Fair Repair Act

II 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3821 To require original equipment manufacturers of digital electronic equipment to make available certain documentation, diagnostic, and repair informa- tion to independent repair providers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 10, 2026 Mr. LUJA´N introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require original equipment manufacturers of digital elec- tronic equipment to make available certain documenta- tion, diagnostic, and repair information to independent repair providers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Repair Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANU-5 FACTURERS. 6 (a) I N GENERAL.—In the case of digital electronic 7 equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, sold, or other-8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 3821 IS wise supplied by an original equipment manufacturer, the 1 original equipment manufacturer shall make available, for 2 the purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such 3 equipment, to independent repair providers and owners of 4 such equipment on fair and reasonable terms, documenta-5 tion, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates. 6 (b) P ROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CERTAIN 7 PARTS.—An original equipment manufacturer shall not 8 use parts pairing or any other mechanism to— 9 (1) prevent the installation or functioning of 10 any otherwise-functional part, including a non-man-11 ufacturer approved replacement part or component; 12 (2) inhibit or reduce the functioning of any 13 part, such that replacement by an independent re-14 pair provider or the equipment owner would cause 15 the equipment to operate with reduced functionality 16 or performance; 17 (3) create false, misleading, deceptive, or non- 18 dismissible alerts or warnings about parts; 19 (4) charge additional fees or increased prices 20 for future repairs; or 21 (5) limit who can purchase parts or perform re-22 pair services. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 3821 IS SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 1 (a) E NFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM-2 MISSION.— 3 (1) U NFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -4 TICES.—A violation of section 2 shall be treated as 5 a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive 6 act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) 7 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 8 57a(a)(1)(B)). 9 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION .— 10 (A) I N GENERAL .—The Commission shall 11 enforce this Act and any regulations promul-12 gated under this Act in the same manner, by 13 the same means, and with the same jurisdic-14 tion, powers, and duties as though all applicable 15 terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 16 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in-17 corporated into and made a part of this Act, 18 and any person who violates this Act or a regu-19 lation promulgated under this Act shall be sub-20 ject to the penalties and entitled to the privi-21 leges and immunities provided in the Federal 22 Trade Commission Act. 23 (B) R EGULATIONS.—The Commission 24 may, under section 553 of title 5, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 3821 IS Code, prescribe any regulations it determines 1 necessary to carry out this Act. 2 (C) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS .—Nothing in 3 this Act shall be construed to limit the author-4 ity of the Commission under any other provi-5 sion of law. 6 (b) E NFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN-7 ERAL.— 8 (1) I N GENERAL .—If the chief law enforcement 9 officer of a State, or an official or agency designated 10 by a State, has reason to believe that any person has 11 violated or is violating section 2, the attorney gen-12 eral, official, or agency of the State, in addition to 13 any authority it may have to bring an action in 14 State court under State law, may bring a civil action 15 in any appropriate United States district court or in 16 any other court of competent jurisdiction, including 17 a State court, to— 18 (A) enjoin further such violation by such 19 person; 20 (B) enforce compliance with such section; 21 (C) obtain civil penalties; and 22 (D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 23 compensation on behalf of residents of the 24 State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 3821 IS (2) N OTICE AND INTERVENTION BY THE 1 FTC.—The attorney general (or other such officer) 2 of a State shall provide prior written notice of any 3 action under paragraph (1) to the Commission and 4 provide the Commission with a copy of the complaint 5 in the action, except in any case in which such prior 6 notice is not feasible, in which case the attorney gen-7 eral shall serve such notice immediately upon insti-8 tuting such action. The Commission shall have the 9 right— 10 (A) to intervene in the action; 11 (B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 12 matters arising therein; and 13 (C) to file petitions for appeal. 14 (3) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED -15 ERAL ACTION IS PENDING .—If the Commission has 16 instituted a civil action for violation of this Act, no 17 State attorney general, or official or agency of a 18 State, may bring an action under this paragraph 19 during the pendency of that action against any de-20 fendant named in the complaint of the Commission 21 for any violation of this Act alleged in the complaint. 22 (4) RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE LAW CLAIMS .