Bill Text: CA SB244 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Right to Repair Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 704, Statutes of 2023. [SB244 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB244-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Right to Repair Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 704, Statutes of 2023. [SB244 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB244-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 244
| Introduced by Senator Eggman (Coauthors: Senators Dodd and Skinner) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Haney) |
January 25, 2023 |
An act to amend and renumber the heading of Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 42490) of, and to add Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 42488) to, Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste management.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 244, as introduced, Eggman.
Right to Repair Act.
Existing law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, provides a comprehensive set of procedures for the enforcement of express and implied warranties on consumer goods, as defined. Under existing law, every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, including televisions, radios, audio or video recording equipment, major home appliances, antennas, and rotators, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than $50 nor more than $99.99 is required to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 3 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 3-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. Existing law also requires every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an
electronic or appliance product, as described above, with a wholesale price to the retailer of $100 or more, to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 7 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 7-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
This bill would enact the Right to Repair Act. The bill would require, regardless of whether any express warranty is made, the manufacturer of an above-described electronic or appliance product, in the above-described circumstances, and in those same circumstances but sold to others outside of direct retail sales, to make available, on fair and reasonable terms, to product owners, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, the means, as described, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the product, as provided. The bill would also require a
service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer to provide a written notice containing specified information related to warranties to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product. The bill would also authorize a city, a county, a city and county, or the state to bring an action in superior court to impose civil penalties on a person or entity for violating the Right to Repair Act, as provided.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 42488) is added to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:CHAPTER 8.6. Right to Repair Act
42488.
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Right to Repair Act.42488.1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a fair marketplace for the repair of electronic equipment and to prohibit intentional barriers and limitations to third-party repair.42488.2.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product with a wholesale price to the retailer, or to others outside of direct retail sale, of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, sufficient service literature, at no charge, and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.(2) For products with a wholesale price to the retailer, or to others outside of direct retail sale, of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer shall also make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software, and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product with a wholesale price to the retailer, or to others outside of direct retail sale, of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers sufficient service literature, at no charge, and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(2) For products with a wholesale price to the retailer, or to others outside of direct retail sale, of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer
shall also make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software, and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(c) This section does not require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, except as may be necessary to provide service literature, documentation, tools, software, and parts on fair and reasonable terms.
(d) This section does not require the distribution of a product’s source code.
(e) A service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer shall provide a written notice to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product that contains the following information:
(1) The service and repair facility or service dealer is not a manufacturer authorized or affiliated service dealer for the product.
(2) The consumer may wish to review the terms and conditions of any warranty for the equipment, as repairs not performed by a designated authorized repair provider could potentially affect the warranty.
(3) Warranties for
consumer products are governed by the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (Chapter 50 (commencing with Section 2301) of Title 15 of the United States Code), which gives consumers rights and protections that apply over any conflicting provisions in the warranty.
(4) Under Magnuson-Moss, a warranty cannot require that maintenance and repairs be performed only by an authorized repair provider.
(5) Under Magnuson-Moss, if damage to equipment is shown to be caused by faulty nonbrand equipment or by faulty repair by a nonauthorized repair provider, that damage may not be covered by the warranty, but the warranty may otherwise remain in effect.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Electronic or appliance product” or “product” means a product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, and includes those products that are sold to schools, businesses, local governments, or in other methods outside of direct retail sale.
(2) (A) “Fair and reasonable terms” means at costs and terms that are equivalent to the most favorable costs and terms under which the manufacturer offers the part, tool, or documentation to an authorized service dealer, or to itself, if it does not have authorized service dealers, accounting for any discount, rebate, convenient and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or preference the manufacturer offers to an authorized service dealer, or any additional cost, burden, or
impediment the manufacturer imposes on an owner or independent service and repair facility or independent service dealer.
(B) For documentation, including any relevant updates, “fair and reasonable terms” also means at no charge, except that, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy.
(3) “Service dealer” has the same meaning as defined in Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code.
(4) “Trade secret” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of the Civil Code, or paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 499c of the Penal Code.
42488.3.
(a) A city, a county, a city and county, or the state may bring an action in superior court to impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violated this chapter, or reasonably should have known that it violated this chapter, in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day for the first violation of this chapter, two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day for the second violation, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for the third and subsequent violations.(b) Any civil penalties collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action. The penalties collected pursuant to this section by the
Attorney General may be expended by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce this chapter.
