§2.8 Reasonably foreseeable and intended use / misuse

Manufacturers have to match a level of protection corresponding to the use they prescribe to the product under the conditions of use which can be reasonably foreseen. Union harmonisation legislation applies in the case products made available or put into service (75) on the market are used for their intended use. Intended use means the use for which a product is intended in accordance with the information provided by the manufacturer (or importer) placing it on the market, or the ordinary use as determined by the design and construction of the product. Usually products are ready for use, or require only adjustments that can be performed in view of their intended use. Products are ‘ready for use’ if they can be used as intended without the insertion of additional parts. Products are also deemed ready for use if all parts from which they are to be assembled are placed on the market by one person only, or they only need to be mounted or plugged in, or they are placed on the market without the parts that are usually procured separately and inserted for the intended use (e.g. a cable for electric supply). Manufacturers are required to match a level of protection for the users of the products or of other public interests which corresponds to the use that the manufacturer prescribes for the product in the product information. This is particularly relevant in the cases where a misuse of a product is at stake (76). As far as market surveillance activities are concerned, market surveillance authorities are required to check the conformity of a product: — in accordance with its intended purpose (as defined by the manufacturer) and — under the conditions of use which can be reasonably foreseen (77), that is when such use could result from lawful and readily predictable human behaviour. The consequence for manufacturers is that they have to consider the conditions of use which can be reasonably foreseen prior to placing a product on the market. Manufacturers have to look beyond what they consider the intended use of a product and place themselves in the position of the average user of a particular product and envisage in what way they would reasonably consider to use the product (78). For products intended for outdoor use, they should also consider how projections about the changing climate in the EU will affect the safety and performance of the product during use. Since the climate is already changing, outdated assumptions based on historical observations and performance should be revised. If the product’s typical life-span extends beyond 5 years, manufacturers may want to prepare it also for more extreme conditions expected in the mid-term. (79) It is also important that market surveillance authorities take into account that not all risks can be prevented by product design. The supervision and assistance of the intended users should be considered as part of the conditions which can be reasonably foreseen. For instance, some professional machine tools are intended for use by averagely skilled and trained workers under the supervision of their employer; the responsibility of the manufacturer cannot be engaged if such machine tools are rented by a distributor or third party service-provider for use by unskilled and untrained consumers. In any case, the manufacturer is not obliged to expect that users will not take into consideration the lawful conditions of use of his product.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07