{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "due-diligence-buyer",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/due-diligence-buyer/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/due-diligence-buyer.md",
  "title": "A buyer's due diligence asks for our compliance status",
  "description": "An investor or acquirer asks for the product compliance status of the range. What EU law makes relevant and how to present it product by product.",
  "answer": "In a sale or investment, the buyer checks whether the products meet EU law, because the duties stay with the economic operator. They ask for files, declarations, complaints, recalls and authority cases. Build a product-by-product status table from the evidence the law requires you to keep, disclose open incidents and gaps with a plan to close them, and share controlled copies in the data room.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "documentation",
    "label": "Documentation and declarations"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "manufacturer",
      "label": "Manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "GPSR",
    "LVD"
  ],
  "path": [
    "product-validation",
    "compliance-status-links"
  ],
  "trigger": "An investor, an acquirer or a bank sends a due diligence list with a product compliance section",
  "keep": null,
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "A buyer's compliance questions follow the legal record a product business must keep. Under the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 the manufacturer draws up technical documentation with an internal risk analysis before placing a product on the market, keeps it up to date and keeps it available to authorities for 10 years (Article 9(2) and (3)). It investigates safety complaints and accident information and keeps an internal register of complaints, product recalls and corrective measures (Article 9(12)); importers file theirs in the same or their own register (Article 11(10)). Under Article 2(1), third subparagraph, point (b), these articles in Chapter III Section 1 do not apply to products subject to Union harmonisation legislation.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "For CE-marked products the sector act holds the record. The Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU requires the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity to be kept for 10 years after placing on the market (Article 6(3)), and by drawing up the declaration the manufacturer assumes responsibility for the equipment's compliance (Article 15(4)). Importers keep a copy of the declaration for 10 years (Article 8(8)). For products under the acts listed in Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, an EU-based operator must verify that these documents exist and be able to produce them (Article 4(3)).",
      "sources": [
        2,
        3
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Events matter as much as files. Under the GPSR, a manufacturer that has reason to believe a product is dangerous must take corrective measures and inform the authorities through the Safety Business Gateway (Article 9(8), for products outside Union harmonisation legislation; the CE acts have their own duty, such as Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(8)), and accidents are notified without undue delay (Article 20(1), in Section 2, which Article 2(1)(b) does not exclude). For products under the GPSR alone, operators must be able to present a full description of the risk, related complaints, known accidents and corrective measures for 10 years, and traceability information on suppliers and customers for six years (Article 15(2), (4) and (5)).",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Older products remain part of the picture. The GPSR repealed Directive 2001/95/EC with effect from 13 December 2024 (Article 50), and Member States shall not impede products that conformed to that directive and were placed on the market before that date (Article 51). Where a product does not conform, authorities require corrective action and, if the operator does not act, ensure withdrawal, recall or a prohibition (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 16). Product liability is a separate exposure. Directive (EU) 2024/2853 applies to products placed on the market or put into service from 9 December 2026 (Article 2(1), as corrected in 2026); Directive 85/374/EEC continues to apply to earlier products (Article 21). A status table built on this record answers most of what a buyer asks.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        3,
        4
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Pin down the scope of the request",
      "text": "Ask which companies, brands, products and years the buyer wants covered, and whether it means products currently sold or everything placed on the market in the period. The legal record goes back 10 years for most files, so agree a cut-off."
    },
    {
      "name": "Build a status table per product",
      "text": "One line per model: the acts that apply, your role, the declaration, the technical documentation, the test reports and their standard editions, and the EU-based operator. Mark each item as current, outdated or missing, with the evidence behind the mark.",
      "item": "product-validation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Disclose incidents and authority contact",
      "text": "Extract from the complaints register the safety complaints, accidents, recalls and corrective measures in the period, plus authority letters and Safety Business Gateway notifications. Show how each one was closed or where it stands."
    },
    {
      "name": "Explain gaps with a plan",
      "text": "For every missing or outdated item, give the cause, the risk, the action and a date. A buyer reads a known gap with a plan very differently from a gap found later by the buyer's own advisers."
    },
    {
      "name": "Share controlled copies",
      "text": "Put the status table and the supporting documents in the data room as dated, read-only copies. Use one link per product where possible, so the buyer sees the same status your team sees and updates are tracked.",
      "item": "compliance-status-links"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "A product-by-product compliance status table, dated and signed off",
      "from": "The manufacturer or importer",
      "ground": "GPSR Article 9(2)–(3); Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(2)–(3)"
    },
    {
      "name": "An extract of the complaints register: complaints, recalls and corrective measures",
      "from": "The manufacturer or importer",
      "ground": "GPSR Articles 9(12) and 11(10)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Authority correspondence and notifications in the period",
      "from": "Your own records",
      "ground": "GPSR Articles 9(8) and 20(1)"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "Duties stay with the operator after the deal",
      "text": "Manufacturers keep the technical documentation and the declaration for 10 years after the product has been placed on the market (Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(3); GPSR Article 9(3)). The acts read contain no exception for a change of ownership; how duties pass in a sale of assets is a question for your legal advisers.",
      "source": 2
    },
    {
      "title": "Open non-compliance can still be enforced",
      "text": "Authorities require corrective action for non-compliant products and, if the operator does not act or the risk persists, ensure withdrawal, recall or a prohibition and inform the public (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 16(2), (3) and (5)).",
      "source": 3
    },
    {
      "title": "Authorities can ask for the full history",
      "text": "For products under the GPSR alone, operators provide on request a full description of the risk, related complaints, known accidents and corrective measures, and must be able to present it for 10 years (GPSR Article 15(2) and (4)).",
      "source": 1
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What will a buyer usually ask for?",
      "a": "Mostly what the law already requires you to have: technical documentation and declarations per product (Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(2)–(3)), the complaints register and recalls (GPSR Article 9(12)), and the record of authority contact. The exact list is set by the buyer."
    },
    {
      "q": "Do products sold before 13 December 2024 count?",
      "a": "Yes, they are part of the history. The GPSR says Member States shall not impede the making available of products that conformed to Directive 2001/95/EC and were placed on the market before 13 December 2024 (Article 51). For CE-marked products, the sector acts' 10-year periods run from when each product was placed on the market (for example Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(3))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should we fix gaps before the deal or disclose them?",
      "a": "Both, where you can. Closing a gap removes it from the list; a gap you cannot close in time is better disclosed with a plan. How disclosure affects the contract is a question for your legal advisers."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does the new product liability directive matter for the review?",
      "a": "It can. Directive (EU) 2024/2853 covers products placed on the market or put into service from 9 December 2026 (Article 2(1), as corrected in 2026). A claim under it expires 10 years after the product was placed on the market or put into service, unless proceedings have started, and 25 years for latent personal injury (Article 17). National law transposes it (Article 22)."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is the status table itself a legal document?",
      "a": "No. It is a summary. The legal evidence is the technical documentation, the declarations and the registers behind it, so every line in the table should point to them."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (consolidated text of 29 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02023R0988-20260529",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive 2014/35/EU on electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014L0035-20260530",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (consolidated text of 12 August 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R1020-20260812",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on liability for defective products",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L2853",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "retailer-proof",
    "documents-scattered",
    "complaints-register",
    "authority-letter",
    "no-technical-documentation"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-05",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}