Walk through a model home in one of Central Point's new-construction developments and you'll hear the same line somewhere between the kitchen island and the garage: "and of course it comes with a warranty." It's said the way a salesperson mentions the smart thermostat or the quartz counters, as if it's one more standard item on the spec sheet. It isn't. Under Oregon law, a builder doesn't have to give you a warranty at all. The builder only has to offer you one, in writing, and you're allowed to say no.
That distinction sounds like a technicality until you realize what it means for the paper you're about to sign.
The Warranty Is an Offer, Not a Feature
Oregon Revised Statute 701.320 governs new home warranties, and the mechanism is narrower than most buyers assume. A contractor building or selling a newly constructed home has to make a written offer of a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. That's the entire legal requirement. The buyer can accept the offer or refuse it. And if the buyer refuses before the construction contract is signed, the builder is permitted to walk away from the deal rather than build the house.
That last part is the twist worth sitting with. In most transactions, refusing an optional add-on doesn't put the whole sale at risk. Here, the warranty offer is baked into the pre-contract negotiation closely enough that saying no can end the conversation. Which means by the time most buyers see the document, they've already decided they want the house, and the incentive to just sign what's in front of them is strong.
The statute also carves out an exception that matters if you're comparing a stick-built home to a manufactured one anywhere in Jackson County: this warranty requirement doesn't apply to manufactured dwellings at all. A site-built home in a new Central Point subdivision and a manufactured home on a nearby lot are governed by completely different rules on this point, even if they're a block apart.
What "2+8" Actually Means, and Why It's a Custom, Not a Code
Ask around and you'll hear builders describe their warranty as a "2+8" structure. It's common enough to sound official. It isn't written into Oregon law. The state's Construction Contractors Board, which oversees residential contractors, is explicit that there's no mandated length of coverage and no required scope. A typical arrangement covers workmanship and materials for one year, major systems like plumbing, electrical, heating, and air conditioning for a second year, and structural defects for up to ten years total. But "typical" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The builder chooses the term. The builder chooses whether to warrant the home directly or purchase a third-party warranty product to back it. If it's purchased, the CCB's own guidance puts a rough cost on it: $250 to $500 for the warranty itself, plus a service fee, often around $50, charged to the homeowner each time a claim is filed.
None of that is bad news by itself. A ten-year structural warranty is a real benefit. The problem is that "new home warranty" gets treated as a single, interchangeable phrase, when in practice it's a contract with variables the buyer can and should read before assuming what's covered.
Central Point's Builder Mix Is Part of the Story
This matters more in Central Point right now than it would in a market dominated by one production builder, because it isn't one. Recent new-construction inventory in the city spans a genuinely mixed set of builders working independently of each other. Snyder Creek Development has introduced Willow Bend Estates, a project built around a two-unit concept: a primary home paired with an attached accessory dwelling unit on the same lot, aimed at buyers who want rental income or space for a family member. Lori Magel Homes has custom-built properties with views toward Mt. McLoughlin and upgraded finish packages. Leonardo Homes has floor plans with front porches and RV parking. Rispoli Design & Build has put up mid-century modern single-story homes with Hardie cement siding.
Every one of those builders can structure their warranty offer differently, because nothing forces them not to. In a subdivision built entirely by one national builder, at least the warranty paperwork is consistent lot to lot, even if the terms aren't generous. In a city where the new-construction pipeline includes several smaller, independent builders working on their own developments, a buyer touring three model homes in three different subdivisions could be looking at three different warranty structures, three different claims processes, and three different definitions of what counts as a covered defect. The floor plan comparison sheet most buyers bring to a showing doesn't have a column for that.
There's a second pattern worth flagging. More than one new-construction listing in Central Point folds "new home warranty" into the same bullet point as hi-efficiency furnace and smart home package, presented as a fixed feature of the house rather than a document with terms. That framing isn't dishonest, but it does the opposite of what a buyer needs, which is to treat the warranty as something to request, read, and compare before it gets waved through with the rest of the upgrades list.
Four Questions Worth Asking Before You Sign Anything
- Is the warranty being offered directly by the builder, or purchased from a third-party provider, and can you see the actual policy document before the purchase agreement is signed
- What is the length of coverage for workmanship and materials specifically, separate from the structural term
- Is there a service fee charged per claim, and what is it
- What happens to the warranty if the builder sells the company, stops operating, or is a smaller outfit with fewer completed projects behind it than a national builder would have
That last question isn't paranoia. A ten-year structural warranty is only as durable as the entity standing behind it. A national builder with a warranty division has more institutional weight than a project-specific development company, and that's worth knowing before you're the one filing a claim in year seven.
The Walkthrough Still Matters
None of this replaces your own eyes on the property. A warranty is a promise to fix a defect after the fact. It isn't a substitute for catching the defect before closing. Buyers who assume "it's new construction, what could go wrong" are the ones most likely to skip a pre-drywall walkthrough or treat the final walkthrough as a formality instead of an inspection. The warranty document tells you what happens if something goes wrong later. It says nothing about whether the builder cut a corner now that a walkthrough would have caught.
Reading the warranty and doing your own inspection aren't competing tasks. They're the same due diligence, aimed at two different points in time.
FAQ
Does Oregon set a minimum length for a new home warranty? No. The state requires that a written offer be made, but the length and scope of coverage are set by the builder or the third-party warranty company, not by statute.
Can I still get an independent home inspection on new construction in Central Point? Yes, and it's worth doing. A builder's warranty covers defects that surface after the sale. An inspection, particularly at the pre-drywall stage, can catch issues while they're still fixable without a claim process.
What happens if I refuse the builder's warranty offer? Under Oregon law, if you refuse the offer before signing the construction contract, the builder is permitted to withdraw and decline to build the home. In practice, this means the warranty conversation often happens earlier in the process than buyers expect, and it's worth reviewing the terms before you're emotionally committed to the house.
If you're weighing new construction against resale in Central Point, or trying to compare warranty terms across a handful of builders you've never worked with before, that's exactly the kind of paperwork question worth a second set of eyes. Blue Mountain Group works with buyers across Jackson County on precisely this kind of detail. Schedule your free consultation before you sign anything.
