Warranty management is the cheapest cost-avoidance mechanism in any maintenance operation. Every repair bill you avoid by claiming against vendor warranty is pure savings. Yet most CMMS implementations either don't track warranty properly, or track it so poorly that technicians end up raising work orders without ever checking coverage.
What to track
Every asset needs warranty data:
- Warranty start date
- Warranty end date
- Vendor / manufacturer
- Warranty terms (parts only, parts + labour, extended)
- Warranty document reference
- Claim history (prior claims and outcomes)
Key warranty controls
- Alert on work order creation. If creating a WO against an asset under warranty, the system alerts and prompts for warranty consideration.
- Warranty status on asset screen. Visible every time someone looks at the asset.
- Expiry notifications. Alerts 30 and 90 days before warranty expires, prompt pre-expiry inspection.
- Vendor contact embedded. Warranty claim can be raised without hunting for contract documents.
- Dedicated WAR work order type. See Work Order Types in CMMS . WAR type for warranty work keeps costs separate.
Warranty claim workflow
- Fault identified on asset.
- System flags active warranty.
- Supervisor decides: claim vs in-house repair.
- If claim: WAR work order raised, vendor notified, claim tracked.
- Vendor performs repair under warranty terms.
- Work validated and closed. Cost avoidance recorded.
- Claim outcome logged against asset warranty history.
Cost avoidance reporting
This is what justifies the effort
Report monthly on warranty work cost avoidance, the estimated cost of repairs you'd have paid for if warranty hadn't covered them. This single number justifies the entire warranty management effort and often surprises executives pleasantly.
Warranty during maintenance
Active warranty affects PM execution too. Some warranties require vendor-certified service; others void if a non-authorised technician touches the asset. Before doing any non-trivial PM on a warranted asset, check:
- Are we permitted to self-service under warranty terms?
- Do we need to log service with the vendor?
- Does DIY work void warranty?
Pre-expiry inspection
One of the highest-value warranty practices: pre-expiry inspection. 30 days before warranty ends, do a thorough inspection. Every problem found and claimed during the warranty window costs nothing to fix. Every problem discovered 30 days after expiry costs you money. Institutionalise the pre-expiry inspection as a standard PM trigger.
Common warranty management failures
- Warranty data missing on asset import. Assets migrated without warranty dates. Claims never made.
- No alert when warranty active. Technicians repair equipment in-house that vendor would have fixed free.
- Lost vendor contract documents. When it's time to claim, nobody knows the warranty terms.
- No pre-expiry inspection. Last warranty window passes without scrutiny.
- No claim tracking. Vendors don't honour all claims, track outcomes or they'll get worse over time.
Conclusion
Warranty management is unglamorous and high-ROI. Track warranty data on every asset, alert technicians at work order creation, do pre-expiry inspections, and report cost avoidance monthly. The cumulative savings across an asset base easily justify the discipline.
Written by Muhammad Abbas
Enterprise integration specialist with 22+ years in asset lifecycle management.
