How long do you have to file a product liability claim in Washington?

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

When the three-year clock starts

The Washington Product Liability Act (chapter 7.72 RCW) applies to claims for harm that comes from a product’s design, manufacture, testing, warnings, instructions, labeling or marketing, whether framed as negligence, strict liability, warranty or failure to warn. Fraud, intentionally caused harm and Consumer Protection Act claims are left out (RCW 7.72.010(4)). Under RCW 7.72.060(3), no claim may be brought more than three years from the time the claimant discovered, or in the exercise of due diligence should have discovered, the harm and its cause.

In North Coast Air Services, Ltd. v. Grumman Corp., 111 Wn.2d 315 (1988), a pilot died in a 1974 crash of a Grumman amphibious plane that investigators attributed to pilot error. The suit against the maker was filed in 1986. The Washington Supreme Court held that the claimant must have discovered, or should have discovered, a factual causal relationship between the product and the harm. Knowing about the death and the crash did not start the clock by itself, and when the claimant knew or should have known is ordinarily a question of fact.

When a product’s role is obvious from the start, expect the defense to argue that the three years began on the day of the injury.

Useful safe life and the 12-year presumption

Washington has no flat statute of repose like the 15-year rule in Texas. Under RCW 7.72.060(1), a product seller, a term that includes manufacturers, is not liable if it proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the harm was caused after the product’s useful safe life had expired.

Useful safe life begins at the “time of delivery” to the first purchaser or lessee who was not in the business of selling that kind of product or using it as a component, and it lasts as long as the product would normally be likely to perform or be stored safely. For a remanufactured product, the count starts at delivery of the remanufactured product. If you bought something used, the count started with the first buyer.

Under RCW 7.72.060(2), harm caused more than 12 years after delivery is presumed to have come after the useful safe life expired. You can rebut it only by a preponderance of the evidence.

A seller can still be liable after the useful safe life ends when (RCW 7.72.060(1)(b)):

• it warranted that the product could be used safely for that longer period;
• it intentionally misrepresented facts about the product or concealed information about it, and that conduct was a proximate cause of the harm; or
• the harm came from exposure to a defective product that first occurred within its useful safe life, even though the harm showed up later.

Washington product liability time rules at a glance

The three-year limit is a filing deadline. The useful safe life rule is a defense the seller must prove, measured from delivery of the product.

Manufacturer or seller: who can be held responsible

“Product seller” covers manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and businesses that lease products. It excludes some groups, such as commercial sellers of used products resold in essentially the same condition and providers of professional services (RCW 7.72.010(1)). A “manufacturer” makes or remanufactures the product or a component, or holds itself out as the maker (RCW 7.72.010(2)).

Under RCW 7.72.030, a manufacturer is liable in negligence when a product was not reasonably safe as designed or lacked adequate warnings or instructions, including warnings about dangers learned after it was made. Strict liability applies when a flaw in how the product was built made it not reasonably safe, or when it did not conform to an express or implied warranty.

A store or distributor that did not make the product is generally liable only for its own negligence, its own express warranty, or its own intentional misrepresentation or concealment (RCW 7.72.040(1)). Under RCW 7.72.040(2), it takes on a manufacturer’s liability if:

• no solvent manufacturer that would be liable can be served under the laws of your home state or Washington;
• the court finds it highly probable you could not enforce a judgment against any manufacturer;
• one company is a controlled subsidiary of the other;
• the seller provided the plans or specifications that caused the defect; or
• the product was marketed under the seller’s own trade name or brand name.

Sorting out who must be named happens inside the same three years.

Injured children and deaths caused by a product

Under RCW 4.16.190, time while the person entitled to sue is under 18 is not counted. The same applies to a person who cannot understand the nature of the proceedings because of incompetency or disability, as determined under chapter 11.130 RCW, and to a person imprisoned on a criminal charge before sentencing. RCW 7.72.060(3) is expressly subject to these tolling rules. As a general example, a child hurt by a defective product at age 10 would usually have until age 21 to file. The useful safe life is still measured from the product’s delivery.

When a product causes a death, the estate’s personal representative sues under RCW 4.20.010 for the spouse or state registered domestic partner and children, including stepchildren, or, if there are none, the parents or siblings (RCW 4.20.020). The Act’s definition of “claimant” includes a wrongful death action (RCW 7.72.010(5)).

In Deggs v. Asbestos Corp., 186 Wn.2d 716 (2016), the Washington Supreme Court said a wrongful death action has a three-year limitations period (the period in RCW 4.16.080) and quoted an earlier ruling that wrongful death actions accrue at the time of death. The court also kept a long-standing rule: the family can sue a defendant only if the person who died still had a claim against that defendant when he or she died. The man in Deggs had been diagnosed with asbestos-related disease years before his death. By the time he died, the deadline for his own injury claim against the companies his daughter named had passed, so her wrongful death case against them was dismissed. Our Washington wrongful death deadline FAQ covers other death claims.

How your own share of fault affects a product claim

Under RCW 4.22.005, the injured person’s own fault reduces damages in proportion but does not bar recovery. “Fault” includes misuse of a product, and it also includes conduct that creates liability on a product liability claim (RCW 4.22.015). As a hypothetical, if a jury found a user 25 percent at fault for removing a safety guard, the user’s damages would be reduced by 25 percent.

When several entities share fault, each defendant generally pays only its own percentage. If the injured person is found not at fault, the defendants against whom judgment is entered are jointly and severally liable for the sum of their shares (RCW 4.22.070). See comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington.

What this means for your case

Write down the date you were hurt and the date you first had reason to think the product caused it. Do not repair or throw away the product. Save it along with its box, instruction booklet, receipt and any pieces that broke off, and keep it yourself instead of giving it to the manufacturer, the store or an insurer. Photograph labels, model numbers and serial numbers.

Find out when the product was first sold or delivered, since the 12-year presumption counts from that date. If a family member died, note the date of death and when the family first learned a product may have been involved.

Leave time for the product to be inspected and for the right manufacturer or seller to be identified before the three years run. Beverly Law handles injury cases across Washington. For vehicle defects, see our Washington rollover accident page. You owe no fees or costs unless we win. Call (310) 552-6959 for a free consultation.

Common questions

Related pages

Washington injury lawyers · Personal injury statute of limitations in California, Texas and Washington · How long do you have to sue over a defective product in Texas? · Washington wrongful death statute of limitations · Washington rollover accident lawyer · Comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Last reviewed: November 10, 2026.