Legal Question in Product Liability in North Carolina

Re: Manufacturer Liability

That's a complicated question. I would refer you to the NC General Statutes, in particular Chapter 99B and Chapter 25. I don't think there is an absolutely clear answer to your question. As a general matter, such disclaimers would provide some fairly good protection for you. Some statues state: "No manufacturer ... shall be held liable in any product liability action where a proximate cause of the personal injury, ... was either an alteration or modification (including changes in the ... use of the product from that originally designed, tested, or intended by the manufacturer) of the product by a party ..." And another states "No manufacturer or seller shall be held liable in any product liability action if:

(1) The use of the product giving rise to the product liability action was contrary to any express and adequate instructions or warnings delivered with, appearing on, or attached to the product or on its original container or wrapping, if the user knew or with the exercise of reasonable and diligent care should have known of such instructions or warnings." And another "To exclude or modify the implied warranty of merchantability or any part of it the language must mention merchantability and in case of a writing must be conspicuous, and to exclude or modify any implied warranty of fitness the exclusion must be by a writing and conspicuous...." This is just a portion of the statutes. You can look for more at: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Statutes/statutestoc.pl. In particular, look at Chapter 99B. This is very complicated stuff, however, and there are no absolute guarantees.