§ 27. Claims against earlier links in the chain and other professionals

This section gives the consumer the option of bringing claims beyond the person they have an agreement with. If there is a defect in the materials, the consumer can go after an earlier professional supplier in the chain (for example the manufacturer or wholesaler). The condition is that the service provider, or someone who bought the materials from the earlier link, could have brought the same claim against that link.

Restrictions in the agreements between earlier links do not bind the consumer any further than a corresponding agreement between the consumer and the service provider would have. This prevents a supplier from hiding behind terms the consumer never accepted. The rules on notice of complaint in § 22 apply correspondingly between the consumer and the supplier.

The same right applies to defects in the work itself when another professional, by agreement with the service provider, has done the work or the part the defect relates to. Example: the service provider has outsourced part of the job to another skilled worker, and the defect lies in that part. The consumer can then go directly to that worker.

If the consumer brings a claim against the service provider that could also have been brought against an earlier link, the deadline for complaints in § 22 (2) also applies to the service provider's further claims up the chain, unless they have agreed otherwise. People who do not have liability for defects, but who have given information on behalf of the service provider or an earlier link of the kind covered by § 18, are nevertheless liable to the consumer under the compensation (erstatning) rules in § 28.

The others are repair of the defect (retting) in § 24, price reduction (prisavslag) in § 25 and cancellation of the contract (heving) in § 26, and withholding payment under § 23. What counts as a defect is set out in § 19 and § 20.