Colorado's New Right-to-Repair Law: What It Means for Your Electronics

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed HB24-1121 on May 28, 2024, creating what is widely viewed as the broadest right-to-repair law in the United States. The law will let people repair nearly any consumer electronic device with a computer chip inside, and it takes effect on January 1, 2026.

The bill passed with strong support from both parties—the state House voted 53-9 in favor, and the Senate voted 21-13. Unlike earlier right-to-repair efforts that focused on just one type of product, Colorado's law casts a wide net across the entire electronics landscape.

What the Law Actually Requires

HB24-1121 covers digital electronics made and first sold in Colorado on or after July 1, 2021. Under the law, manufacturers must provide spare parts, repair manuals, diagnostic tools, and the technical information needed for consumers, independent repair shops, and government agencies to fix things themselves.

This includes access to firmware updates—the software that runs on your device—as well as service manuals and specialized tools. The law also prevents manufacturers from using a common anti-repair trick called parts pairing, in which a replacement component is electronically locked to a specific device's serial number, making the device stop working if you swap it out. Under Colorado's rules, companies cannot use software locks to disable a device after someone legitimately replaces a part.

Learning from Agricultural Equipment

Colorado isn't starting from scratch. The state already passed a similar right-to-repair law for agricultural equipment in 2023, requiring companies like John Deere to share diagnostic software, service manuals, and parts with farmers and independent repair shops. The new digital electronics law follows a similar playbook.

This pattern—starting with farming equipment, then moving to consumer electronics—reflects how repair restrictions have shifted over time. Decades ago, repair battles centered on physical locks and proprietary bolts. Today, manufacturers use firmware, encrypted software, and cloud-based activation to restrict access instead. The legal response is beginning to follow the same evolution.

A Sunset Clause for Federal Action

The law includes an interesting provision: it will automatically expire if Congress passes a comprehensive federal right-to-repair law. This acknowledges that electronics are made and repaired across state and national borders, and a patchwork of different state rules could create headaches for manufacturers. The sunset clause also puts pressure on Congress to act at the federal level.

What Manufacturers and Advocates Say

Nathan Proctor, who leads the right-to-repair campaign for PIRG, sees Colorado's law as a template other states could follow. The legislation specifically tackles technical workarounds manufacturers have used to get around earlier repair laws—things like locking parts to specific devices, requiring proprietary diagnostic equipment, and keeping service manuals secret.

The benefits could extend beyond just saving money on repairs. If devices can be repaired more easily, people might keep them longer instead of buying new ones, which would reduce electronic waste and create more local repair jobs.

What Comes Next

Manufacturers have until January 1, 2026—nearly two years—to adapt their production, supply chains, and software systems. For products that take years to develop, this timeline means companies need to make decisions about repair restrictions early in the design phase.

The law's enforcement details and penalties for noncompliance haven't been fully spelled out yet. Because the law applies to so many types of devices, edge cases will inevitably come up around embedded systems, smart home devices, and products that mix mechanical and digital components.

The broader context here is worth considering. Manufacturers do face real technical challenges with certain products—medical devices and car electronics, for instance, can pose genuine safety risks if modified incorrectly. Balancing those legitimate concerns against the right to repair is a problem that will likely take years to work through in court and in practice.

Colorado's move is the most ambitious right-to-repair effort any state has attempted. Whether it works smoothly, faces legal challenges, and what happens in other states will be important to watch. The law may also shift how federal policymakers think about repair rights across the electronics industry.