A third basis of personal liability for engineers is products liability based on strict liability in tort. This paper discusses products liability and explores some of the ways it relates to engineers.
Products liability is an outgrowth of shortcomings in both contract law and negligence law.
This means that third parties injured by a product usually cannot sue for breach of contract because they are not one of the contracting parties. Until recently, third parties who had been injured by a product were required to prove that the manufacturer of the product was negligent. Proving that an automobile manufacturer in Michigan was negligent is difficult for an injured consumer in California or New Jersey. Products liability law was born from these inadequacies in contract law and negligence law. Product liability is applicable to sellers of defective products to consumers.