Frank

I'm not a lawyer but have been involved in enough dealings with them to
have picked up a little background.

Your liability is directly involved in the materials and work you supply
only. If the material is bought in and tested according to the clients'
specifications, your liability will be limited to the efficiency of the
testing process. Otherwise, your workmanship is engaged. If a stuffed
board fails because an IC renders it soul, the bare board manufacturer
cannot be engaged unless it can be proved that the rendering was due to
a fault in the board. If that is the case, there are probably grounds
that causal damage has occurred and the fab guy could be held liable for
the total value. HOWEVER, the important point is that such clauses are
contractual and you can specifically contract out of liability. But
general conditions of sale are insufficient to be specifically
contractual unless the purchaser makes a written statement on his order
or contract that he accepts YOUR conditions as taking precedence over
HIS, which is rarely the case. Under many legal systems, it is the last
one, usually in fine light grey print on the back of the order form,
which is binding, provided that the order states so. The fact of
accepting the order without specifically denying this makes your
arguments weak. In the event of no specific clause, then it falls into
the appropriate legal code and jurisprudence which usually states (in
Europe) that a supplier guarantees his product for defects in materials
and workmanship for 12 months from the date of invoicing. Guarantees for
consequential damages may or may not be required and can be debated only
by a court, if there is nothing contractually specific. It can be taken
to a reductio ad absurdum level: is a person who digs some iron ore out
of the ground liable for damages because a bus carrying 52 passangers
crashed down a 100 metre ravine because a steel bolt holding the brake
calipers together failed? Moral: have tight contracts.

IMHO

Brian

> Frank Davies wrote:
>
> I would like to ask a legal question if possible.
> We are currently updating our insurance and product liability policy
> and a legal question has arisen.  We have had an opinion from a
> customer. That even in a situation where a pcb manufacturer has a
> clear statement in their Terms and Conditions of Sale/Supply, that
> they will not accept cost liability for stuffed boards in the event of
> a product failure, under European Law the pcb manufacturer is liable
> for the cost of the stuffed boards.  Could I ask you to get your Legal
> Department to give us their views on this issues.
> Thanks in Advance
> Frank

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