Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Generally, a contractor warrants that his labor will be done competently at the time it is done, and then the owner has a period, determined by the applicable statute of limitations, to bring suit if it turns out later on that the work was not done competently. This is a little different from guaranteeing the work for a period of time. In a lot of situations, a suit for breach of the implied warranty could be brought within four years of the completion of the work. In a few cases, the statute of limitations would be one year or ten years.

See http://www.professionalhomeinspection.net/pdf/contractor_law_1-4-10_yr.pdf for details. The guy who is posting this information may be practicing law without a license, but the information is well-presented and looks accurate.