Guarantee, Warranty, Product Liability under German Law

It happens really frequently that the customer (private or business customer) receives a product or service from you and then declares deficiencies. In this case, your customer can make claims based on:

Warranty: legal liability of the seller
Guarantees: voluntary liability of the manufacturer or seller
Product liability: statutory liability of the manufacturer or the importer or, as the case may be, the seller / supplier

Warranty: legal liability of the seller

Statutory remedies for defective goods generally lie against the seller. Their conditions and limitation periods depend on the contract and the parties. The sales-law rules described here cannot be transferred unchanged to contracts for services or work.

Whether there is a defect or subsequent damage requires individual assessment. Relevant distinctions include:

Use-related wear and tear
Knowledge of a defect: section 442 BGB does not apply to consumer sales. A departure from objective requirements must satisfy the special information and separate-agreement requirements of section 476(1).
Damage caused after the transfer of risk by improper use or storage must be distinguished from a defect for which the seller is responsible.

Supplementary Performance (Nacherfüllung)

Where goods are defective, the buyer may generally choose between repair and replacement under section 439 of the German Civil Code. Statutory limits, including impossibility and disproportionate costs, must be assessed in the individual case. There is no blanket exclusion for low-value everyday goods.

Cancellation of the contract

Withdrawal from a defective-goods contract requires the statutory conditions; dissatisfaction alone is insufficient. The seller generally has an opportunity to repair or replace. Consumer sales are subject to section 475d BGB, which specifies cases where a formal additional deadline is unnecessary. There is no universal requirement to allow two repair attempts. An insignificant defect generally prevents withdrawal but may still justify a price reduction.

Compensation for damages

Damages require an attributable breach of duty, recoverable loss and the conditions of the relevant legal basis. Under section 280(1) BGB the debtor may avoid liability by showing that it is not responsible for the breach. Liability is not confined to defects personally caused by the seller; statutory attribution, guarantees and special regimes must be considered.

Guarantee against business customers:

Business sales do not automatically have a one-year limitation period. Statutory periods apply unless validly modified. Where the purchase is a commercial transaction for both parties, section 377 HGB generally requires prompt inspection after delivery and prompt notification of defects. Hidden defects must be notified promptly after discovery. This rule does not apply indiscriminately to every business buyer.

Warranty between manufacturer and dealer:

Supplier recourse must be assessed under sections 445a and 445b BGB and, where applicable, section 478. Claims generally lie against the seller’s own supplier, who need not be the manufacturer. The supply chain, defect and customer remedies determine the available recourse.

Guarantee: voluntary liability of the manufacturer or seller

The guarantee is a voluntary service provided by the manufacturer. It varies according to manufacturer and product and usually consists of a period of time between 6 months and several years. The guarantee is an additional benefit offered by the manufacturer. It is independent of the statutory guarantee. The guarantee is undoubtedly also a marketing tool. For example, many companies offer a longer guarantee period than the statutory warranty period. In addition, they are usually used not only for defects that were present at the time of delivery, but also for defects occurring during the warranty period.

The guarantee partner is the contact person who has given the guarantee.

Product liability: statutory liability of the manufacturer or the importer or of the seller / supplier

Under the Product Liability Act applicable on 1 November 2026, defective products can give rise to strict liability for death or personal injury. Property damage is covered only where the statutory conditions are met, including damage to another item intended and principally used for private purposes. Damage to the defective product itself and pure economic loss must be distinguished.

As a rule, the manufacturer always bears liability to the final product, although exceptions may be present.

Considering the difficulty of the matter, we would kindly ask you to contact us in case of further questions. A legal consultation will help you solve all the problems regarding guarantee, warranty or product liability.

Expense reimbursement claims under section 445a(1) generally become time-barred two years after delivery. Section 445b(2) postpones expiry of the specified recourse claims until at least two months after the seller satisfies the buyer’s claims. There is no universal five-year limitation period for supplier recourse.

For consumer sales, an agreement made before notification of a defect may generally not reduce the period below two years, or below one year for used goods. A permissible reduction requires specific prior information and an express, separate agreement. A blanket one-year period for new goods sold to consumers is not permitted.

The three-year limitation period generally runs from actual or constructive knowledge of the damage, defect and liable person. Separately, section 13 generally extinguishes claims ten years after the manufacturer put the product into circulation, subject to statutory exceptions. The existing Act ceases to apply as current legislation on 9 December 2026; new cases must be assessed under the new legislation and its transitional provisions.

Statutory exclusions, contributory fault, the property-damage deductible and applicable liability caps must also be considered. In consumer sales, the burden-of-proof presumption in section 477 BGB generally covers a defect becoming apparent within one year after transfer of risk; the period for living animals is six months, with special rules for continuously supplied digital elements.

For consumer sales contracts concluded on or after 31 July 2026, cure by repair extends the original limitation period for defect claims once by twelve months (section 475e(5) BGB; transitional provision Article 229 section 72 EGBGB). Before cure, the trader must inform the consumer about the choice between repair and replacement and this extension. Further safeguards in section 475e include minimum periods after a defect becomes apparent and after repaired or replacement goods are returned; special rules apply to digital elements and update duties.