Introduction
A person who suffers damage from a defective product, a faulty appliance, food or a toy, can hold the producer liable for it. The law provides a separate strict liability for this: the producer is liable for damage caused by a defect in their product, even without any blame on their part. Alongside this regime the ordinary law of tort remains available, and in a consumer sale the seller too remains liable; the product liability of the producer of a defective component does not detract from that (Supreme Court 26 November 2021, ECLI:NL:HR:2021:1757, on Article 7:24 DCC).
Strict liability of the producer (Section 6:185 DCC)
The producer is liable for the damage caused by a defect in their product (Article 6:185 DCC). The injured party need not prove fault, but must prove the defect, the damage and the connection between them. The concept of producer also covers the importer into the European Union and, where the manufacturer cannot be traced, the supplier.
When is a product defective
A product is defective where it does not offer the safety one is entitled to expect, having regard to its presentation, the use that can reasonably be expected and the moment at which it was put into circulation (Article 6:186 DCC). Not every product that causes damage is therefore defective; what matters is a lack of safety, not unsoundness in general.
Damage, time limits and who is liable
What is compensated is damage from death or personal injury and, above a threshold amount, damage to other property for private use. A claim is time-barred three years after awareness of the damage, the defect and the producer, and lapses in any event ten years after the product was put into circulation (Article 6:191 DCC). That lapse period is hard: after it the producer is no longer liable on this basis. Around that period, questions of demarcation arise, such as when a product was put into circulation and whether an item assembled from several components, such as a hip prosthesis, counts as a single product (Supreme Court 16 July 2021, ECLI:NL:HR:2021:1172).
What decides the outcome
The outcome is determined by the proof of the defect and the causal connection, and by whether action was taken within the time limits. A party seeking to recover damage from a product is well advised to secure the product and have the defect established by an expert before the period expires.