Two different promises
A workmanship warranty covers the labor: whether the installation was done correctly. A manufacturer's warranty covers the product itself: whether a faucet or a tub was manufactured without defects. They are not interchangeable, and a failure on one side is not necessarily covered by the other.
Why the contract needs to spell out the workmanship side
Washington's guidance lists warranties, alongside the payment terms and materials, as part of the minimum a written contract should cover, which puts the workmanship warranty on the same footing as the price itself.[1]
The manufacturer side sits outside the contractor's control
A tub or faucet manufacturer sets its own warranty terms, length and what it covers, independent of whichever company installed it. A contractor going out of business does not affect a manufacturer's own obligation on a defective product.
When a long warranty is actually a red flag
Washington's own consumer guidance puts an unusually generous warranty offer on the same warning list as demanding cash or dangling a discount that vanishes the moment you hesitate to sign.[1]
A warranty that sounds unusually generous is worth reading closely, not taking as a mark of confidence on its own.
Getting both in writing, separately
Ask for the workmanship warranty's exact length and what voids it, and ask for the manufacturer's documentation on any major fixture. Keep both, since a future problem could fall under either one depending on what actually fails.
What voids a workmanship warranty
Common exclusions include damage from a separate plumbing issue elsewhere in the house, normal wear on caulk and grout, or repairs done by someone other than the original company. Reading these exclusions matters as much as reading the coverage itself.
What happens if the company closes before the warranty ends
A workmanship warranty is only as good as the company standing behind it. A manufacturer's product warranty generally survives even if the installer goes out of business, since it is backed by the manufacturer, not the installer.
Where this connects back to bonds and insurance
A contractor's bond is a different protection again, aimed at breach of contract or defective work broadly, not a substitute for a specific written workmanship warranty on your bathroom.
Think of the three as layers: the workmanship warranty for labor, the manufacturer warranty for the product, and the bond as a backstop if the company itself fails to make good on either one.
A short warranty is not automatically a bad sign
A one- or two-year workmanship warranty paired with a clear description of what it covers can be more trustworthy than a ten-year promise with vague language, since the shorter, specific one is the kind a company can actually stand behind.