In contract law, a warranty has various meanings but generally means a guarantee or promise which provides assurance by one party to the other party that specific facts or conditions are true or will happen. This factual guarantee may be enforced regardless of materiality which allows for a legal remedy if that promise is not true or followed. Warranties provide customers with legally-ensured service replacement or correction of issues insofar as the warranty stipulates in its conditions, for the duration of its term.
Although a warranty is in its simplest form an element of a contract, some warranties run with a product so that a manufacturer makes the warranty to a consumer with which the manufacturer has no direct contractual relationship. It is a type of guarantee that a manufacturer or similar party makes regarding the condition of its product. It also refers to the terms and situations in which repairs or exchanges will be made in the event that the product does not function as originally described or intended.
A warranty may be express or implied, depending on whether the warranty explicitly provided (typically written) and the jurisdiction. Warranties may also state that a particular fact is true at one point in time or that the fact will continue into the future (a “promissory” or continuing warranty).
