Colorado governor Jared Polis signs a right-to-repair bill that includes a strong ban on parts pairing and takes effect on January 1, 2026
Brandon Vigliarolo / The Register :
Context & Ripple Effects
Colorado’s law extends a state-level right-to-repair arc that has moved from broad access requirements in Minnesota’s repair law and California’s Right to Repair Act toward limits on manufacturers’ control over replacement components.
Its parts-pairing ban closely follows Oregon’s earlier restriction on parts pairing, making Colorado another jurisdiction where repair access is tied to whether components can be independently substituted.
First-order effects
- Manufacturers selling covered products in Colorado must prepare for a January 1, 2026 rule that limits the use of parts pairing to control replacement-component choices.
- Colorado owners and independent repair businesses gain a stronger basis to use replacement parts without manufacturer-imposed pairing restrictions.
Second-order effects
- Companies operating across Colorado and Oregon may face pressure to align repair and component-authentication practices rather than maintain distinct state-by-state workflows.
- Independent repair providers and replacement-parts suppliers can compete more directly where parts pairing had constrained which components could be used.
Third-order effects
- If more states adopt pairing bans, right-to-repair policy could shift from requiring access to parts and information toward limiting software-based control of post-sale repairs.
- A growing state patchwork could make a common manufacturer repair policy more practical than bespoke compliance, though the corpus does not establish that outcome yet.
The trend: Right-to-repair rules are increasingly targeting the software and component controls that can limit repair even when replacement parts are available.