Consumer Guarantees Act 1993

Introduction

You could also call this:

"Protecting You When Buying Things"

Illustration for Consumer Guarantees Act 1993

This Act helps create a fair trading environment. You are protected as a consumer. Businesses can compete fairly. You can buy things with confidence. The Act gives you guarantees when you buy goods or services. This means the goods must be safe and work properly. Services must be done with care and skill. If something goes wrong, you have rights to get things fixed. You can complain to the supplier or manufacturer. They must fix the problem if the goods or services do not meet the guarantees. You can find more information about changes to this Act in section 5 of the Consumer Guarantees Amendment Act 2013.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM311052.

This page was last updated on 29 January 2026 — View changes

Highlights from this law

5: Guarantees as to title

Promises sellers make about who owns the things they sell you

6: Guarantee as to acceptable quality

Goods you buy should be good enough to use

8: Guarantees as to fitness for particular purpose

Products must work for what you want to use them for

9: Guarantee that goods comply with description

Sellers must make sure what you buy matches how it was described

11: Guarantee as to price

A promise that you won't be charged too much when buying something

18: Options against suppliers where goods do not comply with guarantees

What you can do if something you bought doesn't work properly

28: Guarantee as to reasonable care and skill

Services must be done carefully and properly

32: Options of consumers where services do not comply with guarantees

What you can do if a service doesn't meet the promises made to you

1: Short Title and commencement, or

"This law's name and when it started working"

Consumer Guarantees Act 1993

Reprint as at:: 2026-01-24
Assent:: 1993-08-20
Commencement:: see section 1(2)

The Parliamentary Counsel Office has made editorial and format changes to this version using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

Note 4 at the end of this version provides a list of the amendments included in it.

This Act is administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.