Note 15 - Warranties

Product Warranties

The Company generally warrants its products against certain manufacturing and other defects. These product warranties are provided for specific periods and/or usage of the product. The accrued product warranty costs are for a combination of specifically identified items and other incurred, but not identified, items based primarily on historical experience of actual warranty claims. This reserve is classified within other current liabilities.

The following tables provide the changes in the Company’s product warranties:


	For the years ended August 31,
($ in thousands)	2017		2016
Product warranty accrual balance, beginning of period	$	7,443	$	7,271
Liabilities accrued for warranties during the period		6,914		5,912
Warranty claims paid during the period		(6,312)		(5,244)
Changes in estimates		366		(496)
Product warranty accrual balance, end of period	$	8,411	$	7,443

Warranty costs were $7.3 million, $5.4 million, and $2.8 million for fiscal 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively.