Chapter II: Liability for defective products

The manufacturer is liable for damage caused by a defect in its product, whether or not it has a contractual relationship with the victim.

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to compensation for damage resulting from injury to the person. They shall also apply to compensation for damage in excess of an amount determined by decree, resulting from injury to property other than the defective product itself. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to compensation for damage resulting from injury to the person. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to compensation…

A product is any movable property, even if it is incorporated into a building, including the products of the soil, animal husbandry, hunting and fishing. Electricity is considered a product.

A product is defective within the meaning of this chapter when it does not offer the safety which may legitimately be expected. In assessing the safety which may legitimately be expected, account must be taken of all the circumstances and in particular of the presentation of the product, the use which may reasonably be expected of it and the time at which it was put into circulation. A product cannot…

A product is put into circulation when the producer has voluntarily disposed of it. A product is only put into circulation once.

A producer, when acting in a professional capacity, is the manufacturer of a finished product, the producer of a raw material, the manufacturer of a component part. Any person acting in a professional capacity is treated in the same way as a producer for the purposes of this chapter: 1° Who presents himself as a producer by affixing his name, trade mark or other distinctive sign to the product; 2°…

If the producer cannot be identified, the seller, the lessor, with the exception of a financial lessor or a lessor assimilated to a financial lessor, or any other professional supplier, is liable for the safety defect in the product, under the same conditions as the producer, unless he designates his own supplier or the producer, within a period of three months from the date on which the victim’s claim was…

In the event of damage caused by a defect in a product incorporated into another, the producer of the component part and the producer who carried out the incorporation shall be jointly and severally liable. .

The claimant must prove the damage, the defect and the causal link between the defect and the damage.

The producer may be liable for the defect even though the product was manufactured in compliance with the rules of the trade or existing standards or was the subject of an administrative authorisation.