Every product carries an implicit promise that it was designed, built, and labeled so that ordinary use would not cause harm. When that promise fails and someone is seriously injured, Georgia’s product liability law sets out who can be held responsible and on what terms. The framework rests on a principle that makes these claims distinct from ordinary negligence: a manufacturer can be strictly liable for a defective product without the injured person proving the company was careless. That principle, the categories of defect it covers, and the deadlines that limit it form the foundation every product liability claim is built on.
Strict Liability: No Need to Prove Carelessness
The center of Georgia product liability is O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11, which makes the manufacturer of personal property sold as new liable in tort, regardless of privity, to anyone who uses or is affected by the product and is injured because it “was not merchantable and reasonably suited to the use intended.” The plaintiff does not have to show the manufacturer was negligent in some general sense. What matters is that the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control and that the defect was the proximate cause of the injury. This is what “strict” liability means: the focus is on the product’s condition, not the company’s conduct.
The Three Types of Defect
Georgia recognizes three distinct ways a product can be defective, and each requires different evidence:
| Defect type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing defect | The specific unit deviated from its intended design during production |
| Design defect | The whole product line is unreasonably dangerous as designed, even when built correctly |
| Failure to warn | Foreseeable risks were not adequately disclosed to the user |
A single case can involve more than one theory at once. The distinctions matter because the proof, the experts, and the litigation strategy differ from one category to the next.
The Ten-Year Repose and Its Three Exceptions
Product claims face a deadline most people never anticipate: a ten-year statute of repose under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(2), running from the product’s first sale. For strict liability claims, this ten-year bar is absolute. The picture changes for negligence-based claims, where subsection (c) extends the repose but carves out three exceptions in which the ten-year limit does not bar the claim:
- The manufacturer’s negligence caused a disease or birth defect (limited to latent injuries).
- The conduct showed willful, reckless, or wanton disregard for life or property.
- The claim is for failure to warn of a danger the manufacturer learned about.
The failure-to-warn exception is the most striking. Georgia courts have held that the statute of repose does not apply to failure-to-warn claims at all, because the duty to warn continues once a danger becomes known.
When the Clock Starts: The “First Sale” Rule
A separate and often misunderstood question is when the ten-year clock begins. Georgia ties it to the “first sale for use or consumption,” not the date of injury. How that rule applies to a product bought repeatedly over many years was resolved by the Georgia Supreme Court in Burroughs v. L’Oreal (2025). The Court held that the repose runs on a per-unit basis: each unit carries its own ten-year clock measured from that unit’s first sale, so units purchased within ten years before suit can remain actionable even when the plaintiff first bought the same product decades earlier. The Court rejected the view that every unit a buyer acquired over time shares a single clock triggered by the earliest purchase. Because a statute of repose, unlike a statute of limitations, is not triggered by when the harm appears, the decisive question becomes which units fall inside the ten-year window, which the Court acknowledged can be difficult to prove in cumulative-exposure cases.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
Liability is not limited to the manufacturer. Georgia’s framework can extend to others in the distribution chain, including wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, under certain circumstances, which becomes important when the manufacturer is outside the state’s reach or no longer exists. Component-part manufacturers may carry independent liability where a defective component caused the product to fail. Georgia does not, however, recognize market-share or industry-wide liability theories under § 51-1-11(d).
Punitive Damages: No Cap, But the State’s Share
Product liability is the rare category where Georgia’s usual $250,000 punitive damages cap does not apply, so a jury may award punitive damages without a statutory ceiling. There is a significant catch under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1: in a product liability case, 75 percent of any punitive award, less a proportionate share of litigation costs, is paid to the State of Georgia rather than to the plaintiff. The plaintiff keeps the remaining 25 percent of punitives and 100 percent of compensatory damages. This 75/25 split applies only to product cases, reflecting the idea that punitive damages serve a public purpose. Punitive damages also require clear and convincing evidence of conduct such as willful misconduct or fraud, often arising from a failure to recall or concealment of test data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless?
No. Under strict liability, the focus is on whether the product was defective when sold and whether that defect caused the injury, not on whether the manufacturer was negligent.
How long do I have to bring a product liability claim?
A two-year statute of limitations applies to the injury, and a separate ten-year statute of repose runs from the product’s first sale. The repose is absolute for strict liability but has exceptions for negligence claims, including failure to warn.
Does the ten-year deadline run from when I was hurt?
No. It runs from a product unit’s first sale, not the injury date. In Burroughs v. L’Oreal (2025), the Georgia Supreme Court held the repose applies on a per-unit basis, so units sold within ten years before suit can remain actionable even if the plaintiff first used the same product much earlier. A statute of repose is not triggered by when harm appears.
Who keeps punitive damages in a product case?
There is no cap on punitive damages in product cases, but 75 percent of any punitive award goes to the State of Georgia. The plaintiff keeps 25 percent of punitives plus all compensatory damages.
Product liability law turns on strict liability, the three defect types, the repose deadline, and the damages framework. A Georgia personal injury attorney can lay out how these rules apply to a specific product and injury.