Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

6 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Bond commitments

In the ordinary course of business, predominantly in our Architectural Services and Architectural Framing Systems segments, we are required to provide surety or performance bonds that commit payments to our customers for any non-performance. At August 28, 2021, $1.2 billion of these types of bonds were outstanding, of which $490.1 million is in our backlog. These bonds do not have stated expiration dates. We have never been required to make payments under surety or performance bonds with respect to our existing businesses.

Warranty and project-related contingencies

We reserve estimated exposures on known claims, as well as on a portion of anticipated claims, for product warranty and rework cost, based on historical product liability claims as a ratio of sales. Claim costs are deducted from the accrual when paid. Factors that could have an impact on the warranty accrual in any given period include the following: changes in manufacturing quality, changes in product mix and any significant changes in sales volume. A warranty rollforward follows:


	Six Months Ended
(In thousands)	August 28, 2021		August 29, 2020
Balance at beginning of period	$	14,999	$	15,629
Additional accruals	4,400		3,083
Claims paid	(5,871)		(2,050)

Balance at end of period	$	13,528	$	16,662

Additionally, we are subject to project management and installation-related contingencies as a result of our fixed-price material supply and installation service contracts, primarily in our Architectural Services segment and certain of our Architectural Framing Systems businesses. We manage the risk of these exposures through contract negotiations, proactive project management and insurance coverages. The liability for these types of project-related contingencies was $1.3 million and $4.6 million as of August 28, 2021 and February 27, 2021, respectively.

Letters of credit

At August 28, 2021, we had $16.6 million of ongoing letters of credit, all of which have been issued under our committed revolving credit facility, as discussed in Note 6. We also have a $6.9 million letter of credit which has been issued outside our committed revolving credit facility, with no impact on our borrowing capacity and debt covenants.

Purchase obligations

Purchase obligations for raw material commitments and capital expenditures totaled $203.8 million as of August 28, 2021.

New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transactions

We have three outstanding NMTC arrangements which help to support operational expansion. Proceeds received from investors on these transactions are included within other non-current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. The NMTC arrangements are subject to 100 percent tax credit recapture for a period of seven years from the date of each respective transaction. Upon the termination of each arrangement, these proceeds will be recognized in earnings in exchange for the transfer of tax credits. The direct and incremental costs incurred in structuring these arrangements have been deferred and are included in other non-current assets in our consolidated balance sheets. These costs will be recognized in conjunction with the recognition of the related proceeds on each arrangement. During the construction phase for each project, we are required to hold cash dedicated to fund each capital project which is classified as restricted cash in our consolidated balance sheets. Variable-interest entities, which have been included within our consolidated financial statements, have been created as a result of the structure of these transactions, as investors in the programs do not have a material interest in their underlying economics.

The table below provides a summary of our outstanding NMTC transactions (in millions):


Inception date	Termination date	Proceeds received		Deferred costs		Net benefit

June 2016	June 2023	$	6.0	$	1.2	$	4.8
August 2018	August 2025	6.6		1.3		5.3
September 2018	September 2025	3.2		1.0		2.2
Total		$	15.8	$	3.5	$	12.3

Litigation

The Company is a party to various legal proceedings incidental to its normal operating activities. In particular, like others in the construction supply and services industry, the Company is routinely involved in various disputes and claims arising out of construction projects, sometimes involving significant monetary damages or product replacement. We have in the past and are currently subject to product liability and warranty claims, including certain legal claims related to a commercial sealant product formerly incorporated into our products. The Company is also subject to litigation arising out of areas such as employment practices, workers compensation and general liability matters. Although it is very difficult to accurately predict the outcome of any such proceedings, facts currently available indicate that no matters will result in losses that would have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, cash flows or financial condition of the Company.