Product Liability: Liability of the supplier

Liability of the Supplier

The supplier is the producer of a subproduct. He must therefore be responsible for any hazards emanating from his subproduct.

The design obligations for the supplied parts depend to a certain extent on the purchaser’s safety expectations. If the supplier knows the intended use of the end product, he must manufacture an appropriate part. He must also consider any known or conceivable misuse of the end product by the end user. In particular he must comply with the prescribed specifications and quality assurance requirements of his client.

The supplier is also obliged to warn his client of any hazards associated with the supplied product, which will not be generally known in the end producer’s own industry. The supplier must provide plain answers to his client’s inquiries about specific hazards. However, the supplier may plead ignorance to questions regarding product suitability, provided there is no further duty of disclosure.

 The Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) decided as follows: A producer purchased 25 kg hobbocks, i.e. metal buckets with two movable carry handles, from a supplier. A painter had an accident while carrying one of these hobbocks, which he had filled with a 50 kg plastic mass. The end producer had previously asked the supplier whether the bucket could carry a 50 kg load. The supplier replied that the bucket was suitable for 25 kg and if he wished to fill it with 50 kg, that was his decision. The FCJ decided that the supplier was entitled to give this reply, from which it was clear that the suitability of the product was only assured up to a 25 kg load.