§ 16.012.Products Liability

Title 2. Trial, Judgment, and Appeal · Subtitle B. Trial Matters · Chapter 16. Limitations · Subchapter A. Limitations of Personal Actions · Last amended 2003 · Last verified August 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 16.012 bars most products liability claims fifteen years after the product was sold, with exceptions for longer written warranties and for latent diseases that had not yet shown themselves.

Full Text of § 16.012

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (d-1) (e) (f) (g)

(a)In this section:

(1)"Claimant," "seller," and "manufacturer" have the meanings assigned by Section 82.001.

(2)"Products liability action" means any action against a manufacturer or seller for recovery of damages or other relief for harm allegedly caused by a defective product, whether the action is based in strict tort liability, strict products liability, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of express or implied warranty, or any other theory or combination of theories, and whether the relief sought is recovery of damages or any other legal or equitable relief, including a suit for:

(A)injury or damage to or loss of real or personal property;

(B)personal injury;

(C)wrongful death;

(D)economic loss; or

(E)declaratory, injunctive, or other equitable relief.

(b)Except as provided by Subsections (c), (d), and (d-1), a claimant must commence a products liability action against a manufacturer or seller of a product before the end of 15 years after the date of the sale of the product by the defendant.

(c)If a manufacturer or seller expressly warrants in writing that the product has a useful safe life of longer than 15 years, a claimant must commence a products liability action against that manufacturer or seller of the product before the end of the number of years warranted after the date of the sale of the product by that seller.

(d)This section does not apply to a products liability action seeking damages for personal injury or wrongful death in which the claimant alleges:

(1)the claimant was exposed to the product that is the subject of the action before the end of 15 years after the date the product was first sold;

(2)the claimant's exposure to the product caused the claimant's disease that is the basis of the action; and

(3)the symptoms of the claimant's disease did not, before the end of 15 years after the date of the first sale of the product by the defendant, manifest themselves to a degree and for a duration that would put a reasonable person on notice that the person suffered some injury.

(d-1)This section does not reduce a limitations period for a cause of action described by Subsection (d) that accrues before the end of the limitations period under this section.

(e)This section does not extend the limitations period within which a products liability action involving the product may be commenced under any other law.

(f)This section applies only to the sale and not to the lease of a product.

(g)This section does not apply to any claim to which the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (Pub. L. No. 103-298, 108 Stat. 1552 (1994), reprinted in note, 49 U.S.C. Section 40101) or its exceptions are applicable.

End

Plain-English Summary

Fifteen years from the date of sale by the defendant — not from injury, not from discovery. This is repose, and it can extinguish a claim before the product ever fails.

The definition in subsection (a)(2) is deliberately broad. A "products liability action" is any action against a manufacturer or seller for harm allegedly caused by a defective product, whatever the theory — strict liability, negligence, misrepresentation, or breach of express or implied warranty — and whatever the relief, including property damage, personal injury, wrongful death, economic loss, and equitable relief. Recasting the claim does not escape the section.

Three exceptions matter. A manufacturer or seller who expressly warrants in writing a useful safe life longer than fifteen years is held to the warranted period. The section does not apply to a latent disease claim where the claimant was exposed within fifteen years of first sale, the exposure caused the disease, and the symptoms had not manifested enough to put a reasonable person on notice. And it does not shorten a period that accrued before the repose ran out.

Two limits are easy to miss: the section applies to the sale of a product and not to a lease, and it does not reach claims governed by the federal General Aviation Revitalization Act.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long after buying a product can I sue the manufacturer?

Generally fifteen years from the date the defendant sold the product, regardless of when the injury occurred.

Does pleading negligence instead of strict liability avoid this?

No. The section defines products liability action broadly enough to reach any theory, including negligence, misrepresentation, and warranty.

What if the product was warranted to last longer?

Then the warranted period controls. A written express warranty of a useful safe life longer than fifteen years extends the deadline to that length.

Does the fifteen years apply to asbestos or other latent diseases?

Generally not. The section does not apply where the claimant was exposed within fifteen years of first sale, the exposure caused the disease, and the symptoms had not yet manifested enough to put a reasonable person on notice.

Does this apply to leased products?

No. Subsection (f) confines the section to sales.

Amendment History

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 5, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 204, Sec. 5.01, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from Texas Legislature Online (statutes.capitol.texas.gov). Enacted by the Texas Legislature. Current through May 14, 2026. Last verified August 29, 2026. · Official source