Oregon’s right to repair law, Senate Bill 1596, requires makers of most consumer electronics and home appliances to sell replacement parts and share the tools, manuals, and diagnostic software they give their own authorized repair shops, on the same terms, to independent shops and to you. The core requirements took effect January 1, 2025, and Oregon went further than any other state by banning “parts pairing,” the software trick that makes a device reject or degrade a replacement component the manufacturer didn’t bless.1SB 1596, signed March 27, 2024; most provisions effective January 1, 2025.
Which Devices Are Covered
The law covers “consumer electronic equipment,” meaning any product that runs, in whole or in part, on digital electronics built into or attached to it, so long as it was sold or used for personal or household purposes. That pulls in smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops, and it also reaches modern appliances with circuit boards and software inside, like refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines.
Several categories are carved out. Motor vehicles, video game consoles, and heating and air conditioning systems are explicitly excluded. Commercial and industrial gear is outside the definition entirely because it isn’t sold for home use, and the same goes for farm machinery and medical devices. If your product is a business tool or a tractor, this law isn’t the one that helps you.
Does Your Specific Device Qualify?
Coverage turns on when the device was manufactured. For most consumer electronics and appliances, the law reaches products manufactured on or after July 1, 2021, so a laptop or dishwasher already in your home when the law passed can still be covered. Check the manufacture date stamped on the device or printed in its documentation.
Cell phones get a later start. The parts, tools, and documentation requirements apply to phones manufactured on or after July 1, 2025. A phone built before that date is not covered by the parts-pairing ban or the tool-access mandates, even if you bought it after the law took effect.
What a Manufacturer Has to Provide
If your device qualifies, the manufacturer has to make its repair resources available to you and to any independent shop you choose, on the same terms it offers its authorized network. The law is specific about what that means in practice.
Documentation has to be free. That includes repair manuals, wiring diagrams, schematics, and diagnostic outputs. Tools for diagnosing and repairing the device also have to be provided at no charge. Replacement parts are the exception to the free-of-charge rule, but they can’t be marked up against independents: manufacturers have to sell them at costs and terms equivalent to the most favorable pricing they offer their own authorized repair providers.
A manufacturer also can’t bury you in conditions. You don’t have to become an authorized service provider, sign a partnership agreement, or meet obligations that go beyond what the repair actually requires. If repairs rely on a cloud-based diagnostic platform, you get access to it on the same terms as an authorized shop.
The Parts Pairing Ban
Parts pairing is the practice of tying a component’s serial number to a device’s motherboard through software, so the device recognizes only manufacturer-approved parts. A screen swap on a paired phone, for example, can trigger error messages, shut off features, or quietly reduce display quality even though the replacement works perfectly. Oregon bans this.
Under SB 1596, a manufacturer cannot use parts pairing to prevent or inhibit installation of a replacement part, including a part the manufacturer hasn’t approved. It also cannot reduce a device’s functionality or performance after a non-factory part is installed, and it cannot display unnecessary or misleading warnings about unidentified parts, especially alerts you can’t dismiss. A persistent nag screen designed to make a legitimate independent repair feel broken counts as parts pairing and is prohibited.
What the Law Does Not Require
The law does not force manufacturers to hand over tools or documentation that would disable or override an anti-theft security measure set by the device owner. If your phone has an activation lock tied to your account, the manufacturer doesn’t have to give repair shops a way around it. A shop can still replace your screen, battery, or charging port; what the manufacturer owes is physical repair access, not a path through your passcode or account authentication.
If a Manufacturer Won’t Comply
Start with the manufacturer directly and create a paper trail. Request the specific part, tool, or document you need, and save the response. Screenshots of online chats, notes from phone calls with dates and names, and email threads all count. If the manufacturer refuses, delays, or quotes you prices that clearly aren’t the ones offered to authorized shops, you have the makings of a complaint.
File with the Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection division. The state keeps an online complaint form at justice.oregon.gov, and the office also takes complaints by phone and email. Include the device’s make, model, and manufacture date, exactly what repair resources you asked for, and what the manufacturer said or did in response. That specificity is what lets the Attorney General’s office open a useful investigation.
Penalties and the Enforcement Timeline
The Oregon Attorney General enforces the law. On a complaint, the office can issue an investigative demand to the manufacturer, and if a violation is confirmed, the state can bring a civil action. The penalty is up to $1,000 for each day a violation continues, with no separate escalation for repeat conduct; the per-day structure does the escalating on its own. Thirty days of refusing to provide a required repair manual, for instance, exposes a manufacturer to up to $30,000 for that single refusal.
One timing detail matters. The substantive repair-access requirements took effect January 1, 2025, but the Attorney General’s authority to impose those civil penalties applies to violations occurring on or after July 1, 2027. You can still file complaints in the meantime, and the documentation you build now is what makes later enforcement possible.
The Federal Warranty Rule That Backs You Up
Oregon’s law sits alongside a federal protection worth knowing when a manufacturer tries to scare you off an independent repair. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a manufacturer cannot condition its warranty on your using specific branded parts or authorized service. Taking a device to an independent shop, or replacing a part yourself, does not void the warranty unless the manufacturer can prove the particular repair caused the damage you’re now claiming. The Federal Trade Commission enforces this, and a “warranty void if removed” sticker carries no legal weight. If a manufacturer threatens your warranty to steer you away from an independent repair, that threat does not override either the federal rule or your rights under SB 1596.