What is Strict Products Liability?

Strict products liability involves the commercial sale of defective products because of either design or manufacture that are unreasonably dangerous and cause harm to the user.

What is Strict Products Liability?

Strict products liability involves the commercial sale of defective products. In most states, any retail, wholesale, or manufacturer who sells an unreasonably dangerous, defective product that causes injury to a user of the product is strictly liable.

This applies to commercial sellers who normally sell products like the one causing injury or who place them in the stream of commerce, such as suppliers of defective parts and companies that assemble a defective product.

There are two kinds of defects for purposes of strict product liability:

What are Production Defects?

A production defect occurs when products are not manufactured to a manufacturer’s own standards. Consumers of the defective product are later injured as a result of this variation from the manufacturer’s standards.

What are Design Defects?

A design defect occurs when a product is manufactured according to the manufacturer’s standards but is an unsafe design. The product injures a user due to its unsafe design.

If either of these defects makes the product unreasonably dangerous if used as intended, any seller of the product (from manufacturer to retailer) may be liable for an injury caused by the defective product.

Strict products liability is useful in protecting individual consumers who suffer personal injury or property damage.