As from January 2002 the new German warranty law will be valid. This provides a lot of benefits for consumers, but at the same time more duties for documentation.

As from January 2002 the new law, which in comparison with its former edition, has undergone a heavy revision, will be valid. For example, the warranty period has been extended from 6 to 24 months. One essential point concerns documentation: Faulty installation manuals can from then on be judged as product deficiency (§ 434 Sect. 2, BGB-E, the so-called "IKEA-clause"). With the relaunch, the Federal Republic of Germany adapts the law to the demands of the EU and eliminates outdated regulations.Documentation departments will now have to revise their existing documents and possibly increase the use of graphics in the text to be legally secure.