Conditions générales de vente

Extract from the French Consumer Code

Article L. 217-4 : ""The seller delivers goods in conformity with the contract and is responsible for any defects in conformity existing at the time of delivery.

He is also liable for any lack of conformity resulting from the packaging, assembly instructions or installation when the latter was made his responsibility by the contract or was carried out under his responsibility."

Article L. 217-5 :"The goods conform to the contract:

1° If it is fit for the purpose usually expected of similar goods and, where applicable:

- if it corresponds to the description given by the seller and possesses the qualities that the seller presented to the buyer in the form of a sample or model;

- if it has the qualities that a buyer may legitimately expect, having regard to public statements made by the seller, the producer or his representative, particularly in advertising or labelling;

2° Or if it has the characteristics defined by mutual agreement between the parties or is suitable for any special use sought by the buyer, brought to the seller's attention and accepted by the latter."

Article L. 217-6 :"The seller is not bound by the public declarations of the producer or his representative if it is established that he did not know them and was not legitimately in a position to know them".

Article L. 217-7 : "Conformity defects which appear within twenty-four months of delivery of the goods are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery, unless proven otherwise. For goods sold second-hand, this period is six months. The seller may rebut this presumption if it is not compatible with the nature of the good or the lack of conformity claimed."

Article L. 217-8 :"The buyer has the right to demand that the goods conform to the contract. He may not, however, contest conformity by invoking a defect of which he was aware or could not have been unaware when he entered into the contract. The same applies when the defect is due to materials supplied by the purchaser.

Article L. 217-9 :  "In the event of a lack of conformity, the buyer may choose between repair and replacement. However, the seller may not proceed according to the buyer's choice if this choice entails a cost that is manifestly disproportionate to the other option, taking into account the value of the good or the importance of the defect. He is then obliged to proceed, unless this is impossible, according to the method not chosen by the buyer."

Article L. 217-10 : "If repair or replacement of the good is impossible, the buyer may return the good and have the price refunded, or keep the good and have part of the price refunded. The same option is open to him: 1° If the solution requested, proposed or agreed in application of article L. 217-9 cannot be implemented within one month of the buyer's complaint; 2° Or if this solution cannot be implemented without major inconvenience for the buyer, given the nature of the good and its intended use. However, the sale may not be rescinded if the lack of conformity is minor."

Article L. 217-11 : The application of the provisions of articles L. 217-9 and L. 217-10 is at no cost to the buyer. These same provisions do not preclude the award of damages.

Article L. 217-12 :  "Action resulting from a lack of conformity is barred after two years from delivery of the goods.

Article L. 217-13 : "The provisions of the present section do not deprive the purchaser of the right to bring an action resulting from redhibitory defects, as provided for in articles 1641 to 1649 of the French Civil Code, or any other action of a contractual or extra-contractual nature recognized by law."

Article L. 217-14 :"The final seller may take recourse action against successive sellers or intermediaries and the producer of the tangible personal property, in accordance with the principles of the Civil Code.

Article L. 217-15 :  "A commercial guarantee is any contractual commitment by a professional to a consumer to reimburse the purchase price, replace or repair the good, or provide any other service related to the good, in addition to his legal obligations to guarantee the conformity of the good. 

The commercial warranty is the subject of a written contract, a copy of which is given to the purchaser. 

The contract specifies the content of the warranty, how it is to be implemented, its price, duration and territorial scope, as well as the name and address of the guarantor. 

In addition, it clearly and precisely states that, independently of the commercial warranty, the seller remains bound by the legal warranty of conformity mentioned in articles L. 217-4 to L. 217-12 and that relating to defects in the item sold, under the conditions set out in articles 1641 to 1648 and 2232 of the French Civil Code.

 The provisions of articles L. 217-4, L. 217-5, L. 217-12 and L. 217-16 as well as article 1641 and the first paragraph of article 1648 of the French Civil Code are reproduced in full in the contract. 

In the event of failure to comply with these provisions, the warranty remains valid. The purchaser is entitled to avail himself of it."

Article L. 217-16 :"When the buyer asks the seller, during the course of the commercial warranty granted to him at the time of the purchase or repair of a movable good, for a repair covered by the warranty, any period of immobilization of at least seven days is added to the remaining warranty period.

This period runs from the date of the buyer's request for repair or from the date the item in question is made available for repair, if the item is made available after the request for repair.

Extract from the Civil Code

Article 1641 :  "The seller is liable for any hidden defects in the item sold which render it unfit for its intended use, or which so diminish that use that the buyer would not have purchased it, or would have paid a lower price for it, had he known of them."

Article 1648 :  "The action resulting from redhibitory defects must be brought by the purchaser within two years of the discovery of the defect. In the case provided for in article 1642-1, the action must be brought, on pain of foreclosure, within one year of the date on which the seller can be discharged of the apparent" defects or lack of conformity.