is the agreement portion.
This basically identifies
that all of these things are important.
We identified the three week notification, once again,
and identify what is the duration, excuse me,
first, square foot.
This one kinda gets left out so many times,
but we need to know the square foot.
That's super important.
What's the duration of the warranty
or what's the length of warranty in years?
And then what type of warranty?
Limited or no dollar limit?
And then have the understanding
that by filling this out and signing,
you are under the terms and conditions
of this Weathertight Warranty.
You are entering into an agreement with Sheffield.
And then here's where we fill out
our understanding of the project.
What's the base fee?
Is there gonna be travel involved?
Most of the time, the fees that are charged for the warranty
are incorporated into the travel fee.
We don't have explicit fees for travel.
It's all incorporated in price.
If we're doing something out of the ordinary,
off the coast, something like that,
we might have to do a traveler's fee.
We don't do it often.
And then total fee is acknowledged
and it's accepted and everything is signed off on.
It's just basically a full disclosure
to intent to warrant the project.
That's the basics of the application,
the application process,
and how we get to the front end
of the Weathertight Warranty of the project.
And then getting those further steps with the inspections,
the inspection reports, the remedies,
that's the guts of it.
And then, when we get to the end,
we get to a warrantable condition.
I write the warranties. I distribute the warranties,
I distribute the invoices at the same time.
It's a close out package.
Everything's (indistinct).
I get paid. We get the warranties back signed.
I sign off. That's a quick process.
Most people are surprised
on how fast we turn warranties around.
And the only thing that holds it up is payment,
but it's just one of the boxes I check
and we get it out the door.
So, that's the Reader's Digest version
of the Weathertight Warranty process.
- Yeah, there's a ton of great information here, Dave,
especially if you're just looking at some of these documents
or reading through the website,
you might not realize everything that's involved.
So I'd stress to you, make sure you're reading
the Weathertight Warranty procedures,
that Sheffield technical department
puts those in multiple places for a reason.
So, make sure you just read everything,
go through everything,
so you understand everything that's expected of you
and that's expected of Sheffield Metals, as well.
So, Dave, thanks so much,
really appreciate all the information.
If you have any questions,
please comment down below.
Subscribe here to the Metal Roofing Channel.
For more information on Weathertight Warranties,
checkout sheffieldmetals.com,
and as always, I'm Thad Barnette
and we'll catch you next time.
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