Repair "Rating" system

Why not rate new appliances for their “repairability” just like they are rated for energy efficiency? You know, like:

5R - completely repairable, all spares easily available and all parts replaceable, without a specialised technician
4R - Most major components replaceable, parts available, can be repaired by skilled person
3R - Only some parts available and requires considerable skill to repair, usually not economically.
2R - Few if any parts available, requires specialised skills, repair rarely viable apart from parts that are basically consumables
1R - Impossible to repair, parts not available or deliberately made irreplaceable (e.g. most washing machines). Even skilled technician could not repair.

What do your appliances rate on this list? Off the top of my head: toasters are usually 2R. Cars 4R. Laptops 3R. Mobile phones somewhere between 2R and 3R, depends a lot on brand.

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I wholeheartedly agree. A couple of years ago, I produced a proposal for a Repairability Standard, but I didn’t manage to get much traction for the idea. The details are at https://www.academia.edu/27350388/Repairability_Standard_for_Hi-tech_Equipment

I’d be very happy to develop this idea further with you.

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We’ve done some research recently on this matter:

Repairability criteria for energy related products: Study in the BeNeLux context to evaluate the options to extend the product life time Final Report.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325896439_Repairability_criteria_for_energy_related_products_Study_in_the_BeNeLux_context_to_evaluate_the_options_to_extend_the_product_life_time_Final_Report

iFixit has some repairability scores as well, e.g. https://www.ifixit.com/laptop-repairability

Just to say that this is being taken quite seriously by European policy makers at the moment. Perhaps @ugo can share more.