{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "durability-repair-claims",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/durability-repair-claims/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/durability-repair-claims.md",
  "title": "We advertise durability or repairability",
  "description": "Lifetime and repair claims are banned when false since 27 September 2026, and repair duties apply to some products. What to check before you say it lasts.",
  "answer": "Since 27 September 2026, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive bans falsely claiming that a good lasts a certain usage time or intensity under normal use, and presenting a good as repairable when it is not. Back each claim with test or design evidence, align the information in your shop, and check whether the product carries repair duties under Directive (EU) 2024/1799.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "sustainability-claims",
    "label": "Sustainability and green claims"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "manufacturer",
      "label": "Manufacturer"
    },
    {
      "id": "online-seller",
      "label": "Online seller"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "ErP"
  ],
  "path": [
    "greenwashing-scanner",
    "knowledge-articles"
  ],
  "trigger": "Your product page, packaging or advertising says how long the product lasts, how many cycles it withstands, or that it can be repaired, and you want to keep saying it",
  "keep": null,
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "Durability and repair are now part of the consumer rules on commercial practices. Directive (EU) 2024/825 added durability, reparability and recyclability to the main characteristics in Article 6(1)(b) of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Directive 2005/29/EC, on which a practice can mislead. It also added practices that are unfair in all circumstances: falsely claiming that a good has a certain durability in usage time or intensity under normal conditions of use (Annex I point 23g), presenting a good as allowing repair when it does not (point 23h), and withholding information that non-original consumables, spare parts or accessories impair functionality, or falsely claiming that they do (point 23j). Member States apply these rules from 27 September 2026 (Directive (EU) 2024/825 Article 4(1)).",
      "sources": [
        1,
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The recitals explain the examples. A washing machine advertised for a number of washing cycles that it does not reach under the prescribed conditions is a false durability claim (recital 20), and presenting products as allowing repair when repair is not possible is banned (recital 21). Producers are generally expected to know whether such claims are true, while sellers should rely on reliable information from the producer or an authority.",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Directive (EU) 2024/825 also amended the Consumer Rights Directive, Directive 2011/83/EU. Before a contract, the trader gives the reparability score where applicable, or otherwise, where the producer makes it available, information on spare parts, their cost, repair instructions and repair restrictions; and information on a producer's commercial guarantee of durability and on the software update period (Articles 5(1) and 6(1) as amended).",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The Right to Repair Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/1799, applies from 31 July 2026 (Article 22). For goods with repairability requirements under the Union acts in Annex II, the manufacturer must repair on the consumer's request, to the extent those acts set repairability requirements, free of charge or for a reasonable price, unless repair is impossible (Articles 1(3) and 5(1) and (2)). The obligation covers defects outside the seller's liability (Article 1(2)). Spare parts and tools must be offered at a reasonable price (Article 5(4)), indicative repair prices must be on a free website (Article 5(5)), and techniques that impede repair are prohibited unless justified (Article 5(6)). All Annex II acts except the Batteries Regulation are ecodesign regulations adopted under Directive 2009/125/EC; Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/74 added domestic local space heaters as point 11. The directive also extends the seller's liability by 12 months when repair is chosen as the remedy, for contracts concluded from 31 July 2026 (Articles 16 and 21).",
      "sources": [
        3,
        5
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, product-specific delegated acts may require a repairability score, a durability score and repair information (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 Article 7(2)(b)).",
      "sources": [
        4
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Collect every durability and repair statement",
      "text": "List lifetime claims in years, hours or cycles, phrases such as 'built to last', promises about spare parts and repair, guarantee wording and statements about software updates, across packaging, product pages, marketplace listings and ads.",
      "item": "greenwashing-scanner"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tie each lifetime figure to normal conditions of use",
      "text": "A claim about usage time or intensity must hold under normal conditions of use, as described in your instructions. Keep the test reports or design data that show it. If the figure only holds under ideal conditions, say so on the same medium or drop it."
    },
    {
      "name": "Check that repair is actually possible",
      "text": "Before calling a product repairable, confirm that spare parts, tools and repair information are available to consumers or repairers. If they are not, remove the claim. Do not hide that non-original parts or consumables impair the product, and do not claim they do when they do not."
