HB 449 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0677
05/10
HOUSE BILL 449
AN ACT relative to the repair of home appliances.
SPONSORS: Rep. Luneau, Merr. 10
COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires home appliance manufacturers to make available to appliance owners and
repair providers certain repair-related documentation, parts, and tools. The failure to do so would be
a violation of the consumer protection act.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 449 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0677
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to the repair of home appliances.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 New Chapter; Repair of Home Appliances. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 358-S the
2 following new chapter:
3 CHAPTER 358-T
4 REPAIR OF HOME APPLIANCES
5 358-T:1 Short title. This chapter may be cited as the Home Appliance Fair Repair Act.
6 358-T:2 Definitions. In this chapter:
7 I. “Authorized repair provider” means an individual or business who is unaffiliated with an
8 original appliance manufacturer and who has an arrangement with the original appliance
9 manufacturer, for a definite or indefinite period, under which the original appliance manufacturer
10 grants to the individual or business a license to use a trade name, service mark, or other proprietary
11 identifier for the purposes of offering the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a home
12 appliance under the name of the original appliance manufacturer, or other arrangement with the
13 original appliance manufacturer to offer such services on behalf of the original appliance
14 manufacturer. An original appliance manufacturer who offers the services of diagnosis,
15 maintenance, or repair of its own home appliances, and who does not have an arrangement described
16 in this paragraph with an unaffiliated individual or business, shall be considered an authorized
17 repair provider with respect to such appliances.
18 II. “Home appliance” or “appliance” means any product sold for the purpose of assisting in
19 household functions, such as cleaning, cooking or food preservation, and includes air conditioners,
20 dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, freezers, refrigerators, kitchen ovens and stoves, water
21 heaters, washing machines, trash compactors, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, induction cookers,
22 air purifiers, humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
23 III. “Documentation” means any manual, diagram, report, service code description,
24 schematic, or other guidance or information used in effecting the services of diagnosis, maintenance,
25 or repair of home appliances.
26 IV. “Embedded software” means any programmable instructions provided on firmware
27 delivered with a home appliance, or with a part for such appliance, for purposes of appliance
28 operation, including all relevant patches and fixes made by the manufacturer of such appliance or
29 part for these purposes.
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1 V. “Fair and reasonable terms” for obtaining a part or tool or documentation means at costs
2 and terms that are equivalent to the most favorable costs and terms under which an original
3 appliance manufacturer offers the part, tool, or documentation to an authorized repair provider:
4 (a) Including any license, right or authorization a person would need to use the
5 equipment, part, tool, or documentation; and
6 (b) Accounting for any discount, rebate, convenient means of delivery, means of enabling
7 fully restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or preference the original
8 appliance manufacturer offers to an authorized repair provider or any additional cost, burden, or
9 impediment the original equipment manufacturer imposes on an independent repair provider, or
10 (c) Where there is no authorized repair provider and the original manufacturer has
11 made an express warranty with respect to an appliance, and the appliance’s wholesale price is $100
12 or more, “fair and reasonable terms” means for a period of 10 years at an equitable price and
13 convenience of delivery in light of:
14 (1) The actual cost to the original appliance manufacturer to prepare and distribute
15 the part, tool, or documentation, exclusive of any research and development costs incurred; and
16 (2) The ability of owners and independent repair providers to afford the part, tool, or
17 documentation; and
18 (3) The means by which the part, tool, or documentation is distributed.
19 (d) For documentation, including any relevant updates, “fair and reasonable terms”
20 means at no charge, except that, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a
21 charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy.
22 (e) For software tools, “fair and reasonable terms” includes at no charge and without
23 requiring further authentication or Internet access in the course of diagnosis, maintenance, repair,
24 or of enabling full functionality of home appliances.
25 (f) “Fair and reasonable terms” also means not conditioned on an agreement with the
26 original appliance manufacturer that has the effect of placing a substantial cost, restriction, burden,
27 penalty, or impediment on the owner or independent repair provider, or that requires exclusivity.
