Warranty of availability
You have probably experienced a situation where one of your goods broke and your only option was to buy a new one. You may have had the best intentions in the world when you wanted to repair it, but the lack of spare parts or long waiting times discouraged you. New rules are now in place to make it easier to repair your goods.
The context
Since 1978, retailers and manufacturers have been required to offer replacement parts and repair services for a reasonable period after the purchase or rental of a product.
New rules came into effect on October 5, 2025, with the aim of further protecting consumers against planned obsolescence and offering them better protection when purchasing or renting goods.
In addition to spare parts and repair services, retailers and manufacturers are now required to provide the information necessary to maintain or repair a product for a reasonable period of time. The goal is to make it easier for you to access the information you need to maintain and repair your products.
The new rules also specify that replacement parts must be installable using commonly available tools and without causing irreversible damage to the goods. Tools may be provided to you free of charge upon conclusion of the contract. Otherwise, they should be available for purchase at a reasonable price.
In addition, the information necessary for maintenance or repair must be available in French, and free of charge if it is available online.
An OPTIONAL warranty!
PLEASE NOTE! Retailers and manufacturers may decide, independently and for each product, not to offer a guarantee of availability or to offer it only in part. To do so, they must inform you in writing before the contract is concluded. For example, a retailer could decide to offer spare parts for a specific model of refrigerator, but exclude information on maintenance and repair. They could decide otherwise for another model, as long as they clearly inform the consumer before checkout.
Reasonable time
It is said that replacement parts, repair services, and information relating to maintenance and repair must be available for a reasonable period after the conclusion of your contract, but what is a reasonable period? The law does not define this precisely; rather, it is determined on a case-by-case basis. For example, after purchasing a new refrigerator at a high price, you might expect spare parts to be available for several years.
Covered goods
The warranty covers all goods whose components may need to be replaced, cleaned, or updated, whether rented or purchased. Examples include appliances, cars, and electronic devices.
Note for cars: Car manufacturers are required to provide access to vehicle data for diagnostic or repair purposes, whether to the owner, long-term lessee, or repairer. They may charge a reasonable fee for this access.
Enforce the warranty
Do you want to repair your refrigerator, car, or electronic devices? You can contact the retailer or manufacturer to explain the situation and ask them to provide you with the necessary parts and instructions to carry out the repair yourself.
If they fail to provide them, you can ask the retailer or manufacturer to carry out the repair. They have 10 days to indicate in writing the timeframe in which they propose to carry out the repair. You can then accept or refuse their proposed deadline, and in the latter case have the repair carried out by a third party. In this case, the retailer or manufacturer must cover the reasonable costs incurred.
What if the retailer or manufacturer tells you that they cannot provide you with the parts to carry out the repair or carry out the repair themselves? They must replace the item with a new or refurbished item, or refund you.
Our advice: If you have a problem with your goods, we recommend that you contact both the retailer and the manufacturer. That way, if you are not satisfied with one of them and need to take further action, you will already have everything you need.
And what about the legal warranty?
Did you know that the law stipulates that every item you purchase or rent is automatically protected by a legal warranty? The new provisions to the law therefore add to the protections you already enjoyed. If a problem arises, you can choose to invoke the legal warranty or the availability warranty (for example, if you want to do the repairs yourself).
Your recourse
Can't reach an agreement with the retailer or manufacturer? Every situation is unique. Contact us, and our experts will be happy to answer your questions.
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