When a company installs a new roof, and offered a five year warranty
against defective material and workmanship, how does this work?

My situation is this - the new roof was installed in 2004, after a
mild hurricane in south Florida - not a strong hurricane but one that
brought tons of rain. A new roof was installed - barrel concrete roof
tiles on 80% of the roof except for a flat area they used asphalt
cement. The contractor used the "expansive" foam adhesive to set the
tiles.

Then in 2006 the owner sold his house - to me. I went up to the roof
recently to investigate a leak and I noticed there were about 20 tiles
that were cracked open. I believe the previously owner never went up
to the roof to inspect the work (he is 85 years old), those cracked
tiles were NOT cracked due to someone walking on them - they were
cracked because of installation issues. Those tiles are completely
cracked (meaning one tiles broken into 4, 6, 8 pieces) with foam
busting out of the crack. They were very obvious to me the crackes
were caused by the foam expanding too much, the foam is now semi-
disintegrating due to weather for a few years. Also the flat section
is ponding water and I can feel "bubbles" as I walk on some spots.

Now my question is, do you think this is defective workmanship? Should
I be able to call the company and ask them to rectify and replace
these 20 or so tiles and fix the flat roof? Does the warranty apply to
me since I was not the original owner who contracted for the service
(but I do have the paper work)?

I know I could call them and ask, but I would like to get all my facts
before calling.

Thanks!