Warranties

The Company has warranties with various terms ranging from 18 months for parts to 25 years for certain heat exchangers. The Company has an obligation to replace parts or service its products if conditions under the warranty are met. A provision is made for estimated warranty costs at the time the related products are sold based upon the warranty period, historical trends, new products and any known identifiable warranty issues.

The Company has been working on modifications and refinements to its warranty policy. These modifications more clearly define what qualifies as a warranty claim and place a deadline for when claims may be submitted. This has increased our warranty reserve and increased our warranty expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, as detailed below.

Changes in the warranty accrual are as follows:



	Three months ended						Nine months ended
	September 30, 2017			September 30, 2016			September 30, 2017			September 30, 2016
Warranty accrual:	(in thousands)
Balance, beginning of period	$	8,602		$	8,454		$	7,936		$	8,469
Payments made	(2,281		)	(1,331		)	(5,935		)	(2,988		)
Provisions	3,277			1,012			7,597			2,654
Balance, end of period	$	9,598		$	8,135		$	9,598		$	8,135

Warranty expense:	$	3,277		$	1,012		$	7,597		$	2,654