Roof Warranties Explained for Berks County Homeowners

A new roof comes with two warranties from two companies: the shingle maker's, which covers defects in the shingles, and the roofer's, which covers the installation. On most shingles the maker pays for labor only for the first ten years. "Lifetime" means the original owner's time in the house. The numbers on competing quotes usually describe different things, so compare them by asking for both documents. The roofers in Berks County you call next should be able to hand you both.

What are the two warranties on a new roof, and who stands behind each?

The shingle maker's warranty covers defects in the shingles; the roofer's workmanship warranty is the roofer's own promise on the installation, with no industry standard for how long it runs.

The Helping Company in Reading publishes its workmanship guarantee as a document: it covers defects caused solely by its own installation labor, excludes storm damage, ice dams and improper attic ventilation, lasts while you own the home if you register it and keep up its free inspections, and transfers once to a buyer on request, subject to its approval and a fee.

Muthard Roofing in Temple publishes a 10-year craftsmanship guarantee and says all of its work is guaranteed in writing.

Scott Macczak Roofing - Mohnton Home Improvements in Mohnton publishes a 10-year labor warranty.

How long does the shingle maker's standard warranty pay for labor?

The five big makers' standard shingle warranties are all titled "Limited" and have the same shape. For the first stretch the maker pays for replacement shingles and the labor to install them: ten years on the makers' "lifetime" laminated shingles (the thick layered kind, also sold as architectural), five on three-tab (the flat one-layer kind), fifteen on one maker's premium lines. Those are the first years, when the maker pays for the labor too; the document calls them the non-prorated period, meaning the maker pays in full, and each maker gives them a brand name of its own (GAF calls them the Smart Choice Protection Period), so that's the line to find.

After that, labor stops and the maker pays a shrinking share of the replacement shingles only, which is what prorated means. The makers define "lifetime" the same way: the warranty lasts as long as the original individual owner of a single-family detached, owner-occupied home owns the property. For any other owner it's 40 years at most makers, 50 on one maker's top lines. It isn't a prediction of how long the shingles last; see the post on how long a roof lasts in Berks County.

What does a 50-year system warranty add, and who can sell it?

The longer warranties on your quotes, called system or enhanced warranties, come from the maker too, but a maker sells them only through its certified roofers. They stretch the full-coverage period to 15 to 50 years on lifetime shingles, by maker and tier and add tear-off and disposal. One maker's program adds no workmanship coverage at any tier; the others add it in their upper tiers, never the entry tiers.

GAF's three main tiers show the pattern: System Plus adds no workmanship coverage; Silver Pledge adds 10 years of it (15 on two shingle lines); Golden Pledge adds 25 or 30 years, paid in full for those years. Owens Corning's run the same way: System Protection adds none, Preferred Protection adds 10 years, and Platinum Protection adds lifetime workmanship coverage that's prorated after 25 years.

Read the workmanship row first; it's where two "50-year" quotes part ways:

On the quote	The standard shingle warranty	The maker's system warranty
Who sells it	Comes with the shingles, whoever installs them	Only a roofer the maker has certified, who registers it
Full coverage, labor included	10 years on lifetime shingles; 5 on three-tab; 15 on one maker's premium lines	15 to 50 years, by maker and tier
Tear-off and disposal	Not covered, except on one maker's top shingle lines	Covered
The roofer's workmanship	Not covered	None in the entry tiers and in one maker's program at every tier; 10 to 30 years, or lifetime, in the upper tiers
After the full-coverage period	Replacement shingles only, at a share that shrinks each year	Replacement shingles only, at a share that shrinks each year
Transfer to a buyer	Once; the window and the notice deadline vary by maker; no fee	Once, inside a 15-to-20-year window; two makers charge $100
Registration	Not required; keep the invoice	By the roofer, within 45 to 90 days; at four makers not in effect until registered, and at two until the roofer is paid

The terms of five shingle makers' standard warranties and their contractor-registered system warranties, as each maker's documents state them.

Under the GAF, Owens Corning and TAMKO workmanship tiers, an installation error found in the first two years is the roofer's to fix, and the maker steps in only if the roofer won't; from year three to the end of the workmanship term, the maker arranges and pays for the repair. Under an entry tier or a standard warranty, an installation error in year three or year eight is a question for the roofer's own warranty, nothing else. The roofer registers the system warranty, within 45 to 90 days depending on the maker; at GAF, Owens Corning, TAMKO and IKO it isn't in effect until registered, and at GAF and TAMKO not until the roofer has been paid in full.

So for any quote, I'd ask four questions:

• Which maker's program is it?
• Which tier?
• What does it say about workmanship? Entry tiers say none.
• Can I see the document?

What won't a roof warranty pay for?

Damage from improper installation: no maker's standard warranty pays for it (the workmanship tiers above are the exception), and one maker says in so many words that a bad installation doesn't void the rest of its warranty. Inadequate attic ventilation: every maker excludes it, each differently, and two shorten the whole warranty to 10 years on a roof with no attic ventilation. The GAF, Owens Corning and TAMKO workmanship tiers say missing ventilation is not an application error, meaning not an installation mistake, so that coverage won't pay for it either. Whether a roofer's own warranty covers ventilation is in its document; the one published Berks document excludes it.

A metal roof's "40-year warranty" is about the paint. The panel makers' finish warranties cover chalking, fading and peeling for 30 to 40 years, pay for replacement material, not labor, exclude leaks, and mostly don't transfer; a leak on a metal roof is the installer's workmanship question, as with shingles, unless a separate weathertightness warranty was sold, and the panel makers want notice within 30 days of discovering a defect too. All Metal Roofing Specialists in Womelsdorf pairs a maker's material warranty with its own 10-year workmanship warranty.

What happens to the warranty when you sell the house or file a claim?

The transfer, passing the warranty to the buyer when you sell, happens once, inside a window the maker sets.

• GAF: the buyer notifies GAF within a year of the sale, and gets the full coverage only if the sale falls inside the 10-year full-coverage period; sold later, the buyer gets two years of coverage from the sale.
• Owens Corning: within 60 days of the sale.
• CertainTeed: any time; the buyer gets the full coverage only if the sale falls inside the full-coverage period, two years otherwise.
• IKO: within 10 years of installation.
• TAMKO: within 5 years, or 2 on three-tab.

Miss the notice deadline and the maker's warranty doesn't come with the house; one maker's document says it ends on the sale. System warranties widen the window: 20 years at GAF, Owens Corning and TAMKO, 15 or 20 at CertainTeed by tier and 15 at IKO, and TAMKO and Owens Corning charge $100.

For a claim, notify the maker within 30 days of noticing the problem; GAF and TAMKO print that notice to your contractor "is NOT notice" to them. Fixing the roof before the maker has looked at the claim can get the claim denied, so notify first and ask what you may do in the meantime.

What do Pennsylvania and federal law add to a roof warranty?

No state law requires a roofer to give you a warranty, and the thirteen things the state's home improvement law requires in a contract (the post on what a Pennsylvania home improvement contract must include has them) don't include one, so a warranty exists only if it's written into yours.

Once written, the state's consumer protection law makes "failing to comply with the terms of any written guarantee or warranty given to the buyer" an unfair practice; a homeowner who loses money to such a practice can sue for the loss or $100, whichever is greater, the court can triple it, and attorney fees can be added. The post on how long a contractor is liable for work in Pennsylvania has the deadlines.

Under federal law, "limited", the word on every shingle warranty, means the warranty doesn't meet the federal "full" standard, which would mean free service to any owner, no time limit on the implied warranty (the law's unwritten promise that goods do what they're supposed to). This is general information; what you, or a second owner, can claim under your own contract is a question for a lawyer.

Ask each roofer for both documents and read the exclusions before the years. The post on how to check a roofer's Pennsylvania registration takes two minutes, and how to choose a roofer in Berks County covers the rest. For another quote, the county roofers page is where to start.

Frequently asked questions.

Who do I call first about a leak on a new roof?

The roofer, whose workmanship warranty covers the installation. If the shingles themselves look defective, notify the maker within 30 days of noticing, before anyone fixes anything.

Are a 50-year warranty and a 25-year workmanship warranty the same thing?

They aren't. The 50 is the non-prorated period of a system warranty on the shingles, with no workmanship coverage in its entry tier. A 25-year workmanship term can be a roofer's own promise or a maker's top-tier coverage; the document says which, and the difference is who stands behind it.

Does a roofer's workmanship warranty transfer to a buyer?

Only if its document says so. One Reading roofer's transfers once to a buyer; few Berks roofers' pages say, so ask before you sign.

