French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The courts are less severe when faced with a purchaser who, although a professional, does not have the same level of knowledge as the seller or another purchaser in the same specialty as the latter . A professional purchaser who does not practice in the same specialty as the seller is not deemed to be aware of the defects of the thing at the time of the sale and the seller cannot enforce against a …

Purchaser in a different speciality

The courts consider that the buyer who has the same specialty as the seller is presumed to have detected any defects. Consequently, warranty disclaimer clauses or terms limiting the warranty against latent defects are enforceable . The classification as a “buyer of the same specialty” was retained, in particular, for the baker who acquired his business from another baker , for a garage owner buying a vehicle from another garage owner  or for parties who have already had relations, alternatively playing the role of subcontractor and contractor in the framework of public contracts . A manufacturer of machinery for forestry operators and a specialist seller in the trade of this type of equipment, which offers the former services, are also professionals in the same specialty . A multi-activity distribution company that claims on its website to be a specialist in the sale of electrical appliances may also be recognized as being in the same specialty as a washing machine manufacturer, and can enforce a clause limiting the warranty .

However, this presumption is not irrebuttable, unlike for professional sellers, and can be reversed. Thus, the presumption of knowledge of the defect is removed when the buyer of the same specialty as his seller is confronted with an undetectable defect  or when it is established that the seller was in bad faith at the time of the sale . This is the case for a seller aware of the defect having concealed it from the buyer  or who repaired the defective item in disregard of professional practices and the recommendations of an expert before reselling it .

  CA Paris, 26 February 1999, LawLex200600001782JBJ, sale between fabric professionals; Cass. 1re civ., 3 October 2000, LawLex200700000837JBJ; especially when the buyer is confronted with an occasional seller. See also Cass. 1re civ., 27 November 2019, LawLex201900001516JBJ.

   CA Douai, 27 January 2005, LawLex200700000849JBJ.

  Cass. com., 23 June 1992, LawLex200500005476JBJ; 3 February 1998, LawLex200500004305JBJ.

   CA Paris, 6 December 2002, LawLex200700000841JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 27 November 2019, LawLex201900001516JBJ.

   CA Poitiers, 27 November 2013, LawLex201400001642JBJ.

  Cass. com., 22 June 1993, LawLex200500004344JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 14 January 1997, LawLex200300003026JBJ, even if the purchaser took a risk in using an innovative product;  CA Paris, 4 February 1997, LawLex200700000844JBJ; Cass. com., 23 November 1999, LawLex200500004308JBJ;  CA Pau, 23 November 1999, LawLex200700000848JBJ; CA Amiens, 31 January 2019, LawLex201900000171JBJ, defect undetectable without inspections that are not customarily required.

 Cass. 3e civ., 7 March 1990, LawLex200500005451JBJ; Cass. com., 24 November 1992, LawLex200500004341JBJ.

 Cass. com., 7 November 2006, LawLex200700000790JBJ.

  Cass. 1re civ., 13 December 2005, LawLex200600001647JBJ; see also CA Pau, 29 October 2019, LawLex201900001313JBJ, defect resulting from the installation, by the seller, of non-compliant equipment on the vehicle sold.

Purchaser in the same speciality

The courts are less severe when faced with a purchaser who, although a professional, does not have the same level of knowledge as the seller or another purchaser in the same specialty as the latter . A professional purchaser who does not practice in the same specialty as the seller is not deemed to be aware of the defects of the thing at the time of the sale and the seller cannot enforce against a limitation of liability clause when he does not have the necessary technical expertise to detect the defects affecting the thing sold .

The status of “purchaser of a different specialty” is attributed to the buyer who carries on his professional activity in a field other than that of the seller. This is the case for a farmer who buys from a nursery owner , a seller of farm machinery , a real estate company that contracts with a mason having built a defective roof , the ball-bearing manufacturer who acts against a company specializing in plastics , a carpenter who acts against an electrician , a company that manufactures and sells ready-mixed concrete that it purchases from a truck sales professional  or a company that produces electricity that makes a warranty claim against a wind turbine manufacturer .

The court may also recognize a different specialty to parties who, although practicing in the same field, implement technical skills that are not comparable. Hence, the activity of hirer of construction vehicles of all makes, carried out by a company which entrusts the maintenance of the vehicles to its lessees, does not have the same activity as the dealer who buys to sell and carries out repair works . The solution also applies to the financial lessor  or the used car dealer  in its dealings with a car dealership. Similarly, a manufacturer of transformers cannot be subjected to a warranty disclaimer clause by the manufacturer of adjusters .

  Cass. 1re civ., 8 October 1991, LawLex200500005460JBJ, rejecting the application of a clause giving the purchaser a shorter period of time than the statutory requirement of Article 1648 of the Civil Code to bring an action for latent defects.

 Cass. com., 19 March 2013, LawLex201300000706JBJ; Cass. 3e civ., 5 December 2006, LawLex200700000894JBJ; CA Bourges, 15 January 2009, LawLex201200001813JBJ.

 CA Lyon, 4 June 2009, LawLex201200001887JBJ.

 Cass. com., 18 February 1997, LawLex200500003689JBJ.

 Cass. 1re civ., 20 February 1996, LawLex200500003848JBJ.

 Cass. 1re civ., 27 January 1993, LawLex200500005482JBJ, defects affecting pear tree plants. 

CA Amiens, 31 January 2019, LawLex201900000171JBJ.

 Cass. 3e civ., 27 September 2000, LawLex200500004356JBJ.

 CA Rennes, 8 April 2010, LawLex201200001831JBJ.

  CA Agen, 7 November 2011, LawLex201200000921JBJ.

 CA Poitiers, 27 January 2012, LawLex201200001604JBJ

 CA Montpellier, 10 January 2012, LawLex201200001893JBJ.

 CA Grenoble, 22 June 2005, LawLex200600001716JBJ.

French Consumer Law

641. Purchaser in a different speciality

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Les notions juridiques connexes

641. Purchaser in a different speciality

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise