Note 16 - 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)	2016		2015
Product warranty accrual balance, beginning of period	$	7,271	$	9,331
Liabilities accrued for warranties during the period		5,912		4,223
Warranty claims paid during the period		(5,244)		(4,856)
Changes in estimates		(496)		(1,427)
Product warranty accrual balance, end of period	$	7,443	$	7,271

Warranty costs were $5.4 million, $2.8 million, and $6.4 million for fiscal 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.