Germany's Right to Repair Law Takes Effect

Germany’s law implementing the EU’s Right to Repair directive entered into force on Thursday, 23 July 2026, the federal government confirmed in its own announcement. The law gives consumers a right to demand repair directly from a manufacturer, and it extends the standard 2-year statutory warranty to 3 years on any product a buyer chooses to have repaired instead of replaced.

This is Germany’s national implementation of EU Directive (EU) 2024/1799, which CompareHomeAppliances covered at the EU level when the directive’s own application deadline (31 July 2026) was confirmed. What is new here is that Germany’s actual national law, amending the Buergerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), has now passed both chambers of parliament and taken effect ahead of that EU deadline: the Bundestag adopted it on 25 June 2026 (CDU/CSU, SPD and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in favor; AfD, Die Linke and one Union member against), the Bundesrat approved it on 10 July 2026, and it was published and took effect on 23 July 2026.

What does the law actually change?

Three concrete changes apply from 23 July 2026:

1. A direct repair right against the manufacturer. Consumers can now demand a repair from the manufacturer itself, not only the retailer, for the “typical service life” of the product, a duration the law sets per product category.
2. A one-year warranty bonus for choosing repair. The government’s announcement names washing machines and refrigerators as its own examples: if a covered appliance breaks within its statutory 2-year warranty and the owner chooses repair, the warranty on that repaired item now runs for 3 years instead of 2.
3. A new legal definition of “defective.” If a type of product would normally be expected to be repairable and isn’t, that itself now counts as a Sachmangel (material defect) under German law, triggering the buyer’s warranty rights even if nothing else is wrong with the item.

The law also gives consumers the right to buy spare parts and tools from the manufacturer “at a reasonable price” for self-repair, so a buyer who is comfortable opening up their own appliance is not dependent on an authorized repair shop.

Why it matters for buyers

The practical effect for someone in Germany buying or already owning a washing machine, dishwasher or fridge: a repair chosen today is now a better financial bet than it was a week ago. A repaired appliance’s warranty clock resets to 3 years rather than 2, and a manufacturer that simply refuses to fix something repairable is now handing the owner a legal defect claim, not just a shrug.

CHA’s own coverage of the underlying EU ecodesign rules (10-year spare-parts availability for washing machines and dishwashers) and the EU Right to Repair Directive itself already describe the wider legal backdrop; this German law is the concrete mechanism that puts those EU-level rights into German consumers’ hands starting now, not on some future date. Anyone weighing a repair against a new purchase on a washing machine, dishwasher or refrigerator already in for warranty service should ask their repair shop or manufacturer directly whether this new 3-year extension applies to the job.