• He purchased it and he invoiced me.
• It just seems weird to have such an expensive door installed and no record of purchasing it besides the contractor’s invoice.

I'm not sure I understand your concern - you purchased the door from him and he provided an invoice - what more do you need?

Are you concerned that it is used, or stolen, or... ??? If he provided the a copy of the invoice from whomever he bought if from then you'd know what he paid - and that's not your business - yes?

I'd look at what your contract says.

I’m not concerned about any of that. I know where he bought it. We picked it out together and he gave me the price that he was quoted. I don’t know if he marked it up. It’s possible he did but I suppose as long as it’s in my fixed price budget, then that is ok. I just wonder if I need it for the warranty, etc. Like I said, it seems weird to have such a large purchase in my house ($14k) and no proof of purchase. But that’s why I was asking. If that is totally normal and not needed, I won’t ask. I wanted opinions on this…not get accused of mistrust. This is all new to me. I look to the professionals on this site for guidance. The contract does not mention specifics on this.

I understand what you mean. Yes he purchased it and is putting it in but presumably it came from somewhere and there might be a warranty attached to it. Did you approve the brand? Within a certain window we went to our builder for any deficiencies and issues but as we live in the house longer we do need to reach out to the companies who made things. For example our slider door latch broke we contacted the window manufacturer directly. We had an issue with a cracked floor board we contacted the flooring company. I think as long as the companies/brands being worked with have a record of products going on at your home and you are handed warranty information that should be sufficient. When we moved into our house we got a big box of manuals, warranty info etc.

The only issues would be if you have a door failure and a warranty claim, the door company might want the GC to be the point of contact. They will blame any issues on installation error in most cases, so you probably want the GC involved.

Just make sure you know the door brand, model and serial number and write it all on the receipt.

Thank you. That is helpful! He actually is hiring an installer due to the door type. It requires special installation. I guess we will get the warranty info once everything is installed. It sounds like proof of purchase is not needed and no need for me to request it.

The GC bought from the wholesaler or manufacturer, and is the retail seller. He is the first point of contact for warranty support. It is no different than buying a new wall oven and install from your local appliance store. You receive the invoice (proof of purchase) and manufacturer booklets and paperwork from the contractor seller, who is the warranty point. If it requires a warranty registration with the manufacturer, that should be there, or on the manufacturer’s website. If they require a certified installer, that certification documentation should slso be furnished to you.

If my contractor is the first contact for warranty info, what happens if he moves or is no longer in business, etc. it’s a small company. His personal warranty is 1 year from now. But the door warranty is longer.

Hopefully he is keeping all of the warranty info, manuals, registration cards, etc for you in one location. For us it was a kitchen drawer. No problems so far. Warranty work has been performed like you would expect - according to the mfgr.

The same thing happens that would happen if the appliance store went out of business. You'd contact the manufacturer, provide copies of the requested paperwork, and they would handle it. If the manufacturer goes out of business, or is a terrible company, then you're out of luck. Choose mainstream products from companies who have been in business for at least 10 years if you don’t want to self insure everything you buy.

Read the exact terms of the warranty to understand what is covered. Most do not offer longer than 12 months for labor, regardless if the materials might be covered longer. Others only cover certain elements of the whole, recognizing that the rubber gaskets on a threshold wear out sooner, and are a standard maintenance item, for instance. Many manufacturer’s pro rate their response over time. A 10 year warranty would only cover 1/10th of the product in it’s last year of warranty.

In general, most warranties are useless to most people, if they buy good products to begin with, and they are installed correctly. The majority of warranty claims are denied, because of incorrect installation. Maybe 5% of warranty claims are actually manufacturer product defect issues. This is why the manufacturer certification of installers in becoming more prelavent in many industries. And why you need that documentation, if the manufacturer requires that certified installer.