Wear and tear

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Wear and tear is a term for damage that naturally and inevitably occurs due to normal use or aging. It is used in a legal context for such areas as warranty contracts from manufacturers, which usually stipulate that damage due to wear and tear will not be covered.

It is a form of depreciation which is assumed to occur even when used competently and with care and maintenance. For example, friction may erode a hammer's head as nails are hammered into wood. In the main use of a hammer erosion is impossible to prevent, and any attempt to eliminate this erosion would make the hammer useless. At the same time, it is expected that the normal use of a hammer will not break it beyond repair until it has gone through a certain amount of use.

A company which supports a warranty on a product with the possibility of wear and tear will usually limit the warranty to a period of time where its wear and tear will probably not be enough to impede the use of the product significantly. Other factors such as the willingness of a customer to replace a product through warranty will affect how long the company offers it.