Business Contracts

Article 1615 of the Civil Code states that “the obligation to deliver the thing includes its accessories and everything intended for its perpetual use”. The seller's obligation to deliver in conformity therefore applies not only to the product as agreed between the parties, but also to its accessories, which must be delivered at the same time as the product, or very shortly thereafter , within the …

Conformity of accessories

Article 1615 of the Civil Code states that “the obligation to deliver the thing includes its accessories and everything intended for its perpetual use”. The seller's obligation to deliver in conformity therefore applies not only to the product as agreed between the parties, but also to its accessories, which must be delivered at the same time as the product, or very shortly thereafter , within the limits of what is contractually stipulated . 

The courts have adopted a very broad conception of the notion of accessory. Initially limited to material elements necessary for the use of the thing, such as the spare wheel of a vehicle or the instructions for use, operation and maintenance of the object , the concept of accessory has been extended to all administrative documents necessary for the normal use of the thing , such as, in the case of the sale of a motor vehicle, the registration document , the roadworthiness certificate of less than six months  and the title clearance certificate specified in Article R. 322-4, paragraph 5, of the Road Traffic Code . 

Furthermore, the term “accessory” includes the legal rights attached to the thing, and in particular, in the case of successive sales, the legal actions pertaining to the thing which belonged to its originator, so that the sub-purchaser of a good has a direct contractual action against the original seller based on the possible non-conformity of the thing delivered . Thus, the purchaser of a vehicle has a direct action against the car manufacturer for failure by its distributor to comply with the obligation to deliver . Similarly, when a contract for services (contrat d'entreprise) follows a contract of sale, the sub-purchaser, even if he is the client, is entitled to a direct contractual action for non-conformity against the supplier of the materials sold . In addition, a non-compete clause entered into by a member of a self-employed profession for the benefit of a colleague on the occasion of the transfer of the constituent parts of his practice must, unless otherwise stipulated, be presumed to be included in the rights transferred by the transferee when he in turn carries out the same transaction for the benefit of a third party . On the other hand, in the case of the forced sale of a property to a third party in the context of a real estate seizure auction, the successful bidder does not enjoy the rights and actions attached to the status of owner, so that he or she cannot sue for rescission of the sale on the grounds of the seller's failure to fulfil his or her obligation to deliver .

CA Amiens, 11 October 2012, LawLex201300000662JBJ (delivery of accessories one year and eleven months after the sale).

CA Riom, 5 January 2012, LawLex201300000616JBJ, holding that the purchaser of a vehicle cannot reproach the seller for having given him a registration document that did not mention the bio-ethanol fuel, when at the date of sale the manufacturers refused to approve bio-ethanol kits and it is not shown that the parties had nevertheless agreed, in contradiction with the rules then applicable, that the installation of the bio-ethanol kit should be able to be approved administratively.

Cass. 1re civ, 3 December 1996, LawLex202200000419JBJ.

CA Paris, 1 June 2018, LawLex201800000894JBJ.

CA Versailles, 2 April 2009, LawLex201300000501JBJ.

For a forage harvester delivered without authorization to circulate on the public highway, See, 29 October 2009, LawLex201300000504JBJ.

CA Douai, 4 March 2013, LawLex201300000512JBJ.

CA Douai, 10 October 2011, LawLex201300000518JBJ.

CA Bordeaux, 10 May 2012, LawLex201200000793JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ, 22 February 2000, LawLex202200000170JBJ; Cass. 1re civ, 20 May 2010, LawLex201300000508JBJ, specifying that the action for rescission resulting from the same lack of conformity is transmitted with the thing delivered, so that when it is exercised, on the one hand, by the sub-purchaser against the intermediary seller and against the original seller, in respect of which the sub-purchaser has a direct contractual action, on the other hand, by the intermediary seller against the original seller, only the action brought by the sub-purchaser can be upheld, the intermediary seller only being able to act against the original seller for the purpose of ensuring that he is not held liable; Cass. 3e civ, 30 September 2021, LawLex202100005513JBJ; CA Pau, 13 January 2009, LawLex201300000656JBJ; CA Paris, 18 February 2009. 

CA Versailles, 19 February 2015, LawLex201600000120JBJ, for a car manufacturer failing to comply with its obligation to deliver a conforming vehicle when it delivers a 2002 model vehicle while its distributor has contracted for a 2005 model.

Cass. ass. plén., 7 February 1986, LawLex200500005433JBJ; Cass. com, 21 January 2003, LawLex201600000114JBJ; CA Metz, 12 December 2013, LawLex201400001955JBJ.

Business Contracts

172. Conformity of accessories

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

172. Conformity of accessories

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise