We dedicated our previous circular to general information regarding the new legal regulation of the quality guarantee. We mentioned that the quality guarantee must necessarily be distinguished from the “ordinary” statutory liability of the seller for defects in goods, under which the seller is, inter alia, liable to the consumer for a defect that “manifests itself on the item within two years of taking delivery”. Therefore, only those cases where additional rights are provided to the buyer beyond his statutory rights arising from liability for defects constitute a guarantee (a quality guarantee cannot be provided in respect of those rights which the buyer already has directly under law). In this legal circular, we shall address certain other aspects of this institute.

The quality guarantee may be provided by the seller (or another person) both to a consumer (B2C) and to other persons, for example entrepreneurs (B2B). The legal regulation is identical in all cases, with the exception of the content requirements of the guarantee certificate, which apply only in consumer relationships (see below). In any event, it is necessary for the guarantee provider to define what the guarantee actually consists of, that is, to define the extent to which the buyer is favoured by the provision of the guarantee compared to the statutory regulation of the seller’s liability for defects.

The guarantee may be provided contractually, by a unilateral declaration addressed to the buyer, by a unilateral unaddressed declaration “made in advertising available no later than at the moment of conclusion of the contract of sale”, or by stating “the guarantee period or the period of usability of the item on the packaging of the item”. In this area, traders should therefore exercise increased caution to ensure that they do not provide a guarantee even if they did not intend to do so at all. It also applies that “where declarations concerning the guarantee specify different guarantee periods, the longest period thereof shall apply.” The guarantee period runs from the handover of the item to the buyer and, in the case of mail order sales, from the moment “the item arrives at the place of destination.” Also in the area of guarantee liability, the principle applies that in the event of a justified complaint, the guarantee period is suspended (does not run) for such period during which the buyer “cannot use the defective item.” This means that in these situations, the guarantee period may be extended.

As already outlined above, the so-called button amendment brought content requirements for the guarantee certificate itself into the Czech legal order (from 6 January 2023). Specifically, this legal regulation was incorporated into the special provisions on the sale of goods to consumers, when Section 2174a(1) of the Civil Code establishes that: “The guarantee provider shall issue to the buyer, no later than upon taking delivery of the item, confirmation of the quality guarantee (guarantee certificate) in text form.” This means that the guarantee certificate may also be issued to the consumer in electronic form. Furthermore, according to this provision, “The guarantee certificate must be drafted in clear and comprehensible language and must contain a) a statement that the buyer has a statutory right vis-à-vis the seller to free remedy and that this right is not affected by the quality guarantee, and b) identification of the item to which the guarantee relates, the content of the guarantee, the name and address or registered office of the guarantee provider, the procedure for asserting rights under the guarantee, and the conditions of the guarantee.” Therefore, even in the guarantee certificate, it is necessary to inform the consumer that his statutory rights arising from liability for defects are not affected in any way by the guarantee provided.

Josef Aujezdsky

This text was originally prepared by the law firm Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský in cooperation with the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) as legal circular No. 04/2024 intended for members of this association.

This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.