Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 14. Inspection, Copying, Testing, Sampling, and Production of Documents, Electronically Stored · Article 2. Response to Inspection Demand · Last amended 2009 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2031.210 requires a party responding to an inspection demand to answer each item separately with a statement of compliance, a representation of inability to comply, or an objection, to caption the response like the demand, and to preserve ESI-accessibility objections by identifying the categories of sources it will not search.
(a)The party to whom a demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling has been directed shall respond separately to each item or category of item by any of the following:
(1)A statement that the party will comply with the particular demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling by the date set for the inspection, copying, testing, or sampling pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 2031.030 and any related activities.
(2)A representation that the party lacks the ability to comply with the demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of a particular item or category of item.
(3)An objection to the particular demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling.
(b)In the first paragraph of the response immediately below the title of the case, there shall appear the identity of the responding party, the set number, and the identity of the demanding party.
(c)Each statement of compliance, each representation, and each objection in the response shall bear the same number and be in the same sequence as the corresponding item or category in the demand, but the text of that item or category need not be repeated.
(d)If a party objects to the discovery of electronically stored information on the grounds that it is from a source that is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or expense and that the responding party will not search the source in the absence of an agreement with the demanding party or court order, the responding party shall identify in its response the types or categories of sources of electronically stored information that it asserts are not reasonably accessible. By objecting and identifying information of a type or category of source or sources that are not reasonably accessible, the responding party preserves any objections it may have relating to that electronically stored information.
This section frames the basic architecture of every response to an inspection demand. The responding party has to address each item or category of item in the demand separately, and it has to do so through one of exactly three response types: a statement that the party will comply with that item by the date the demand specifies, a representation that the party lacks the ability to comply, or an objection to that particular item.
The response has to carry a caption of its own, identifying the responding party, the set number, and the demanding party, and each statement, representation, or objection has to bear the same number or letter as the matching item in the demand, though the responding party need not repeat the text of the demand itself. When the objection is to electronically stored information the responding party considers not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or expense, and the responding party does not intend to search that source absent an agreement or court order, the response has to identify the types or categories of sources it is declining to search. Making that objection and identifying those categories preserves the responding party's objections to that information going forward, so the failure to flag an inaccessible source at this stage can forfeit the accessibility defense later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What three ways can a party respond to each item in a demand?
A statement of compliance, a representation of inability to comply, or an objection.
Does the response have to repeat the text of the demand?
No, each response only has to bear the same number or letter as the corresponding item.
How does a party preserve an ESI-accessibility objection?
By identifying in the response the types or categories of sources of electronically stored information it asserts are not reasonably accessible and will not search absent agreement or a court order.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2007, c. 738 (A.B.1248), § 7; Stats.2009, c. 5 (A.B.5), § 10, eff. June 29, 2009.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
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