We've completed our series of 23-year charts of the warranty expenses of the U.S. vehicle sector (see below for links), and we're moving on to the U.S.-based building trades sector.

In 2025, the building trades accounted for 14% of all warranty claims paid and accruals made in the United States, and 12% of the warranty reserves held by publicly reporting U.S.-based manufacturers.

This week's newsletter is a snapshot of the industries that contribute to new home fabrication, including homebuilders, construction materials, fixtures, appliances, HVAC systems, and so on. This grouping includes the Homebuilder, Building Materials, and Appliance & HVAC industries.

Over 23 years, we found 58 U.S.-based appliance & HVAC manufacturers that have reported warranty expenses, 59 new home builders, and 120 building materials manufacturers.

Of the HVAC & appliance manufacturers, 17 reported warranty expenses in 2025. The largest by warranty expenses were: Whirlpool Corp., Carrier Global Corp., Trane Technologies plc, Johnson Controls International plc, Emerson Electric Co., and Middleby Corp.

We'll take a deep dive into this industry, its 2025 warranty costs, and the dynamics between the HVAC manufacturers and appliance makers, in next week's newsletter.

Carrier Global was spun-off from United Technologies in 2020, as part of the merger between Raytheon and United Technologies to form RTX. Elevator manufacturer Otis Worldwide Corp., in the Building Materials industry in this report, was another spin-off that was part of this deal.

Trane Technologies is the result of Ingersoll-Rand selling its industrial segment, and the Ingersoll-Rand name, to Gardner Denver in 2020. Ingersoll-Rand left behind its HVAC and refrigerated transport businesses, renamed to Trane Technologies, while Gardner Denver was renamed Ingersoll Rand Inc.

21 U.S.-based homebuilders reported warranty expenses in 2025. The largest by warranty expenses were: Lennar Corp., D.R. Horton Inc., PulteGroup Inc., Taylor Morrison Home Corp., NVR Inc., Cavco Industries Inc., Champion Homes Inc., Toll Brothers Inc., KB Home, and Sekisui House US Inc.

Sekisui House US acquired M.D.C. in April 2024, and continues to report under new name and ownership. New Home Co. acquired Landsea Homes in June 2025; New Home Co. went private in 2021, so Landsea ceased reporting in the second quarter of 2025.

This newsletter uses a slightly different data set compared to our March 26, 2026 newsletter "New Home Builder Warranty Expenses." For this article, we are looking at the whole homebuilder industry, including the makers of mobile homes, manufactured homes, and modular homes (also rebranded as "tiny homes"), such as Cavco Industries Inc. and Champion Homes Inc., which was renamed from Skyline Champion in August 2024.

56 building materials manufacturers reported warranty expenses in 2025. By warranty expenses, the largest were: Stanley Black & Decker Inc., Pentair plc, Mohawk Industries Inc., Acuity Inc., RPM International Inc., Masco Corp., La-Z-Boy Inc., Sherwin Williams Co., MillerKnoll Inc., MKS Inc., Owens Corning, AAON Inc., Steelcase Inc., Somnigroup International Inc., Griffon Corp., and American Woodmark Corp.

For each U.S.-based manufacturer, we perused their annual reports and quarterly financial statements, and gathered three key warranty metrics: the amount of claims paid, the amount of accruals made, and the end-balance of the warranty reserve fund.

We also gathered data on each manufacturer's total product sales revenue, and used these to calculate our two warranty expense rates: claims as a percentage of sales revenue (the claims rate), and accruals as a percentage of sales (the accrual rate).

Warranty Claims Totals

Figure 1 shows the total warranty claims paid by the three building trade industry groups, from 2003 to 2025.

The appliance & HVAC manufacturers paid $1.19 billion in warranty claims in 2025, a -8% decrease from 2024.

Carrier Global paid $282 million in warranty claims in 2025, a -18% decrease from 2024. Trane paid $214 million, a 17% increase. Whirlpool paid $214 million, a -13% decrease.

The homebuilders paid $1.01 billion in claims in 2025, a -5% decrease.

Lennar paid $266 million in claims in 2025, a -7% decrease from 2024. D.R. Horton paid $114 million in claims in 2025, a -5% decrease. Taylor Morrison paid $106 million in claims, a 24% increase. PulteGroup paid $102 million, a -7% decrease. NVR paid $90 million, a -8% decrease.

Champion Homes paid $71 million in claims in 2025, a 9% increase. Cavco Industries paid $63 million, a 1% increase.

The building materials manufacturers paid $866 million in warranty claims in 2025, a -1% decrease from 2024.

Stanley Black & Decker paid $160 million in claims in 2025, a -10% decrease from 2024. Pentair paid $113 million, a 34% increase. Mohawk Industries paid $58 million, the same amount it's reported for five years in a row.

Masco paid $41 million in claims in 2025, a -5% decrease. Acuity paid $37 million, a -12% decrease. RPM International paid $35 million, a 12% increase. Owens Corning paid $32 million, a 39% increase from the year prior. La-Z-Boy paid $31 million, a -20% decrease.

Warranty Accrual Totals

Figure 2 shows the total annual warranty accruals made by these three industries, from 2003 to 2025.

The appliance & HVAC manufacturers set aside $1.33 billion in warranty accruals in 2025, a 1% increase from 2024.

Carrier Global set aside $364 million in warranty accruals in 2025, an 11% increase. Trane set aside $244 million in accruals, a 6% increase. Whirlpool set aside $218 million, a -7% decrease.

The homebuilders set aside $1.03 billion in warranty accruals in 2025, a -10% decrease from 2024.

