(a) A copy of the petition and a written notice of the time and place of the hearing thereof and any other papers upon which the petition is based shall be served in the manner provided in the arbitration agreement for the service of such petition and notice.
§ 1290.4.Service of Petition, Notice of Hearing and Other Papers
Title 9. Arbitration · Chapter 5. General Provisions Relating to Judicial Proceedings · Article 1. Petitions and Responses · Enacted 1961 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1290.4 requires the petition and hearing notice to be served as the arbitration agreement specifies, or, absent that, by summons-style service within the state and by mail (with a 30-day minimum before hearing) outside it, unless the party has already appeared.
Full Text of § 1290.4
(b) If the arbitration agreement does not provide the manner in which such service shall be made and the person upon whom service is to be made has not previously appeared in the proceeding and has not previously been served in accordance with this subdivision:
(1) Service within this State shall be made in the manner provided by law for the service of summons in an action.
(2) Service outside this State shall be made by mailing the copy of the petition and notice and other papers by registered or certified mail. Personal service is the equivalent of such service by mail. Proof of service by mail shall be made by affidavit showing such mailing together with the return receipt of the United States Post Office bearing the signature of the person on whom service was made. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, if service is made in the manner provided in this paragraph, the petition may not be heard until at least 30 days after the date of such service.
(c) If the arbitration agreement does not provide the manner in which such service shall be made and the person on whom service is to be made has previously appeared in the proceeding or has previously been served in accordance with subdivision (b) of this section, service shall be made in the manner provided in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1010) of Title 14 of Part 2 of this code.
Plain-English Summary
Getting a petition in front of the right people is the first hurdle in any arbitration proceeding, and this section lays out a layered set of rules for doing it. The starting point is the parties' own agreement: if the arbitration agreement specifies how a petition and hearing notice should be served, that method controls.
When the agreement is silent and the person to be served hasn't already appeared in the proceeding or been served before, the rules split by geography. Service within California follows the same procedure used for serving a summons in a lawsuit. Service outside California happens by registered or certified mail, though personal service works just as well if it's used instead. Proving that mailed service happened requires an affidavit showing the mailing along with the signed return receipt. And because mailed, out-of-state service takes longer to land, the petition can't be heard until at least 30 days after that kind of service, regardless of the shorter notice period Section 1290.2 otherwise allows.
Once a party has already appeared in the proceeding, or has already been served under the rules above, later papers switch over to the general service rules that apply across civil proceedings, sparing the parties from repeating the more elaborate first-service procedure every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should a petition and hearing notice be served under this section?
By whatever method the arbitration agreement specifies; if the agreement is silent, by summons-style service within California or by registered or certified mail outside California.
Is personal service acceptable when mail service outside California would otherwise apply?
Yes. Personal service is treated as the equivalent of the mail service described for out-of-state parties.
How soon can the petition be heard after out-of-state mail service?
Not less than 30 days after that service, longer than the ordinary 10-day minimum notice period for a petition hearing.
What service rules apply once a party has already appeared in the proceeding?
The general civil-proceeding service rules apply instead of this section's initial-service procedure.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1961, Ch. 461.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
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