Sources

• GAF, "GAF Shingle & Accessory Limited Warranty" (RESWT160L, effective for products installed after January 1, 2025; the 2026 revision, read from the October 2026 archive copy) and GAF, "Residential roof warranty comparison guide" (read October 31, 2026): the definition of Lifetime, the Smart Choice Protection Period, the proration example, labor covered only in that period, tear-off and disposal excluded, the one transfer and its window, the exclusions, the 30-day claim notice, no registration for the standard warranty, and tear-off and disposal covered in the system warranties.
• GAF, "Residential Program Guidelines" (March 13, 2025) and the GAF System Plus, Silver Pledge and Golden Pledge limited warranty samples: which certification can sell which program, the 50-year non-prorated period, workmanship coverage of none, 10 (15 on two shingle lines) and 25 or 30 years, the roofer's obligation for errors found in the first two years, registration within 45 days and payment in full, the 20-year transfer window, and the statement that certified contractors are independent businesses GAF does not supervise.
• Owens Corning, "Standard Product Limited Lifetime Warranty" (August 2026) and Owens Corning, "Roofing Shingle Warranties" (read October 31, 2026): the 10-year TRU PROtection period, materials only after it, the one transfer within 60 days of the sale, and the definition of Limited Lifetime.
• Owens Corning, "System Protection", "Preferred Protection" and "Platinum Protection" Limited Lifetime Warranties (August 2026): installation by a Platinum or Preferred Contractor who registers the warranty within 60 days, the clean-deck requirement, the 50-year TRU PROtection period with tear-off and disposal, workmanship coverage of none, 10 years and lifetime prorated after 25 years, the roofer's obligation in the first two years, and the $100 transfer fee.
• CertainTeed, "Asphalt Shingle Residential Products 2026 Limited Warranty", CertainTeed, "Why Credentialing Matters", "Roofing 101: Worry-Free Warranties" and "My Roof Warranty: What It Is and What It Covers": the SureStart period, tear-off and disposal on its top shingle lines, the 10-year term on an unventilated deck, the no-fee transfer, the SureStart Plus tiers with 15 and 30 years of workmanship, the one-to-five-year norm for a contractor's own warranty, and the two-warranties explanation.
• IKO, "IKO Limited Warranty, Information for Asphalt Shingles" (U.S., 02/25), IKO, "The IKO Warranty Center" and IKO, "Iron Clad Extended Protection" (02/25): the 15-year and 10-year Iron Clad periods, the one transfer within 10 years, tear-off and disposal excluded, no on-site inspector, and the extended program that adds years and tear-off but no workmanship coverage.
• TAMKO, "Fiberglass/Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty" (effective January 1, 2025) and TAMKO's Shield, ProShield, MasterShield and DiamondShield Enhanced Limited System Warranties: the Full Start period, the 2-percent-a-year proration, the transfer within 5 years (2 for three-tab), the 20-year transfer with a $100 fee on the system warranties, workmanship of none, 10 and 25 years, registration within 90 days and payment in full, roof-overs disqualified, and "notice to your contractor ... is NOT notice to TAMKO."
• National Roofing Contractors Association, consumer FAQ, "What is a standard roofing industry warranty?": the manufacturer's warranty against defects, the contractor's workmanship warranty, one or two years as common, and no industry standard.
• Federal Trade Commission, "Businessperson's Guide to Federal Warranty Law" (December 2006; tie-in provisions updated March 2018) and FTC, "Warranties" (July 2023) (both read from October 2026 archive copies): "full" against "limited", implied warranties, the Act's coverage of goods attached to a house and of warranties covering parts and workmanship together, and the guidance on whose life a "lifetime" warranty measures.
• United States Code, Title 15, § 2303, § 2304 and § 2308 (Cornell Legal Information Institute): the "full" and "limited" designations and the implied warranty a written warranty cannot disclaim.
• Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, 73 P.S. § 201-2(4)(xiv) and § 201-9.2: failing to comply with a written guarantee or warranty as an unfair practice, and the private action for actual damages or $100, up to treble, with fees.
• Pennsylvania Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, 73 P.S. § 517.7(a): the thirteen required contract items, none of them a warranty.
• AB Martin, Ephrata, "40 Year Limited Paint Warranty, Prepainted Kynar Panels", Everlast Roofing, Lebanon, Fluropon and Synergy limited warranties (2023 to 2025) and Englert, "Warranties": finish warranties covering film, chalk and fade for 40 and 30 years or 35 years, no labor, no leaks, transfer terms, and weathertightness warranties sold separately through certified installers.
• The websites of Berks County roofers, read October 31, 2026: The Helping Company, Reading, "Lifetime Roof Protection Guarantee", Muthard Roofing, Temple, Scott Macczak Roofing, Mohnton, All Metal Roofing Specialists, Womelsdorf, Eckroth's Roofing Solutions, Fleetwood, Wyomissing Construction, J&L Roofing, Wyomissing and AJ Window and Door Solutions, Shoemakersville: each company's own workmanship terms and the maker programs it names.