Page 47 - English-DBINZ brochure-2019

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Section 10
REGULATION AFFECTING DAY-TO-DAY

BUSINESS OPERATION

Consumer protection

CONSUMER GUARANTEES ACT 1993
The Consumer Guarantees Act creates minimum standards of quality for all goods or services that are
ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use. A breach of any of the guarantees (set
out below) will usually entitle a consumer to a remedy prescribed by the Consumer Guarantees Act.
Depending on the circumstances, the consumer may be able to seek a remedy against the supplier or
the manufacturer. The provisions in the Consumer Guarantees Act are designed to be self-policing in the
sense that consumers enforce their own rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
Coverage
A consumer is a person who acquires from a supplier goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for
personal, domestic or household use or consumption. This excludes anyone who acquires the goods
or services for the purpose of resupplying them in trade, consuming them in the course of a process of
production or manufacture or, in the case of goods, repairing or treating in trade other goods or fixtures
on land.
General rule - no contracting out

The general rule is that contracting out of the Consumer Guarantees Act is not permitted. There is an
exception to this rule for business transactions. Specifically if all parties to the agreement are in trade,
those parties may contract out of the Consumer Guarantees Act if it is fair and reasonable to do so. The
agreement to contract out must be in writing.
Guarantees for the supply of goods
The Consumer Guarantees Act sets out the following guarantees in relation to the supply of goods:
ə The supplier has the right to sell the goods, which are free from undisclosed securities

ə The consumer has the right to undisturbed possession
ə The goods are of an acceptable quality (except where a defect has been drawn to the consumer’s
attention)

ə The goods are fit for the purpose for which they were acquired