Business Contracts

In principle, the requirement that a defect be inherent in the item sold rules out the possibility of relying on a defect caused, in whole or in part, by a factor external to it.
Even if weather-based or geological factors can be the cause of defects affecting a perfectly sound thing, courts generally refuse to apply the warranty against latent defects caused by regional climatic factors  - unless …

External factors

In principle, the requirement that a defect be inherent in the item sold rules out the possibility of relying on a defect caused, in whole or in part, by a factor external to it.

Even if weather-based or geological factors can be the cause of defects affecting a perfectly sound thing, courts generally refuse to apply the warranty against latent defects caused by regional climatic factors  - unless they predate the sale  -, by disease  , by the interaction of the thing with atmospheric air  or, in the case of corrosion affecting parts of a ship, by the saline environment . However, in a recent ruling, the Court of Cassation seemed to adopt a broader approach to the notion of inherent defect, holding that a natural external phenomenon, the occurrence of which is unforeseeable, such as the stranding of Sargasso seaweed, may constitute a latent defect . 

Furthermore, the combination of two incompatible products does not entitle the buyer to take action against the seller, since each item, taken separately, is fit for its intended purpose. This is the case for the incompatibility of one drug with another , or of two materials supplied by different manufacturers, resulting in problems affecting the finished product . Similarly, the seller of evaporators cannot be held liable when the defect complained of is not inherent to the evaporator itself, but to the characteristics of the water used . Finally, incompatibility arising after the sale, following a change of operator, is not covered by the warranty against latent defects, since the requirement of pre-existence of the defect is not met . On the other hand, the warranty is owed when the manufacturer itself has wrongly assured the purchaser that its product was compatible with another , or when, knowing the intended use of the materials and unable to ignore the phenomenon of incompatibility between them, it fails to inform the purchaser accordingly . Similarly, the impossibility of listening to a CD on certain media constitutes an inherent defect, and not a defect in the medium, when it is probably the result of the anti-copying system incorporated into the disc .

Lastly, failure to comply with existing standards may represent a latent defect , provided that these standards were applicable at the time of sale  , or do not constitute standards such as electrical standards, which often vary over time . Conversely, compliance with a standard is not sufficient to relieve the seller of the warranty for latent defects .

Cass. 1re civ., July 15, 1999, LawLex200500004311JBJ: beet seeds are not defective when the poor quality of the harvest can be attributed to regional climatic factors.

Cass. 1re civ, 25 January 2005, LawLex200600002142JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ, 31 January 1990, LawLex200500005449JBJ.

CA Paris, 16 May 2007, LawLex201200001811JBJ.

CA Versailles, 15 April 2005, LawLex200500005767JBJ.

CA Bordeaux, 25 January 2012, LawLex201200001667JBJ; CA Reims, 13 February 2018, LawLex201800000329JBJ: wind turbine free of manufacturing or design defects but unable to operate on the French power grid due to unsuitable connection voltage.

Chambéry, 3 May 2012, LawLex201200001552JBJ, regarding the absence of cold heading on the chassis of a 4x4 vehicle.

CA Douai, 18 December 2006, LawLex200700000722JBJ.

CA Douai, 11 October 2018, LawLex201800001529JBJ.

CA Bordeaux, 6 June 2005, LawLex200700000513JBJ, loss of effectiveness of a bactericide resulting from a disease affecting the plant.

Cass. com. 3 January 1991, LawLex200500005453JBJ: the warranty is not due when the damage caused by a floor cleaning product is not due to an inherent defect, but to the product's interaction with atmospheric air.

CA Pau, October 3, 2012, LawLex201300000239JBJ.  See also. CA Paris, 10 October 2019, LawLex201900001221JBJ, holding that the phenomenon of corrosion constitutes by definition a fact external to the thing sold, which excludes the exercise of the warranty against latent defects.

Cass. 3e civ, June 16, 2022, LawLex202200003135JBJ, holding that a court of appeal cannot reject a claim for rescission of the sale on the grounds that an external, natural phenomenon, the occurrence of which was unforeseeable, does not constitute a latent defect, without adding to the law a restriction that it does not contain.

Cass. 1re civ, 8 April 1986, LawLex200500006104JBJ.

CA Lyon, 27 May 2004, LawLex200700000515JBJ; CA Montpellier, 13 March 2012, LawLex201200001644JBJ: the appearance of disorders at the stage of concrete manufacture alone, resulting from the association and interaction of multiple parameters, in this case alkalinity, the dosage of cement sold and the high humidity of the reservoir, i.e. factors unrelated to the cement alone, rule out any action in warranty against latent defects, which are necessarily inherent in the thing itself.

Cass. civ. 1re, 15 November 1988, LawLex200700000493JBJ.

CA Amiens, 19 June 2012, LawLex201200001522JBJ, incompatibility between a decoder and a new subscription card that makes it impossible to receive a digital television network.

Business Contracts

199. External factors

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

199. External factors

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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