Warranty on equipment from China: from which day and what it covers

The warranty period and the day it starts from are set by the contract. If the contract is silent, the Civil Code of Uzbekistan counts the warranty period from the moment the goods are handed over to the buyer. For a line or a boiler this is inconvenient: between handover and start-up comes installation, and part of the warranty is used up while the equipment has not yet run. So it is better to write the starting point down expressly. The warranty covers manufacturing defects. Wear, operating errors and repairs by other hands it usually does not cover.

From which day the warranty runs

Equipment contracts have three starting points for the warranty.

The last option is closer to the buyer's interest. But the plant may refuse to wait for start-up without a limit: installation also gets delayed for reasons on the buyer's side. That is why contracts use the formula "from the start-up date, but no later than a set period after shipment". The specific numbers are a matter for negotiation; there is no general rule.

What the law adds to the contract

The Civil Code of Uzbekistan provides several rules that apply unless the contract says otherwise.

• Start. The warranty period runs from the handing over of the goods (Article 404).
• Pause. The period does not run while you cannot use the goods due to circumstances dependent on the seller.
• Extension. The period is extended by the time the goods did not work because of defects, provided the seller was notified (Articles 404 and 416).
• Components. The warranty on components equals the warranty on the main product and runs together with it, unless the contract says otherwise (Articles 403–404).
• Replacement. For replaced goods the warranty period starts anew (Article 404).

In international sales the UN Vienna Convention (CISG) also applies, unless the parties excluded it. The seller is liable for a lack of conformity that existed at the time the risk passed, and for one that arises later if it breached its guarantee for a period of time (Article 36).

What is covered and what is not

Under the law, the seller is liable for defects that arose before the goods were handed over. If a warranty is given on the goods, the seller is liable for defects within the period until it proves that they appeared after handover because of a breach of the rules of use, the acts of third parties or force majeure (Article 409).

In practice this divides failures into two groups.

Usually covered:

• a defect in material or manufacture: a crack in a casting, an incomplete weld, a defective winding;
• non-conformity with the specification: a different power rating, a different version;
• a unit failing under correct operation within the period.

Usually not covered:

• natural wear of consumable parts: fabrics, screens, knives, belts, seals;
• operation in breach of the manual: overload, different raw material, different fuel, running without lubrication;
• repair or modification without the plant's consent;
• damage during unloading, storage or installation, if the plant did not supervise the installation.

The exact list of exclusions is written in the contract or the passport. Read it before signing, not after a breakdown.

How to prove a fault remotely

A plant in another country will not send an engineer for every question. It first asks for evidence. Collect it at once:

• photos and video of the fault, including video of the unit in operation if it is safe;
• the unit's nameplate and serial number;
• the operating log: hours, load, raw material or fuel;
• error codes from the panel and the controller records;
• what was done before the failure and who serviced it.

The fuller the package, the faster the plant can tell a manufacturing defect from an operating error. An operating log kept from day one is the strongest argument here.

Where warranty spare parts come from

A warranty part is supplied by the manufacturer. Its route is the same as for any delivery from China: manufacture or selection from the plant's stock, shipment, transit, import clearance. So for units without which the line stops, it is better to keep a reserve on hand and not wait for a failure. What to keep is covered in the article on the spare parts reserve for a line.

What to put in the contract

• the warranty period and the starting point, with a cut-off date from shipment;
• what counts as a warranty case and what is excluded;
• how a fault is proved: which photos, video, data;
• who supplies the replacement, at whose expense, and who ships it;
• whether the period is extended for the time of downtime;
• a clause on installation: the warranty often depends on who supervised installation and start-up.

Show the contract to a lawyer before signing: the general rules of the law yield to what the parties wrote themselves.

How we do it

• We agree the warranty, tolerances and terms in writing before production. The contract is signed with the manufacturing plant.
• Supervised installation and start-up are led by the manufacturing plant; we organize the trip of its engineers, interpreting and site access. That way there is no dispute of "unit defect or installation error".
• A defect recorded in the report gets replaced: the contract obliges the plant to supply a replacement. We chase it.