— 23 If the attorney general of a State has authority to 24 bring an action under State law directed at acts or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 3821 IS practices that also violate this Act, the attorney gen-1 eral may assert the State law claim and a claim 2 under this Act in the same civil action. 3 SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION, LIMITATIONS, AND NON- 4 APPLICATION. 5 The following rules of construction, limitations, and 6 non-application provisions apply to this Act: 7 (1) S ECURITY-RELATED FUNCTIONS NOT EX -8 CLUDED.—For digital electronic equipment that con-9 tains an electronic security lock or other security-re-10 lated function, the original equipment manufacturer 11 shall make available to the owner and to inde-12 pendent repair providers, on fair and reasonable 13 terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts 14 needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset 15 it when disabled in the course of diagnosis, mainte-16 nance, or repair of the equipment, to restore full 17 functionality of the equipment. 18 (2) PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS .—Nothing 19 in this Act shall be construed to require an original 20 equipment manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, as 21 defined in section 1839 of title 18, United States 22 Code, to an owner or an independent repair provider 23 except as necessary to provide documentation, parts, 24 and tools on fair and reasonable terms. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 3821 IS (3) T ERMS OF AGREEMENT WITH AUTHORIZED 1 REPAIR PROVIDERS .—No provision in this Act shall 2 be construed to abrogate, interfere with, contradict, 3 or alter the terms of any arrangement described in 4 section 6(1)(A), including the performance or provi-5 sion of warranty or recall repair work by an author-6 ized repair provider on behalf of an original equip-7 ment manufacturer pursuant to such arrangement, 8 except that any provision in such terms that pur-9 ports to waive, avoid, restrict, or limit an OEM’s ob-10 ligations to comply with this Act shall be void and 11 unenforceable. 12 (4) N ON-APPLICATION TO MOTOR VEHICLE OR 13 MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS .— 14 Nothing in this Act shall apply to a motor vehicle 15 manufacturer, a manufacturer of motor vehicle 16 equipment, or a motor vehicle dealer, acting in that 17 capacity. 18 (5) N ON-APPLICATION TO MANUFACTURERS OF 19 MEDICAL DEVICES .—Nothing in this Act shall apply 20 to a manufacturer of a medical device, acting in that 21 capacity. 22 (6) N ON-APPLICATION TO MANUFACTURERS OF 23 OFF-ROAD OR NON -ROAD VEHICLES .—Nothing in 24 this Act shall apply to any manufacturer, dis-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 3821 IS tributor, importer, or dealer of an off-road or non- 1 road vehicle, acting in that capacity, including with-2 out limitation, aircraft, motorcycles, marine vessels, 3 all terrain sports vehicles, utility terrain vehicles, 4 recreational vehicles, and racing vehicles. 5 (7) N ON-APPLICATION TO MANUFACTURERS OF 6 SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT .—Nothing in 7 this Act shall apply to any manufacturer of safety 8 communications equipment, the intended use of 9 which is for emergency response or prevention pur-10 poses by an emergency services organization, such as 11 police, fire, or medical and emergency rescue services 12 agencies, acting in that capacity. 13 SEC. 5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. 14 (a) D AMAGE RESULTING FROM REPAIR.—No origi-15 nal equipment manufacturer or authorized repair provider 16 shall be liable for any damage or injury to any digital elec-17 tronic equipment, person, or property that occurs as a re-18 sult of repair, diagnosis, maintenance, or modification per-19 formed by an independent repair provider or owner, or any 20 other use by an independent repair provider or owner of 21 parts, tools, or documentation provided by an original 22 equipment manufacturer, including with respect to any— 23 (1) indirect, incidental, special, or consequential 24 damages; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 3821 IS (2) loss of data, privacy, or profits; or 1 (3) inability to use, or reduced functionality of, 2 the digital electronic equipment. 3 (b) NO WARRANTY FOR INDEPENDENT REPAIR PRO-4 VIDERS OR OWNERS.—An original equipment manufac-5 turer shall not be required to warrant any repairs provided 6 by independent repair providers or owners. 7 (c) I MPROPER USE OF PERSONAL DATA.—No origi-8 nal equipment manufacturer shall be liable for improper 9 use of personal data or any data privacy or security breach 10 in connection with repair, diagnosis, maintenance, or 11 modification performed by an independent repair provider 12 or owner. 13 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 15 (1) AUTHORIZED REPAIR PROVIDER .— 16 (A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘‘authorized 17 repair provider’’ means with respect to an 18 OEM, a person that— 19 (i) has an arrangement with the OEM 20 in which the OEM grants to the person li-21 cense to use a trade name, service mark, 22 or other proprietary identifier for the pur-23 poses of offering the services of diagnosis, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 3821 IS maintenance, or repair of digital electronic 1 equipment under the name of the OEM; or 2 (ii) otherwise has an arrangement 3 with the OEM to offer such services on be-4 half of or under contract with the OEM. 5 (B) CLARIFICATION.—An OEM that offers 6 the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair 7 of digital electronic equipment manufactured by 8 it or on its behalf, or sold or otherwise supplied 9 by the OEM, shall be considered an authorized 10 repair provider with respect to such equipment. 11 (2) D IGITAL ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT .