Produktansvar i Nederland: hvem er ansvarlig og hva kan du kreve?

If a defective product causes damage in the Netherlands, the producer is liable without you having to prove fault: you only need to show the defect, the damage and the causal link. The main exception concerns the type of loss: damage to the defective product itself and pure economic loss, such as lost profit, fall outside this regime and must be claimed under the contract or in tort.

The rules are in Articles 6:185 to 6:193 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW), which implement the European product liability directive of 1985 (85/374/EEC). Death and personal injury are covered, and so is damage to other property intended for private use, with a deductible (franchise) of €500.

Hvilke juridiske ruter fører til erstatning?

There are three: strict product liability (productaansprakelijkheid) against the producer, a contractual claim against the seller, and a claim in tort. You can combine them in one case.

The strict regime of Articles 6:185 BW and following applies to movable products, including electricity and components; immovable property and services fall outside it. Liability towards the injured party cannot be excluded or limited by contract, unlike ordinary commercial ansvarsbegrensning klausuler.

A buyer whose product does not conform to the contract (non-conformiteit) has a claim against the seller, for repair, replacement, price reduction or termination. This route also covers pure economic loss, but only against the party you contracted with; see our article on selgers ansvar for skjulte mangler.

Tort (onrechtmatige daad) under Article 6:162 BW requires unlawful conduct attributable to the defendant. You use it where the strict regime does not reach: pure economic loss, damage to goods used professionally, claims against a party who is not a producer, or claims after the ten-year expiry period has ended. Damage to the defective product itself is never recoverable under the strict regime; that is a contractual matter.

Når er et produkt defekt?

Et produkt er defekt dersom det ikke tilbyr den sikkerheten en person har rett til å forvente, tatt i betraktning alle omstendigheter. Sikkerhet er testen, ikke kvalitet.

The statute names three circumstances in particular: the presentation of the product, the use that can reasonably be expected of it, and the moment it was put into circulation. Practice distinguishes manufacturing defects (one item deviates from the design), design defects (the whole series is affected) and instruction or warning defects (the product is supplied without the information needed to use it safely, for example without warnings in Dutch).

Reasonably expected use includes foreseeable misuse: a ladder will be used on uneven ground and a child product will be handled by children. A product does not become defective merely because a safer product was later put on the market.

Beskytter overholdelse av sikkerhetsstandarder produsenten?

It helps, but it is not conclusive. A court can still find a product defective despite full compliance with harmonised standards and a CE marking.

Compliance is evidence that the producer acted with care, and it is often the first thing an expert looks at. Conversely, breach of a mandatory safety requirement is a strong indicator of a defect and can also found a claim in tort.

Hvem kan holdes ansvarlig?

The producer is the primary addressee. The law also treats own-branders, importers into the European Economic Area (EEA) and, where the producer is unknown, suppliers as producers.

The producer includes the manufacturer of the finished product, of a raw material and of a component. Anyone who puts their name or trade mark on the product is treated as the producer as well, which catches private-label retailers and brand owners who outsource manufacturing.

Anyone who imports a product into the EEA in the course of business is treated as a producer. A Dutch importer of goods from outside the EU therefore carries the full strict liability of the foreign factory; an indemnity from that factory only helps if it is solvent and can be sued.

If the producer cannot be identified, each supplier in the chain is treated as the producer, unless it tells the injured party within a reasonable period who the producer or its own supplier is. Where several parties are liable for the same damage, they are jointly and severally liable (hoofdelijk aansprakelijk) and settle the internal apportionment afterwards.

Online sales have widened the field. A marketplace that imports or brands the goods it sells is a producer on the ordinary rules. Within corporate groups, the rules on styremedlemmers personlige ansvar og på aksjonærenes ansvar decide who bears the exposure.

Hva kan du påstå?

The strict regime covers two categories: death or personal injury, and damage to other property used privately (Article 6:190 BW). Pure economic loss is not covered.

Damage from death or personal injury is compensable without any threshold. If you have been injured, the injury claim itself is best handled by a personal-injury specialist; we deal with the product, contract and business side of the case.

Damage to property other than the defective product is covered if the item is of a kind ordinarily intended for private use and you used it mainly privately, subject to the €500 deductible. A business whose own goods are damaged must rely on contract or tort.

Hva med tapt fortjeneste og driftsavbrudd?

Dette er rent økonomisk tap og faller utenfor det strenge regimet. Du kan kreve dem gjort gjeldende i henhold til kontrakten eller erstatningsansvaret.

Lost profit, business interruption, recall costs and the reduced value of a production run can be substantial when a supplied component fails. That is a claim against the supplier under the supply contract and its general terms, not a product liability claim, which changes the limitation period, the burden of proof and the defences. See our page on hvordan man kan kreve erstatning i Nederland. Dutch law awards no punitive damages, and contributory fault (eigen schuld) of the injured party reduces the award.

Hva må du bevise?

Du må bevise mangelen, skaden og årsakssammenhengen. Du trenger ikke å bevise uaktsomhet.

Technical evidence usually decides these cases, so secure it immediately: keep the product unrepaired, photograph it in place, keep the packaging, manual and receipt, and record every cost. A product that has been thrown away or repaired often ends the claim. A court can appoint an independent expert, and you can apply for a preliminary expert report or examination of witnesses before proceedings start; since the reform of the law of evidence of 1 January 2025 you can also request inspection of specific documents held by the other side.

Hvilke frister gjelder?

Under Article 6:191 BW you have three years from the day after you knew, or should have known, of the damage, the defect and the identity of the producer. Separately, your right expires ten years after the producer put the product into circulation.

The ten-year period cannot be stopped by a letter: only proceedings against the producer, started before it ends, keep the claim alive. Claims in contract or tort follow Article 3:310 BW: five years from awareness, with an absolute limit of twenty years, and a written interruption under Article 3:317 BW stops that period running.

Hvordan foregår et krav i praksis?

De fleste krav starter med et brev som holder produsenten eller selgeren ansvarlig og ender i forhandlinger med ansvarsforsikringsselskapet. Først hvis det mislykkes, går saken til retten.

The letter describes the product, the incident, the damage and the legal basis, and interrupts limitation where the law allows. Insurers often appoint their own expert and settle where the file is strong. Without a settlement, you go to the district court (rechtbank), or to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) for claims up to €25,000, where you do not need a lawyer. The losing party pays a fixed contribution to the other side’s legal costs (liquidatietarief), not the full costs, and expert reports are usually advanced by the claimant. The general course of proceedings is set out in our overview of Nederlandsk rettslig rett.

Hvilke forsvarsargumenter kan en produsent fremsette?

The defences are listed exhaustively in Article 6:185 BW, and the producer must prove them. The best known is the development risk defence.

Produsenten er ikke ansvarlig dersom:

• it did not put the product into circulation, for example where goods were stolen;
• the defect probably did not exist when the product was put into circulation, or arose later;
• the product was neither made for sale or distribution for economic purposes, nor made or distributed in the course of its business;
• mangelen skyldes overholdelse av obligatoriske regler gitt av offentlige myndigheter;
• the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time did not make it possible to discover the defect (development risk defence);
• as a component manufacturer, the defect is due to the design of the end product or the instructions of its manufacturer.

The development risk test is objective: it looks at the most advanced knowledge available anywhere, not at what the individual producer knew. The Netherlands kept this defence under the 1985 directive, and the new directive keeps it too, with a limited option for Member States to derogate (Article 18 of Directive (EU) 2024/2853). Towards the injured party, liability cannot be limited by contract; within the supply chain, indemnities, caps and insurance obligations are normal and allowed.

Hvem fører tilsyn med produktsikkerheten, og når er en tilbakekalling nødvendig?

Public product safety law imposes duties before anyone is injured. The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 has applied since 13 December 2024, alongside the Dutch Commodities Act (Warenwet) and sector rules for machinery, toys, medical devices and radio equipment.

The regulation requires a responsible economic operator in the EU for every product and imposes traceability duties on manufacturers, importers, distributors and online marketplaces. Supervision is divided: the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) for food and consumer products, the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) for medicines and medical devices, the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure (RDI) for radio equipment, the Netherlands Labour Authority for work equipment, and the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for commercial practices. Serious NVWA cases can be dealt with under strafferett.

A producer or importer that knows or ought to know a product is unsafe must notify the authorities through the European Safety Business Gateway and take corrective action, even before the product reaches consumers. A recall notice must be recognisable as a safety warning and explain the risk in plain language. Under Article 37 of the regulation, consumers must in principle be offered at least two of repair, replacement and an adequate refund.

Hvordan fungerer kollektive erstatningskrav for masseskader?

Where one product harms many people, a representative foundation or association can claim damages for the whole group under the WAMCA, in force since 1 January 2020 for events on or after 15 November 2016.

The organisation must meet strict requirements on governance, funding and representativeness. Actions are entered in a central register, the court appoints one exclusive representative, and injured parties in the Netherlands are bound unless they opt out within the period the court sets; parties abroad generally have to opt in. A settlement outside proceedings can be declared binding by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal under the collective settlement act (WCAM). See our page on kollektive krav i tilfeller av masseskade.

Hvilke endringer skjer under det nye produktansvarsdirektivet?

Directive (EU) 2024/2853 replaces the 1985 directive and applies to products placed on the market or put into service after 9 December 2026. Older products remain under the current rules, so both regimes will run side by side for years.

Member States must transpose the directive by 9 December 2026; until the Dutch implementing act takes effect, the current articles of the Civil Code apply. The main changes:

• Software, embedded or standalone, and digital manufacturing files are products; integrated digital services fall within the scope.
• A party that substantially modifies a product, including through a software update, can be treated as its producer, and failure to supply security updates counts in the defect assessment.
• Authorised representatives, fulfilment service providers and, in defined cases, online platforms can be addressed where no EU operator can be identified.
• Courts can order disclosure of evidence, and rebuttable presumptions of defect and causation apply in defined situations.
• The €500 deductible disappears; destruction of data and medically recognised psychological harm become compensable; the ten-year period becomes 25 years for latent personal injury (Article 17).

Hva bør du sjekke som skadelidt?

Your position depends on evidence and dates. Check these points as soon as the damage occurs.

• Have you kept the product, unrepaired, with packaging, manual and receipt, and photographed the scene?
• Is the damage personal injury or private property (strict regime), or business or pure economic loss (contract or tort)?
• Who is the producer, importer or own-brander, and if unknown, which supplier sold it to you?
• When does the three-year period of Article 6:191 BW end, and when was the product put into circulation?
• Have you reported a dangerous product to the NVWA or the relevant supervisor?

What should you check as a producer or importer?

Your exposure is decided by the documents you keep today. Check these points before a claim arrives.

• Are technical files, risk assessments, test results and batch traceability complete and retrievable?
• Are instructions and warnings complete and available in Dutch for the Dutch market?
• Do your supply contracts contain indemnities, insurance obligations and audit rights against non-EU suppliers?
• Does your liability insurance cover product claims and recall costs, and do you notify claims immediately?
• Are you ready for software, security updates and disclosure duties under Directive (EU) 2024/2853 from 9 December 2026?

What can we do for you with product liability?

Våre bedriftsadvokater og advokater for ansvar act for businesses and consumers on both sides of these claims:

• We assess which route applies to each item of loss: strict liability, contract or tort.
• We draft the letter holding the producer, importer or seller liable and interrupting limitation.
• We apply for a preliminary expert report or document inspection before proceedings.
• We review supply contracts, general terms and indemnities against the new directive.
• We advise on notification to the NVWA and on a recall, and on joining a collective action.
• We defend producers and importers against claims, together with their insurer.

Sammendrag

• Under Articles 6:185 to 6:193 BW the producer is liable for a defective product without fault; you prove the defect, the damage and the causal link.
• The strict regime covers death, personal injury and damage to other private property (with a €500 deductible). Damage to the product itself and pure economic loss require a contractual or tort claim.
• Importører til EØS, egne merkevarer og, hvis produsenten er ukjent, leverandører kan holdes ansvarlige som produsenter.
• Du har tre år fra du er klar over det, og retten utløper ti år etter at produktet ble satt i omløp; bare saksbehandlingen stopper tiårsperioden.
• Directive (EU) 2024/2853 applies to products placed on the market after 9 December 2026, covers software, adds disclosure duties and presumptions, and removes the €500 deductible.

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