28 VI. “Firmware” means a software program or set of instructions programmed on a home
29 appliance, or on a part for such appliance, to allow the appliance or part to communicate with other
30 computer hardware.
31 VII. “Independent repair provider” means an individual or business operating in this state,
32 who does not have an arrangement described in paragraph I with an original appliance
33 manufacturer, and who is not affiliated with any individual or business who has such an
34 arrangement, and who is engaged in the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of home
35 appliances, except that an original appliance manufacturer or, with respect to that original
36 appliance manufacturer, an individual or business who has such an arrangement with that original
37 appliance manufacturer, or who is affiliated with an individual or business who has such an
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1 arrangement with that original appliance manufacturer, shall be considered an independent repair
2 provider for purposes of those instances in which it engages in the services of diagnosis,
3 maintenance, or repair of home appliances that are not manufactured by or sold under the name of
4 that original appliance manufacturer.
5 VIII. “Original appliance manufacturer” means a business engaged in the business of selling
6 or leasing new home appliances manufactured by or on behalf of itself, to any individual or business.
7 IX. “Owner” means an individual or business who owns or leases home appliances
8 purchased or used in this state.
9 X. “Part” means any replacement part, either new or used, made available by an original
10 appliance manufacturer for purposes of effecting the services of maintenance or repair of home
11 appliances manufactured or sold by the original appliance manufacturer.
12 XI. “Tools” means any software programs, hardware implements, or other apparatus used
13 for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of home appliances, including software or other mechanisms
14 that provision, program, or pair a new part, calibrate functionality, or perform any other function
15 required to bring the product back to fully functional condition.
16 XII. “Trade secret” has the same meaning as in RSA 350-B:1, IV.
17 358-T:3 Requirements.
18 I. For home appliances, and parts for such appliances, sold or used in this state, an original
19 appliance manufacturer shall make available, for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of
20 such appliances, to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of home appliances
21 manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the original appliance manufacturer, on fair and
22 reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information or
23 embedded software. Nothing in this section requires an original appliance manufacturer to make
24 available a part if the part is no longer available to the original appliance manufacturer.
25 II. For home appliances that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related
26 function, the original appliance manufacturer shall make available to the owner and to independent
27 repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to
28 reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the
29 home appliance. Such documentation, tools, and parts may be made available through appropriate
30 secure release systems.
31 358-T:4 Remedies; Enforcement by Attorney General. Any violation of the provisions of this
32 chapter is an unfair or deceptive act or practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A:2. Any right,
33 remedy, or power set forth in RSA 358-A, including the enforcement authority granted to the
34 attorney general under RSA 358-A, may be used to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
35 358-T:5 Limitations.
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1 I. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require an original appliance manufacturer
2 to divulge a trade secret to an owner or an independent service provider except as necessary to
3 provide documentation, parts, and tools on fair and reasonable terms.
4 II. No provision in this chapter shall be construed to alter the terms of any arrangement
5 described in RSA 358-T:2, I in force between an authorized repair provider and an original appliance
6 manufacturer, including, but not limited to, the performance or provision of warranty or recall repair
7 work by an authorized repair provider on behalf of an original appliance manufacturer pursuant to
8 such arrangement, except that any provision in such terms that purports to waive, avoid, restrict, or
9 limit the original appliance manufacturer’s obligations to comply with this chapter shall be void and
10 unenforceable.
11 III. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require an original appliance manufacturer
12 or an authorized repair provider to provide to an owner, or independent repair provider access to
13 information, other than documentation and tools, that is provided by the original appliance
14 manufacturer to an authorized repair provider pursuant to the terms of an arrangement described in
15 RSA 358-T:2, I.
16 2 Applicability. RSA 358-T, as inserted by section 1 of this act, applies with respect to home
17 appliances sold or in use on or after the effective date of this act.
18 3 Effective date. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2022.