Texas Product Liability: Two Years to Sue, Fifteen Years From Sale
Reviewed and current as of August 31, 2026. California law can change; verify against the current statute before relying on any date.
A product liability claim for personal injury runs on the two-year period in section 16.003.
Independently, a claimant must commence a products liability action against a manufacturer or seller before the end of 15 years after the date of the sale of the product by the defendant — a statute of repose.
Source: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 16.003 and 16.012 (as of August 31, 2026).
The repose is the distinguishing feature
The two-year limitations period is unremarkable. What separates Texas from California is section 16.012's 15-year repose, running from the date of sale by the defendant. California has enacted no general statute of repose for personal-injury product claims, so a California claim on a thirty-year-old product can proceed if it is otherwise timely. In Texas it generally cannot.
Because repose runs from sale rather than from injury or discovery, it can extinguish a claim before the product ever fails.
| Provision | Period | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Limitations — § 16.003 | 2 years | Accrual of the cause of action |
| Repose — § 16.012 | 15 years | The date of sale of the product by the defendant |
Two statutory exceptions
The repose is not absolute. Where a manufacturer or seller provides a written warranty that the product has a useful safe life longer than 15 years, the claimant must instead file within that longer warranted period.
Separately, the repose does not apply to a personal injury or wrongful death claim where the exposure occurred within 15 years but the symptoms did not manifest until afterward — the latent-disease carve-out. In that situation the ordinary limitations period governs. This matters most in toxic-exposure and occupational-disease litigation.
Key exceptions and tolling
- Written warranty of longer safe life.Where the manufacturer or seller warranted in writing that the product has a useful safe life longer than 15 years, the claimant must file within that longer warranted period instead.
- Latent disease carve-out.The repose does not bar a personal injury or wrongful death claim where exposure occurred within 15 years but symptoms did not manifest until afterward; the ordinary limitations period then applies.
- California has no equivalent.California has not enacted a general statute of repose for personal-injury product claims, so a claim viable there may be barred in Texas on identical facts.
- Repose runs from sale, not injury.Because the trigger is the defendant's sale, the period can expire before the product fails and before any claim accrues.
- Disability tolling.Section 16.001 addresses legal disability, but a repose period is generally far less susceptible to tolling than a limitations period.
Frequently asked
How long do you have to file a product liability lawsuit in Texas?
Generally two years from accrual under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003, subject to a 15-year statute of repose running from the date the defendant sold the product under section 16.012. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does the 15-year Texas products repose have exceptions?
Two. Where the manufacturer or seller gave a written warranty of a useful safe life longer than 15 years, that longer period applies. And the repose does not bar claims where exposure occurred within 15 years but symptoms manifested afterward.
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Not legal advice. This page is general information for licensed attorneys and is not a substitute for independent legal research or professional judgment. It does not address the facts of any specific matter. Statutes, case law, and court rules change; tolling, the discovery rule, equitable estoppel, and claims involving minors, government entities, or out-of-state defendants can all change the applicable deadline. Confirm every date against the current text of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 16.003 and 16.012 and controlling case law. Using this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Statutory citations current as of August 31, 2026.