Colorado’s third Right to Repair law is now signed. Here’s what you need to know

On Tuesday, May 28, Gov. Jared Polis signed Colorado’s third Right to Repair law in three years — cementing Colorado’s leadership on consumers’ repair rights. Building upon successful efforts in Minnesota, California and Oregon over the last year, the new Colorado law covers nearly all consumer and business electronics. 

“This action makes Colorado the ‘Right to Repair State’ – we will be able to fix more of our stuff than people in any other state. Everything breaks at some point, and when it does, we should have the freedom to fix it,” commented CoPIRG Executive Director Danny Katz at the signing. 

In addition, the law restricts the use of “parts pairing,” a practice which prevents spare parts from fully repairing a device without the manufacturer’s permission. 

“Accidents happen, people drop their phones and break their screens every day, but because of ‘parts pairing’ and repair restrictions, owners aren’t allowed to fix their devices,” said state Senator Jeff Bridges, one of the legislation’s four sponsors.

What Colorado’s Right to Repair laws cover

Colorado already enforces laws that require manufacturers of powered wheelchairs and farm equipment to open their repair networks to product owners and independent repair shops. The core requirement of the legislation is the mandatory sharing of three things — parts, tools and documentation — on “fair and reasonable terms.” 

Specifically, manufacturers are allowed to charge for physical parts, tools or manuals, but have to charge the same amount they charge authorized repair shops. They may not charge for digital-only access to service materials or diagnostic software. 

Colorado’s new bill starts with the premise that it applies to all consumer electronic devices — anything with a microchip first sold after July 1, 2021. That means the legislation covers: 

• Personal electronics like cell phones and laptops
• Printers
• Appliances
• HVAC systems
• Servers, routers and other IT equipment, including enterprise equipment
• e-Bikes 
• Music and sound equipment

However, the bill does include a list of exemptions. Everything with embedded electronics is covered, except:

• Video game consoles
• Cable boxes 
• Motor vehicles 
• Construction or road-building equipment
• Electric vehicle, renewable energy equipment and power-generation equipment
• Boats
• Emergency radios 
• Fire alarm and certain security alarm system components 
• Medical equipment

The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. 

“This new law will give consumers more options to fix their broken electronics, saving them money and time on costly repairs,” explained state Rep. Brianna Titone, who has sponsored successful Right to Repair bills each of the last three years.  

Who supported this latest legislation 

In Colorado, CoPIRG led the coalition effort supporting the Right to Repair bill in partnership with the national coalition Repair.org. Among the supporters were repair shops from across the state, iFixit, local electronics manufacturer SparkFun, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) of Colorado, the Boulder U-Fix-It Clinic (part of the Fixit Clinic network), Environment Colorado, Consumer Reports, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others. 

In addition, Google endorsed the legislation, the second such bill the company has supported. 

“We applaud the efforts of Rep. Titone, Rep. Woodrow and Sen. Hincrichsen and Sen. Bridges  in advancing this comprehensive Right to Repair legislation,” said Steven Nickel, Google’s Devices and Services Director of Operations. “This bill is a win for consumers who are looking for affordable repair options, for the environment, and for companies that want to invest in making their products more repairable and sustainable. Google is proud to support Right to Repair legislation that reflects our own commitment to providing greater repair access for consumers while empowering them with their repair decisions.”

Right to Repair supporters and sponsors pose with Gov. Jared Polis. From left, David Namura of Google, Jonathan Sabar and Tom Moloney from Blue Star Recyclers, Juan Maulet of Paragon Geeks (a local repair shop), state Sen. Jeff Bridges, state Rep. Brianna Titone, Gov. Jared Polis, Chad McDonald of Genuis Computer Repair, and CoPIRG Director Danny Katz.Photo by Ted Gotwals | TPIN

What’s next for Right to Repair? 

Working with Repair.org, iFixit and others, PIRG has helped pass successful Right to Repair legislation in New York, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon and California. Groups representing independent car mechanics have also helped pass automotive repair legislation in Massachusetts and Maine. 

So far in 2024, 30 states have actively considered repair legislation, including a number of bills that are still moving. Our coalition continues to advance legislation that will ensure all Americans can fix their products. We will continue to address gaps in existing repair coverage, and also ensure manufacturers make their parts, tools and manuals available accordingly. 

Minnesota and California’s Right to Repair will begin to be enforced on July 1 — and we will watch closely to make sure companies comply. 

Wayne Seltzer of Boulder’s U-Fix-It Clinic demonstrates some common repairs to Gov. Polis and his son.Photo by Ted Gotwals | TPIN