What’s Actually Covered by a New Home Warranty in Texas (And What Isn’t)

New-home warranties get mentioned constantly during a sales conversation and understood by almost no one afterward, which is a problem because the fine print is exactly what determines whether a cracked driveway or a failed water heater is the builder’s problem or the homeowner’s. Texas doesn’t run a state-mandated builder warranty program the way some states do, so what’s actually covered comes down to what’s written in the contract you sign, not a blanket guarantee everyone gets. The good news is that the framework almost every builder in this market uses is the same one, which means once you understand the structure, you know exactly what to ask before you sign.

The Three-Tier Structure Almost Every Builder Uses

Nearly every production and custom builder in Texas structures its warranty around the same three tiers, commonly shorthanded as 1-2-10: one year of coverage on workmanship and materials, two years on the major mechanical systems, and up to ten years on the structural components that actually hold the house up. That consistency exists because it mirrors how most third-party structural warranty providers, the companies many builders back their own coverage with, write their policies, so a buyer comparing two builders is usually comparing the same basic shape of protection even when the marketing language sounds different. Bilmar builds on that same 1-2-10 structure but handles every claim in-house rather than routing it through a third-party underwriter, which is worth knowing when you’re comparing not just what’s on paper, but how fast a claim actually gets resolved once you file one.

Year One Covers More Than People Expect, and Less Than They Assume

The first-year workmanship window is the broadest tier and the one buyers use most, typically covering drywall cracks, paint and trim defects, caulking failures, sticking doors and windows, and flooring issues traceable back to installation rather than the material itself. It’s also the tier most often misunderstood, because normal settling, minor drywall hairline cracks, and small gaps that show up as a new house dries out and the frame adjusts aren’t defects, they’re an expected part of a home’s first year, and a good punch-list process during that period is what separates the two. Anyone buying new construction should ask upfront exactly how warranty claims get submitted and how fast they’re typically addressed, because that process detail matters more day to day than the coverage tier itself.

Year Two Is Where the Expensive Systems Live

The second tier covers the major mechanical systems, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, for a full two years, which matters because these are also the systems most likely to reveal an installation problem only after a full heating and cooling season or two has run them through their actual range rather than a one-time inspection. A slab leak, an undersized HVAC system that never quite keeps up in August, or an electrical panel that wasn’t properly balanced are exactly the kind of defects this tier exists for, and they’re also the ones a buyer touring a resale home has no equivalent protection against at all, since a home inspection is a single point-in-time snapshot, not two years of the systems actually being used.

The Ten-Year Structural Window — and Why the Foundation Is the Whole Point

Structural coverage runs the longest because it protects against the failures that are hardest to detect early and most expensive to fix late: foundation movement, load-bearing wall or framing failure, and roof structural defects. That’s exactly why the foundation itself is worth more scrutiny than any other line item on a Texas warranty, and it’s the reason every home Bilmar builds sits on a post-tension slab foundation as standard, not an upgrade, the same approach covered in more depth in our post on post-tension versus conventional foundations — a foundation engineered for this area’s expansive clay from day one is a very different structural-warranty conversation than one that wasn’t.

What the Warranty Doesn’t Cover Matters Just as Much

Every 1-2-10 warranty carries exclusions worth knowing before you need them: normal wear and tear, damage from a homeowner’s own neglect or deferred maintenance, cosmetic issues reported after the applicable window closes, and damage from events like flooding or named storms, which fall under homeowner’s insurance and windstorm coverage rather than a builder’s warranty at all — one more reason WPI-8 windstorm certification, standard on every Bilmar home rather than an upgrade, matters as much as the warranty paperwork itself. If you’re comparing builders or homes and want to see exactly what Bilmar’s warranty covers, how claims get handled, and how it lines up against a resale home with no equivalent protection, give us a call at (409) 925-1215 or stop by the design center on FM 646 and we’ll walk through it plan by plan.

Sources consulted for this post (external, non-Bilmar data): 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, “Texas Builder Warranties & Coverage Plans” — 2-10.com; loganwalter.com, “Understanding the 1–2–10 Builder Warranty in Texas” — loganwalter.com; EXL Realty Group, “Builder Warranty Guide for Texas Buyers” — exlgrouptx.com.