—The 12 term ‘‘digital electronic equipment’’ means any prod-13 uct that depends for its functioning, in whole or in 14 part, on digital electronics embedded in or attached 15 to the product. 16 (3) D OCUMENTATION.—The term ‘‘documenta-17 tion’’ means any manuals, diagrams, reporting out-18 put, service code descriptions, schematic, security 19 code or password, or other information used in ef-20 fecting the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or re-21 pair of digital electronic equipment. 22 (4) F AIR AND REASONABLE TERMS .—The term 23 ‘‘fair and reasonable terms’’, with respect to a part, 24 tool, or documentation, means at costs and terms 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 3821 IS that are equivalent to the most favorable costs and 1 terms under which an OEM offers the part, tool, or 2 documentation to an authorized repair provider— 3 (A) accounting for any discount, rebate, 4 convenient and timely means of delivery, means 5 of enabling fully restored and updated 6 functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or 7 preference the OEM offers to an authorized re-8 pair provider, and for any additional cost, bur-9 den, or impediment the OEM imposes on an 10 owner or independent repair provider; 11 (B) not conditioned on or imposing a sub-12 stantial obligation or restriction that is not rea-13 sonably necessary for enabling the owner or 14 independent repair provider to engage in the di-15 agnosis, maintenance, or repair of digital elec-16 tronic equipment made by or on behalf of the 17 OEM; and 18 (C) not conditioned on an arrangement de-19 scribed in paragraph (1)(A). 20 (5) INDEPENDENT REPAIR PROVIDER .— 21 (A) IN GENERAL .—The term ‘‘independent 22 repair provider’’ means with respect to an 23 OEM, a person that is not affiliated with the 24 OEM or with an authorized repair provider of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 3821 IS the OEM, when such person is engaged in the 1 diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of digital elec-2 tronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf 3 of, sold, or otherwise supplied by the OEM. 4 (B) C LARIFICATION.—An OEM or, with 5 respect to that OEM, a person who has an ar-6 rangement described in paragraph (1)(A) with 7 that OEM, or who is affiliated with a person 8 who has such an arrangement with that OEM, 9 shall be considered an independent repair pro-10 vider for the purposes of those instances when 11 such OEM or person engages in the diagnosis, 12 service, maintenance, or repair of digital equip-13 ment that is not manufactured by or on behalf 14 of, sold, or otherwise supplied by that OEM. 15 (6) M EDICAL DEVICE .—The term ‘‘medical de-16 vice’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘device’’ 17 under section 201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug and 18 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(h)). 19 (7) M OTOR VEHICLE .—The term ‘‘motor vehi-20 cle’’ means a vehicle that is designed for trans-21 porting persons or property on a street or highway 22 and is certified by the manufacturer under all appli-23 cable Federal safety and emissions standards and re-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 3821 IS quirements for distribution and sale in the United 1 States. 2 (8) M OTOR VEHICLE DEALER .—The term 3 ‘‘motor vehicle dealer’’ means a person who— 4 (A) is engaged in the business of selling or 5 leasing new motor vehicles to another person 6 pursuant to a franchise agreement; 7 (B) has obtained a license to engage in 8 such business under the applicable State law; 9 and 10 (C) is engaged in the services of diagnosis, 11 maintenance, or repair of motor vehicles or 12 motor vehicle engines pursuant to such fran-13 chise agreement. 14 (9) M OTOR VEHICLE MANUFACTURER .—The 15 term ‘‘motor vehicle manufacturer’’ means a person 16 engaged in the business of manufacturing or assem-17 bling new motor vehicles. 18 (10) O RIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER ; 19 OEM.—The term ‘‘original equipment manufacturer’’ 20 or ‘‘OEM’’ means a person who is engaged in the 21 business of selling, leasing, or otherwise supplying 22 new digital electronic equipment or parts of equip-23 ment manufactured by or on behalf of itself, to any 24 person. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 3821 IS (11) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ means a per-1 son who owns or leases digital electronic equipment. 2 (12) P ART.—The term ‘‘part’’ means any re-3 placement part, either new or used, made available 4 by or to an OEM for purposes of effecting the serv-5 ices of maintenance or repair of digital electronic 6 equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, sold, or 7 otherwise supplied by the OEM. 8 (13) P ARTS PAIRING .—The term ‘‘parts pair-9 ing’’ means, with respect to a part, the practice of 10 employing software to identify component parts 11 through the use of a unique identifier. 12 (14) T OOL.—The term ‘‘tool’’ means any soft-13 ware program, hardware implement, or other appa-14 ratus used for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of 15 digital electronic equipment, including software or 16 other mechanisms that provision, program, or pair a 17 part, calibrate functionality, or perform any other 18 function required to bring the equipment back to 19 fully functional condition. 20 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 21 This Act shall take effect 60 days after the date of 22 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 •S 3821 IS equipment sold or in use on or after the effective date of 1 this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Feb 11, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3821.IS S3821kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB