Structure, watertightness, installations, technical support: what AIIA's guarantees cover and how they differ from the statutory guarantee.
At AIIA, a home delivered “turnkey” is covered, from delivery, by three separate guarantees plus technical support: a 10-year structural guarantee, a 5-year watertightness guarantee, a 3-year installations guarantee, and ongoing technical support. These guarantees are documented on the Our approach page and apply to the habitable base described in our article on what is included in a turnkey modular home. Here is precisely what each one covers, for how long, and what they do not replace.
Understanding the subject
The structural guarantee covers, for 10 years from delivery, the dwelling's lightweight steel structure and main welds against any manufacturing defect. It is the longest guarantee: it covers the frame itself, the element that gives the dwelling its durability over time. This structure is built in the workshop, with quality control before shipping, which limits the hazards specific to a traditional building site exposed to the weather.
The watertightness guarantee covers, for 5 years, the watertightness of the building: roof, walls and exterior joinery, against water infiltration. It concerns the building envelope rather than its load-bearing structure: it is what protects the interior of the dwelling from the weather day to day.
Going further
The installations guarantee covers, for 3 years, the interior electrics and plumbing against any malfunction. In addition, there is ongoing technical support, with no announced time limit, to assist with the use of the dwelling once installed. AIIA does not publicly specify the exact scope of this support beyond this description; if this point is decisive for your project, the question is worth asking directly.
These three guarantees are the manufacturer's, relayed by AIIA: they must not be confused with the ten-year liability guarantee (garantie décennale) in the legal sense of French law, which applies automatically to any builder for 10 years and covers defects that compromise the soundness of the structure or make it unfit for its purpose, nor with the guarantee of completion (garantie de parfait achèvement, 1 year) or the two-year guarantee of proper functioning (garantie biennale, 2 years), as defined by the French Ministry of the Economy. AIIA does not publicly communicate the exact legal regime applicable to its dwellings, nor any possible construction damage insurance (assurance dommages-ouvrage): this is not legal advice, only a reference point for reading a commercial guarantee correctly, ours as well as another provider's.
Practical advice
The 100% quality control in the workshop, mentioned on the Our approach page, is a manufacturing process: it is not an additional guarantee, but a step that precedes delivery. Likewise, the published guarantees cover the dwelling itself: they do not cover the land, connections to public utility networks or administrative formalities, which fall within a separate scope described in our article on what is included in a turnkey offer.
To compare the guarantees of two modular home offers, four questions are generally enough: what duration for the structure, for watertightness and for installations? Is technical support provided after delivery, and for how long? Are these guarantees contractual or backed by a specific legal regime? And finally, what stage of manufacture does the advertised price correspond to, a point already covered in our article on the price of a turnkey modular home. Full details of our guarantees and certifications are available on the Our approach page.
