The legal warranty is an obligation of the producer, retailer, or supplier in favor of the consumer, contained in Law 1480 of 2011 (Consumer Statute), which consists of being responsible for the quality, suitability, and safety of goods during the warranty period, which shall be established by law, the competent authority, or if neither does so, it shall be established by the producer or supplier. In the case of the provision of services where the provider has obligations of means, this obligation shall be required according to how those services are habitually performed in the market.
In light of the foregoing, quality is understood as compliance with all the characteristics that have been informed to the consumer by the producer or supplier regarding the acquired good; suitability refers to the capacity that the product must have to satisfy the needs of the consumer, and safety means that the good does not put the consumer's health or integrity at risk.
Now, the warranty period shall be one year for new products when no time period is established; in the case of perishable products, it shall be their expiration date; and for used products, there shall be a period of 3 months when the consumer has not been informed nor has accepted in writing that the good was used and had no warranty; for real estate, it shall be 10 years for the stability of the construction and one year for its finishes; for the provision of services, when no specific term is expressed, it shall be 3 months. This period shall begin to run when the good is delivered to the consumer.
This warranty obligation arises when the goods have been received by the consumer and have any defect in quality, suitability, or safety; in such case, the consumer shall have the right to demand the free repair of the good; when the product cannot be repaired, the affected consumer shall obtain its replacement or the return of their money, and the same shall occur when the defect persists or recurs. In the case of the provision of services, the consumer shall have the option to choose between the service initially contracted or the return of their money.
Likewise, the legal warranty includes the delivery of the good to the consumer with its instructions, assistance for its installation, which may have an additional cost to the price of the product or service, and its due registration in cases where necessary.
Finally, when any conflict arises from this obligation, it shall be up to the consumer to prove only the existence of the defect, and the producer, retailer, or supplier shall be the one to prove that no defect existed or that it falls within the exhaustive list of liability exemptions, which consist of proving force majeure, fortuitous event, the act of a third party, the improper use of the good by the consumer, or that the consumer disregarded the instructions contained in the product.