It good have been a faulty fitting. I've experienced this at work plumb the
job turn on the water only to find a pinhole in a brand new fitting!!@
wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:28:34 -0800 (PST), Handplanes
wrote:

(snip for brevity

That's the background, now here's my question.
Is there an implied warranty of some sort that covers concealed work
and problems that don't immediately show up? I know new houses have
warranties, and that a standard contract usually has a one year
warranty covering the work, but this is an older house, and there
wasn't a contract. In any event I don't think an entirely new
bathroom plumbing system should leak from the supply lines in just a
few years.

I'm a renovations contractor in Alberta, Canada.

Our renovations are done under written contract with a warranty of one
year on work done and material provided. That's fairly standard
here.

Obviously if a client has a problem, I'm not going to be a stickler
for the the one year limitation ... I'll use my best judgement, and
I will err on the customers" side. It's just good business ... I
tell my trades that when the contract is signed, I have made my
profit ... what we are working for is the repeat and the referral.

Most serious contractors do the same. It's the cheapest advertising
we can buy.

A verbal agreement is a contract ... you should have asked at the time
the work was done ...even had him scrawl a guarantee on the bill.

Similarly, when he did the repair, you should have asked whether he
was doing it at his own expense or whether he intended to bill you and
if so, how much.

The only legal maxim I'm aware of that you can rely on is that you
have a right to a "reasonable expectation the work and materials are
suitable for the use intended".

You should know that soldered joints will occasionally let go. There
could have been the tiniest, tiniest pinhole crack weakening the
soldered joint that four years of pressure finally worked through.
No way he could have known or caught it when it happened.

Four years is a long time .... I'd say it's a "goodwill issue". If
you're a good customer or if he's a good guy, you'll be treated
fairly. Your description sounds like a couple of hours maximum.

In future, nail down the cost and the warranty in advance.

Ken