Right to Repair Directive (EU) 2024/1799

Not directly. Directive (EU) 2024/1799 is a consumer directive. Under Article 1(2), it applies to the repair of goods purchased by consumers. A machine that a company buys for its operations is therefore outside its scope. There is a second limit: the manufacturers' repair obligation under Article 5 and the information duties under Article 6 apply only to goods for which the legal acts in Annex II lay down repairability requirements, and only to the extent those acts provide.

Annex II refers to ecodesign regulations for household washing machines and household dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, servers and data storage products, mobile phones and tablets, household tumble dryers and goods incorporating light means of transport batteries. Some of these products are also found in operations, such as servers, displays or welding equipment. A company buying them still has no repair claim of its own under the Directive.

Indirectly, the Directive still matters. It shapes rules on spare parts, tools and access for independent repairers, and it takes effect through German sales law, which brings its own change for contracts between businesses. More on that in the following answers.

At a consumer's request, it must repair goods from Annex II to the extent the acts listed there provide. The repair is carried out free of charge or for a reasonable price, within a reasonable period from the moment the manufacturer has physical possession of the good or has been given access to it. For the duration of the repair, it may lend a replacement good, free of charge or for a reasonable fee. Where repair is impossible, it may offer a refurbished good. It may sub-contract repairs but remains obliged itself. If a manufacturer is established outside the Union, the obligation falls first on its authorized representative in the Union, then on the importer, then on the distributor.

Information duties come on top. Manufacturers must show indicative prices for typical repairs on a freely accessible website. Spare parts and tools they make available must be offered at a price that does not deter repair.

All of this applies to consumers. Operators should therefore not treat the Directive as a basis for claims against plant manufacturers. It does show what counts as reasonable for consumer goods when prices for spare parts or repair services are negotiated. As a legal obligation, the Directive has been applicable in member states since 31 July 2026.

This is the part of the Directive that most affects the market for independent repair. Under Article 5(6), manufacturers must not use contractual clauses, hardware or software techniques that impede the repair of goods in Annex II unless justified by legitimate and objective factors, such as the protection of intellectual property rights. In particular, they must not impede the use of original, second-hand, compatible or 3D-printed spare parts by independent repairers where those parts conform to the law, for instance to product safety requirements.

Under paragraph 7, the manufacturer may not refuse a repair for the sole reason that another repairer carried out an earlier repair. Consumers may also choose any repairer they like.

For service companies, this is an argument in parts procurement and software access, as far as the goods fall under Annex II. Where plants and components do not, the rules help only as a benchmark. Then the contract is the tool: anyone buying plants should ask for commitments on spare part availability, tools and diagnostic access, and for a ban on software-based part pairing. For data from the plant, the Data Act additionally gives operators access to operating data.

Through the act implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1799 of 16 July 2026. It was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 22 July 2026 (2026 I No. 212) and entered into force the day after, on 23 July 2026. It mainly amends the Civil Code and adds a new subtitle after section 479, “Reparaturverpflichtung des Herstellers” (manufacturer's repair obligation), sections 479a to 479g.

Section 479a defines the scope. The subtitle applies to goods that belong to product groups of Annex II to the Directive, that a consumer has purchased and for which the consumer is not entitled to the rights under section 437. Under section 479b, the manufacturer must repair the goods at the consumer's request, within a reasonable period and so that they again serve their intended purpose. Section 479c requires reasonable prices for spare parts and tools, and section 479e prohibits hardware and software techniques that impede independent repair. Under section 479g, the manufacturer cannot rely on agreements that deviate to the consumer's disadvantage.

A transitional rule applies to contracts. For a sales contract concluded before 31 July 2026, the previous law continues to apply (Article 229 section 72 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code). Pure B2B plant purchases are not covered by sections 479a et seq., which concern consumer purchases.

The implementing act amended section 434(3) of the Civil Code, and that also affects sales contracts between businesses. The usual quality of an item, against which a defect is measured, now expressly includes quantity, quality and other characteristics, including durability, repairability, functionality, compatibility and safety. Repairability can thus play a role in future in the question of whether an item is defective.

For contracts between businesses, the change applies later. Under Article 229 section 72 of the Introductory Act, the rule that repairability is one of the other characteristics is to be applied only to sales contracts between businesses concluded after 31 December 2027. In addition, businesses may agree that quantity, quality or one or more of the named characteristics do not form part of the usual quality.

For plant purchases it follows: excluding repairability is allowed, but it affects later disputes. Buyers should expressly warrant repairability in the contract, with parts availability, documentation and access to diagnostic software. Sellers who want to exclude it should state that expressly in the contract.

Because the Directive gives no claims for commercial plants, the contract decides. One starting point is the benchmark the Directive sets for consumer goods: manufacturers that make spare parts and tools available offer them at a reasonable price that does not deter repair. That can be adopted as a contract clause for plants.

Commitments are useful on these points: the period for which spare parts are available, with an end date and advance notice before it runs out; lead times and price freezes or price caps for critical parts; access to documentation, circuit diagrams and maintenance manuals; access to tools and diagnostic software for the service company the operator commissions; no loss of warranty solely because an independent company carried out the repair; and no software-based pairing of spare parts to the manufacturer without an objective reason. Where parts tie data or parameters to the controller, data access under the Data Act complements the commitments.

When choosing between repair and replacement, compare quotes using clear assumptions about remaining service life, parts availability and follow-up costs. vi compares quotes for repair and replacement and flags spare-part commitments in purchase and service contracts.