For the purposes of Section 1297.13, if a party has more than one place of business, the place of business is that which has the closest relationship to the arbitration agreement, and if a party does not have a place of business, reference is to be made to his habitual residence.
§ 1297.14.Place of Business If Party Has More Than One Place of Business
Title 9.3. Arbitration and Conciliation of International Commercial Disputes · Chapter 1. Application and Interpretation · Article 1. Scope of Application · Enacted 1988 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1297.14 resolves which place of business counts under Section 1297.13 when a party has more than one, using the location with the closest relationship to the arbitration agreement, and falls back to habitual residence if the party has no place of business at all.
Full Text of § 1297.14
Plain-English Summary
The international test in Section 1297.13 depends heavily on where a party's place of business sits, but many parties operate out of several locations at once. This section supplies the tiebreaker: when a party has more than one place of business, the one that counts is whichever has the closest relationship to the arbitration agreement itself.
Some parties, particularly individuals, may not have a place of business at all. For them, the section substitutes habitual residence as the relevant reference point, so the international test in Section 1297.13 always has a concrete location to work from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which location counts if a party has offices in several states or countries?
The place of business with the closest relationship to the arbitration agreement.
What if a party has no place of business at all?
The section refers instead to that party's habitual residence.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 23, Sec. 1. Effective March 7, 1988.
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
Also known as: multiple places of business arbitration testhabitual residence international arbitration california