    },
    {
      "name": "Check whether the manufacturer must repair on request",
      "text": "For the product groups listed in Annex II of Directive (EU) 2024/1799, such as washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, displays, vacuum cleaners, phones, tablets and domestic local space heaters, the manufacturer must repair on request from 31 July 2026, to the extent the listed act sets repairability requirements. Outside the EU, the authorised representative, then the importer, then the distributor takes over the duty."
    },
    {
      "name": "Align the information shown before purchase",
      "text": "Show the reparability score where one applies; otherwise, where the producer provides it, information on spare parts, their cost, repair instructions and repair restrictions. Show a producer's commercial guarantee of durability and the software update period where the producer makes them available.",
      "item": "knowledge-articles"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "Test or design evidence for each durability claim, with the conditions of use",
      "from": "The producer or a test laboratory",
      "ground": "Directive 2005/29/EC Article 12 and Annex I point 23g"
    },
    {
      "name": "Evidence that spare parts, tools and repair information are available",
      "from": "The producer",
      "ground": "Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I point 23h; Directive 2011/83/EU Articles 5(1)(j) and 6(1)(v), as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/825"
    },
    {
      "name": "Indicative repair prices on a free website, for Annex II products",
      "from": "The manufacturer, or the party that holds its repair duty",
      "ground": "Directive (EU) 2024/1799 Article 5(5)"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "False durability and repair claims are banned outright",
      "text": "Falsely claiming that a good has a certain durability in usage time or intensity under normal conditions of use, and presenting a good as allowing repair when it does not, are unfair in all circumstances (Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I points 23g and 23h).",
      "source": 1
    },
    {
      "title": "A claim raises what the buyer can expect",
      "text": "Under the Sale of Goods Directive as amended, goods must have the durability and repairability normal for goods of the type that a consumer can reasonably expect, taking into account public statements by the seller or producer, particularly in advertising or labelling (Directive (EU) 2019/771 Article 7(1)(d), as replaced by Directive (EU) 2024/1799 Article 16, for sales contracts concluded from 31 July 2026 under Article 21).",
      "source": 3
    },
    {
      "title": "Misleading even when not on the banned list",
      "text": "Durability, reparability and recyclability are among the main characteristics on which a practice can mislead, through false information or overall presentation (Directive 2005/29/EC Article 6(1)(b)).",
      "source": 1
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "We are the retailer. Are we responsible for the producer's lifetime claim?",
      "a": "The recitals expect producers to know about false durability claims, while other traders such as sellers should rely on reliable information, for instance from the producer or a competent national authority (Directive (EU) 2024/825 recital 20). Keep the producer's information with the listing."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is a lifetime claim the same as a guarantee?",
      "a": "No. A commercial guarantee of durability is a producer's guarantee under which it is directly liable for repair or replacement during the whole period (Directive 2011/83/EU Article 2(14a), inserted by Directive (EU) 2024/825). Where the producer offers it at no additional cost for the entire good for more than two years and tells the trader, the trader shows it with a harmonised label (Directive 2011/83/EU Articles 5(1)(ea) and 6(1)(la))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Which products must the manufacturer repair?",
      "a": "Those for which Union acts in Annex II of Directive (EU) 2024/1799 set repairability requirements: washing machines and washer-dryers, dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, servers and data storage, phones and tablets, tumble dryers and goods with light means of transport batteries. Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/74 added an eleventh point, domestic local space heaters under Regulation (EU) 2024/1103, which Member States apply from 31 July 2026."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does choosing repair extend the legal guarantee?",
      "a": "Yes. Where repair is the remedy for a lack of conformity, the seller's liability period is extended once by 12 months (Directive (EU) 2019/771 Article 10(2a), inserted by Directive (EU) 2024/1799 Article 16). It applies to sales contracts concluded from 31 July 2026 (Article 21). Member States without fixed liability periods may instead ensure at least three years in the event of repair (Article 10(5a))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Will ecodesign rules require a repairability score?",
      "a": "They can. Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, delegated acts may require information on performance, including a repairability score or a durability score (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 Article 7(2)(b)(i)). The duty exists only where the act for your product group sets it."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20260927",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L0825",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on common rules promoting the repair of goods",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L1799",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for ecodesign requirements for sustainable products",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024R1781",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/74 amending Annex II to Directive (EU) 2024/1799 (domestic local space heaters)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026L0074",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "green-claim-no-evidence",
    "website-claims-audit",
    "ecodesign-requirements",
    "energy-label",
    "battery-removability"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-04",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}