California’s Right to Repair Act, known as SB 244, took effect on July 1, 2024 and requires manufacturers of most electronics and appliances to sell repair documentation, functional parts, and tools to product owners and independent repair shops on the same terms they offer their own authorized service providers.1Department of Consumer Affairs. Bureau of Household Goods and Services – Right to Repair Act Industry Advisory The obligation runs for three or seven years after a model was last manufactured, depending on price, and it applies whether or not the product came with a warranty.
What Manufacturers Have to Provide
The law covers three things: repair documentation, functional replacement parts, and the tools needed to complete a repair.2California Legislative Information. SB-244 Right to Repair Act All three must be offered on “fair and reasonable terms,” which SB 244 defines as costs and conditions equivalent to the most favorable terms the manufacturer gives its own authorized repair providers.1Department of Consumer Affairs. Bureau of Household Goods and Services – Right to Repair Act Industry Advisory In practice, an independent shop cannot be charged more for a replacement screen than the manufacturer’s certified repair center pays for the same part.
Materials also have to be kept current. Documentation, parts, and tools must include any updates the manufacturer issues, so repair professionals and consumers always have access to the latest diagnostic information and replacement components.3California State Assembly. SB 244 – Right to Repair Act
The Act also adds product owners themselves to the list of people entitled to these materials, alongside independent repair facilities and service dealers.3California State Assembly. SB 244 – Right to Repair Act If you want to fix your own device, the manufacturer has to sell you the same parts and access the same documentation it makes available to its shops.
How Long the Right Lasts
The parts-availability window depends on the product’s wholesale price, and it runs from the last date that specific model was manufactured, not from the date you bought it.4LegiScan. Bill Text: CA SB244 – 2023-2024 Regular Session
- Wholesale price of $50 to $99.99: at least three years after the last manufacturing date.
- Wholesale price of $100 or more: at least seven years after the last manufacturing date.
These durations apply even if they outlast the product’s warranty. Products under $50 wholesale are not covered at all. SB 244 applies to any covered product first sold or used in California on or after July 1, 2021, so devices purchased before the law’s July 2024 effective date may still qualify.1Department of Consumer Affairs. Bureau of Household Goods and Services – Right to Repair Act Industry Advisory
What Products Are Covered
The Act reaches electronic and appliance products sold or used in California, a broad category that includes smartphones, laptops, tablets, televisions, audio equipment, and major home appliances. Several categories are carved out:
- Video game consoles are excluded from the definition of covered products.
- Alarm systems as defined under California’s Alarm Companies Act are excluded.
- Agricultural, construction, and industrial equipment covered by California’s Fair Practices of Equipment Manufacturers Act is excluded, including lawn and garden machinery, harvesting equipment, and mining equipment.
Some of these categories are governed by separate industry-specific laws.3California State Assembly. SB 244 – Right to Repair Act Motor vehicles are not on the exemption list by name, but the equipment definition the Act borrows from excludes self-propelled vehicles designed primarily to transport people or property on a highway.
Software Tools and Parts Pairing
One of the most consequential parts of SB 244 deals with software. The Act defines “tool” broadly enough to include any software that provisions, programs, pairs, calibrates, or performs any other function needed to restore a product to fully functional condition after a repair.4LegiScan. Bill Text: CA SB244 – 2023-2024 Regular Session Those software tools have to be made available on the same fair and reasonable terms as physical parts. That directly targets parts pairing, the practice of using software locks to stop a device from recognizing a third-party replacement component even when the part fits.
There is one carve-out. Nothing in the law requires a manufacturer to hand over tools that would disable or override antitheft security measures set by the product’s owner without that owner’s permission.4LegiScan. Bill Text: CA SB244 – 2023-2024 Regular Session Activation locks and comparable anti-theft features stay in place.
What This Means If You Own a Broken Device
You get to choose how the repair happens. You can take a broken laptop to an independent shop, order parts and fix it yourself, or use the manufacturer’s authorized service. The manufacturer cannot punish you for going independent by withholding parts or documentation it hands to its own network.1Department of Consumer Affairs. Bureau of Household Goods and Services – Right to Repair Act Industry Advisory
Federal law backs that choice up. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a manufacturer cannot void your warranty or deny coverage just because you used a third-party part or an unauthorized repair provider.5Federal Trade Commission. Nixing the Fix: Warranties, Mag-Moss, and Restrictions on Repairs It can disclaim coverage for damage the unauthorized part or repair actually caused, but it cannot void the entire warranty because you went outside its network. The only exceptions are when the manufacturer provides the part or service for free, or obtains a special waiver from the FTC.
The FTC is enforcing this actively. In July 2024, agency staff sent warning letters to companies including ASRock, Zotac, and Gigabyte for using “warranty void if removed” stickers placed where they hindered routine maintenance and repairs, warning that continued use could bring enforcement action.6Federal Trade Commission. FTC Warns Companies to Stop Warranty Practices That Harm Consumers’ Right to Repair Peeling one of those stickers off to reach the internals does not legally void your warranty.
How the Law Is Enforced
SB 244 is enforced through civil lawsuits rather than by a single regulator running audits. A city, county, or the state itself can sue a manufacturer in superior court for knowingly violating the law, or for violations the manufacturer reasonably should have known about.2California Legislative Information. SB-244 Right to Repair Act Penalties escalate with each violation:
- First violation: $1,000 per day.
- Second violation: $2,000 per day.
- Third and subsequent violations: $5,000 per day.
Per-day penalties compound quickly. A manufacturer that ignores a known violation for even a month faces tens of thousands of dollars in exposure.7California Legislative Information. SB-244 Right to Repair Act – Bill Version Compare The “knew or should have known” standard cuts off the defense of pretending not to understand one’s own repair policies.
If you run into a manufacturer refusing to sell parts, documentation, or software tools it should be providing, the path to enforcement runs through your city attorney, your county counsel, or the California Attorney General’s office. The Act does not create a private right of action for individual consumers to sue for the daily penalties, but the same conduct may support other consumer-protection claims and is worth reporting to the enforcing authorities so a pattern can be built.