COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company is involved in various litigations, claims and administrative proceedings, including those related to environmental and product liability matters. Amounts recorded for identified contingent liabilities are estimates, which are reviewed periodically and adjusted to reflect additional information when it becomes available. Subject to the uncertainties inherent in estimating future costs for contingent liabilities, except as expressly set forth in this note, management believes that any liability which may result from these legal matters would not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows of the Company.

Environmental Matters

The Company continues to be dedicated to an environmental program to reduce the utilization and generation of hazardous materials during the manufacturing process and to remediate identified environmental concerns. As to the latter, the Company is currently engaged in site investigations and remediation activities to address environmental cleanup from past operations at current and former manufacturing facilities.

The Company is sometimes a party to environmental lawsuits and claims and has received notices of potential violations of environmental laws and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and similar state authorities. It has also been identified as a potentially responsible party (PRP) for cleanup costs associated with off-site waste disposal at federal Superfund and state remediation sites. For all such sites, there are other PRPs and, in most instances, the Company’s involvement is minimal.

In estimating its liability, the Company has assumed it will not bear the entire cost of remediation of any site to the exclusion of other PRPs who may be jointly and severally liable. The ability of other PRPs to participate has been taken into account, based on our understanding of the parties’ financial condition and probable contributions on a per site basis. Additional lawsuits and claims involving environmental matters are likely to arise from time to time in the future.

The Company incurred $3.1 million, $1.0 million, and $2.5 million of expenses during the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively, for environmental remediation at sites presently or formerly owned or leased by us. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company has recorded reserves for environmental matters of $71.7 million and $81.0 million, respectively. Of these amounts $51.3 million and $56.3 million relate to remediation of sites previously disposed by the Company. Environmental reserves are classified as Accrued expenses and other current liabilities, or Other noncurrent liabilities based on their expected term. The Company's total current environmental reserve at December 31, 2011 and 2010 was $26.9 million and $28.1 million, respectively. Given the evolving nature of environmental laws, regulations and technology, the ultimate cost of future compliance is uncertain.

Asbestos-Related Matters

Certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company are named as defendants in asbestos-related lawsuits in state and federal courts. In virtually all of the suits, a large number of other companies have also been named as defendants. The vast majority of those claims have been filed against either Ingersoll-Rand Company (IR-New Jersey) or Trane and generally allege injury caused by exposure to asbestos contained in certain historical products sold by IR-New Jersey or Trane, primarily pumps, boilers and railroad brake shoes. Neither IR-New Jersey nor Trane was a producer or manufacturer of asbestos, however, some formerly manufactured products utilized asbestos-containing components such as gaskets and packings purchased from third-party suppliers.

The Company engages an outside expert to assist in calculating an estimate of the Company’s total liability for pending and unasserted future asbestos-related claims and annually performs a detailed analysis with the assistance of an outside expert to update its estimated asbestos-related assets and liabilities. The methodology used to project the Company’s total liability for pending and unasserted potential future asbestos-related claims relied upon and included the following factors, among others:


•	the outside expert’s interpretation of a widely accepted forecast of the population likely to have been occupationally exposed to asbestos;


•	epidemiological studies estimating the number of people likely to develop asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma and lung cancer;


•	the Company’s historical experience with the filing of non-malignancy claims against it and the historical ratio between the numbers of non-malignancy and lung cancer claims filed against the Company;


•	the outside expert’s analysis of the number of people likely to file an asbestos-related personal injury claim against the Company based on such epidemiological and historical data and the Company’s most recent three-year claims history;


•	an analysis of the Company’s pending cases, by type of disease claimed;


•	an analysis of the Company’s most recent three-year history to determine the average settlement and resolution value of claims, by type of disease claimed;


•	an adjustment for inflation in the future average settlement value of claims, at a 2.5% annual inflation rate, adjusted downward to 1.5% to take account of the declining value of claims resulting from the aging of the claimant population; and


•	an analysis of the period over which the Company has and is likely to resolve asbestos-related claims against it in the future.

At December 31, 2011, over 90 percent of the open claims against the Company are non-malignancy claims, many of which have been placed on inactive or deferral dockets and the vast majority of which have little or no settlement value against the Company, particularly in light of recent changes in the legal and judicial treatment of such claims.

The Company’s liability for asbestos-related matters and the asset for probable asbestos-related insurance recoveries are included in the following balance sheet accounts:



In millions	December 31, 2011		December 31, 2010
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	$	69.7	$	75.5
Other noncurrent liabilities	868.6		945.0
Total asbestos-related liabilities	$	938.3	$	1,020.5
Other current assets	$	23.5	$	26.3
Other noncurrent assets	298.9		319.9
Total asset for probable asbestos-related insurance recoveries	$	322.4	$	346.2

The (costs) income associated with the settlement and defense of asbestos-related claims after insurance recoveries, for the years ended December 31, were as follows:



In millions	2011			2010			2009
Continuing operations	$	(1.2	)	$	(1.4	)	$	13.8
Discontinued operations	(8.9		)	(17.4		)	(1.5		)
Total	$	(10.1	)	$	(18.8	)	$	12.3

The Company records certain income and expenses associated with its asbestos liabilities and corresponding insurance recoveries within discontinued operations, as they relate to previously divested businesses, primarily Ingersoll-Dresser Pump, which was sold in 2000. Income and expenses associated with Trane’s asbestos liabilities and corresponding insurance recoveries are recorded within continuing operations.