Lennar set aside $251 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a -13% decrease from 2024. D.R. Horton set aside $184 million, a -12% decrease. PulteGroup set aside $86 million, a -22% decrease. Taylor Morrison set aside $79 million, a -4% decrease. NVR set aside $73 million, a -14% decrease.

Champion Homes set aside $66 million in accruals in 2025, a -8% decrease. Cavco Industries set aside $66 million, a 4% increase.

The building materials manufacturers set aside $869 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a -3% decrease from 2024.

Stanley Black & Decker set aside $178 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a -1% decrease from 2024. Pentair set aside $119 million in accruals, a 37% increase from the year prior.

Mohawk Industries set aside $50 million in accruals, a -2% decrease. Acuity set aside $37 million in accruals, a -14% decrease. RPM International set aside $36 million, a 16% increase. Masco set aside $35 million, a -8% decrease. La-Z-Boy set aside $31 million, a -17% decrease.

Warranty Expense Rates

Figures 3, 4, and 5 show the quarterly warranty claims and accrual rates for each of these three building trades industry groups. Figure 3 shows the warranty expense rates for the U.S.-based new home builders, from 2003 to 2025.

Over 23 years, the homebuilders had an average warranty claims rate of 0.92%, with a standard deviation of 0.30%, and an average warranty accrual rate of 0.83%, with a standard deviation of 0.13%.

In 2025, the homebuilders had an average warranty claims rate of 0.69%. The quarterly claims rates ranged from 0.56% in the third quarter, to 0.89% in the first quarter.

In 2025, the homebuilders had an average warranty accrual rate of 0.72%. The quarterly accrual rates ranged from 0.64% in the fourth quarter, to 0.89% in the first quarter.

Although the homebuilders' average warranty claims and accrual rates were very similar in 2025, the average claims rate was higher and more volatile over 23 years. This is because claims rates skyrocketed in this industry during the Great Recession.

Figure 4 shows the quarterly warranty expense rates of the building materials manufacturers, from 2003 to 2025.

Over 23 years, the building materials manufacturers had an average warranty claims rate of 0.67%, with a standard deviation of 0.09%, and an average warranty accrual rate of 0.69%, with a standard deviation of 0.08%.

Compared to the homebuilders, we can see that the building materials manufacturers had a smaller gap between the 23-year average claims and accrual rates, and had smaller standard deviations for both averages. This means that building materials had more stable warranty expense rates, along with warranty costing a smaller proportion of total sales revenue. Generally, the closer in contact a manufacturer is with the end-user, the higher the warranty expense rates.

In 2025, the building materials manufacturers had an average warranty claims rate of 0.58%. The quarterly rates ranged from 0.54% in the first quarter, to 0.63% in the second quarter.

In 2025, the building materials manufacturers had an average warranty accrual rate of 0.59%. The quarterly rates ranged from 0.54% to 0.65%.

Figure 5 shows the warranty expense rates of the appliance & HVAC manufacturers, from 2003 to 2025.

Over 23 years, the HVAC & appliance manufacturers had an average warranty claims rate of 1.16%, with a standard deviation of 0.22%, and an average warranty accrual rate of 1.17%, with a standard deviation of 0.21%.

In 2025, the HVAC & appliance manufacturers had an average warranty claims rate of 1.00%. The quarterly claims rates ranged from 0.89% in the first quarter, to 1.23% in the fourth quarter.

In 2025, the HVAC & appliance manufacturers had an average warranty accrual rate of 1.13%. The quarterly accrual rates ranged from 1.00% in the first quarter, to 1.39% in the fourth quarter.

Warranty Reserve Balances

Figure 6 shows the total warranty reserves held by the manufacturers in the three building trades industry groups at the end of each calendar year, from 2003 to 2025.

At the end of calendar 2025, the U.S.-based appliance & HVAC manufacturers held $2.30 billion in warranty reserves, a 3% increase from the end of 2024.

Carrier Global held $893 million in reserves at the end of 2025, a 14% increase from the end of 2024. Trane held $442 million in reserves, a 7% increase. Whirlpool held $151 million, a -23% decrease.

At the end of 2025, the homebuilders held $2.20 billion in warranty reserves, a -1% decrease from the end of 2024.

D.R. Horton held $561 million in warranty reserves at the end of 2025, a -2% decrease from the end of the year prior. Lennar held $401 million in reserves, a -10% decrease. Taylor Morrison held $228 million in reserves, a 6% increase.

PulteGroup held $129 million in warranty reserves, a -1% decrease. NVR held $117 million, a -12% decrease. Hovnanian held $104 million in reserves, a 16% increase. KB Home held $101 million, a 5% increase.

Champion Homes held $51 million in reserves at the end of 2025, a -9% decrease. Cavco Industries held $40 million in reserves, a 16% increase.

The building materials manufacturers held $1.35 billion in warranty reserves at the end of 2025, a 3% increase from the end of 2024.

Stanley Black & Decker held $158 million in warranty reserves at the end of 2025, a 13% increase from the end of 2024. Cornerstone Building Brands held $189 million in reserves, a 0.2% increase. Owens Corning held $91 million, a -8% decrease. Masco held $88 million, a 9% increase.

MillerKnoll held $71 million in reserves, a 1% increase. Pentair held $70 million, a 4% increase. VF Corp. held $64 million, a 2% increase.

Sherwin Williams held $57 million in warranty reserves, a 23% increase. Somnigroup International held $54 million in reserves at the end of 2025, a 61% increase from the end of the year prior. HNI Corp. held $48 million in reserves, nearly triple the end-balance at the end of 2024.

Check out the rest of our series of 23-year charts:

Vehicle Sector

• 23rd Annual Product Warranty Report
• U.S. Passenger Vehicle Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Truck & Bus Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Auto Parts & Powertrain Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Aerospace Warranty Expenses