On January 12, 2012, IR-New Jersey filed an action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County, seeking a declaratory judgment and other relief regarding the Company's rights to defense and indemnity for asbestos claims. The defendants are several dozen solvent insurance companies, including companies that have been paying a portion of IR-New Jersey's asbestos claim defense and indemnity costs. The action involves IR-New Jersey's unexhausted insurance policies applicable to the asbestos claims that are not subject to any settlement agreement.

Trane has now settled claims regarding asbestos coverage with most of its insurers, including the New Jersey litigation described below. The settlements collectively account for approximately 95% of its recorded asbestos-related liability insurance receivable as of December 31, 2011. Most of Trane’s settlement agreements constitute “coverage-in-place” arrangements, in which the insurer signatories agree to reimburse Trane for specified portions of its costs for asbestos bodily injury claims and Trane agrees to certain claims-handling protocols and grants to the insurer signatories certain releases and indemnifications.

In April 1999, Trane filed an action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County, against various primary and lower layer excess insurance carriers (the NJ Litigation). The NJ Litigation originally sought coverage for environmental claims and later was expanded to include claims for coverage for asbestos-related liabilities. The environmental claims against the insurers in the NJ Litigation have been resolved or dismissed without prejudice for later resolution. Similarly, Trane has resolved all claims against the insurers for asbestos-related liabilities, having settled with the last remaining defendant in the NJ Litigation, effective June 29, 2011. By order entered on August 3, 2011, the court in the NJ Litigation dismissed the last remaining claims by or against Trane.

Trane remains in litigation in an action that Trane filed in November 2010 in the Circuit Court for La Crosse County, Wisconsin, relating to claims for insurance coverage for a subset of Trane's historical asbestos-related liabilities. Trane also is pursuing claims against the estates of insolvent insurers in connection with its costs for asbestos bodily injury claims.

The amounts recorded by the Company for asbestos-related liabilities and insurance-related assets are based on currently available information. The Company’s actual liabilities or insurance recoveries could be significantly higher or lower than those recorded if assumptions used in the calculations vary significantly from actual results. Key variables in these assumptions include the number and type of new claims to be filed each year, the average cost of resolution of each such new claim, the resolution of coverage issues with insurance carriers, and the solvency risk with respect to the Company’s insurance carriers. Furthermore, predictions with respect to these variables are subject to greater uncertainty as the projection period lengthens. Other factors that may affect the Company’s liability include uncertainties surrounding the litigation process from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from case to case, reforms that may be made by state and federal courts, and the passage of state or federal tort reform legislation.

The aggregate amount of the stated limits in insurance policies available to the Company for asbestos-related claims acquired over many years and from many different carriers, is substantial. However, limitations in that coverage, primarily due to the considerations described above, are expected to result in the projected total liability to claimants substantially exceeding the probable insurance recovery.

Warranty Liability

Product warranty accruals are recorded at the time of sale and are estimated based upon product warranty terms and historical experience. The Company assesses the adequacy of its liabilities and will make adjustments as necessary based on known or anticipated warranty claims, or as new information becomes available.

The following represents the changes in the Company’s product warranty liability for the years ended December 31:



In millions	2011			2010
Balance at beginning of year	$	631.4		$	619.4
Reductions for payments	(200.8		)	(244.4		)
Accruals for warranties issued during the current period	209.5			242.5
Changes for accruals related to preexisting warranties	(2.8		)	15.0
Divestitures	—			(0.3		)
Translation	(0.9		)	(0.8		)
Balance at end of the year	$	636.4		$	631.4

Product warranty liabilities are classified as Accrued expenses and other current liabilities, or Other noncurrent liabilities based on their expected term. The Company's total current warranty reserve at December 31, 2011 and 2010 was $245.1 million and $253.0 million, respectively.

Other Commitments and Contingencies

Certain office and warehouse facilities, transportation vehicles and data processing equipment are leased by the Company. Total rental expense was $198.5 million in 2011, $197.1 million in 2010 and $192.2 million in 2009. Minimum lease payments required under non-cancelable operating leases with terms in excess of one year for the next five years and thereafter, are as follows: $123.5 million in 2012, $103.5 million in 2013, $78.0 million in 2014, $58.7 million in 2015, and $40.4 million in 2016.

Trane has commitments and performance guarantees, including energy savings guarantees, totaling $300.0 million extending from 2012-2031. These guarantees are provided under long-term service and maintenance contracts related to its air conditioning equipment and system controls. Through 2011, the Company has experienced no significant losses under such arrangements and considers the probability of any significant future losses to be remote.

As part of the reorganization of IR-New Jersey in 2001, IR-Limited fully and unconditionally guaranteed all of the issued public debt securities of IR-New Jersey. IR-New Jersey unconditionally guaranteed payment of the principal, premium, if any, and interest on IR-Limited’s 4.75% Senior Notes due in 2015 in the aggregate principal amount of $300 million. The guarantee is unsecured and provided on an unsubordinated basis. The guarantee ranks equally in right of payment with all of the existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt of IR-New Jersey. In addition, public debt securities issued by IR-Global are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by IR-Limited.

As a part of the reorganization of IR-Limited in 2009, the guarantee structure was updated to reflect the newly created legal structure under which (i) IR-International assumed the obligations of IR-Limited as issuer or guarantor, as the case may be, and (ii) IR-Ireland and IR-Limited fully and unconditionally guaranteed the obligations under the various indentures covering the currently outstanding public debt of IR-International, IR-Global and IR-New Jersey. Neither IR-Ireland nor IR-Limited has issued or intends to issue guarantees in respect of any public indebtedness incurred by Trane.