(a) If a party filing a response to a demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling under Sections 2031.210, 2031.220, 2031.230, 2031.240, and 2031.280 thereafter fails to permit the inspection, copying, testing, or sampling in accordance with that party's statement of compliance, the demanding party may move for an order compelling compliance.
§ 2031.320.Failure to permit inspection, copying, testing, or sampling; motion to compel compliance;
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 2031 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2031.320 lets the demanding party move to compel actual compliance when a party who agreed to permit inspection, copying, testing, or sampling fails to follow through, and requires mandatory sanctions against whichever side loses the motion, escalating to issue, evidence, or terminating sanctions for continued noncompliance.
Full Text of § 2031.320
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the court shall impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010) against any party, person, or attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to compel compliance with a demand, unless it finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), if a party then fails to obey an order compelling inspection, copying, testing, or sampling, the court may make those orders that are just, including the imposition of an issue sanction, an evidence sanction, or a terminating sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010). In lieu of or in addition to that sanction, the court may impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010).
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b) and (c), absent exceptional circumstances, the court shall not impose sanctions on a party or any attorney of a party for failure to provide electronically stored information that has been lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten as the result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.
(2) This subdivision shall not be construed to alter any obligation to preserve discoverable information.
Plain-English Summary
Agreeing to comply with a demand is one thing; following through on that promise is another, and this section addresses the gap between the two. If a party who filed a statement of compliance later fails to permit the inspection, copying, testing, or sampling it promised, the demanding party may move for an order compelling that compliance.
As with the chapter's other enforcement motions, the losing side on a motion under this section faces a mandatory monetary sanction, absent substantial justification or some other circumstance making a sanction unjust. And if the noncompliant party still refuses to obey the court's order compelling compliance, the consequences escalate beyond money damages: the court may impose an issue sanction, an evidence sanction, or a terminating sanction, in addition to or instead of a further monetary sanction. The same narrow safe harbor found throughout this chapter protects against sanctions for electronically stored information lost through the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system, without excusing the underlying duty to preserve it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers a motion under this section?
A party's failure to permit the inspection, copying, testing, or sampling it agreed to in a statement of compliance.
Is a sanction automatic on this motion?
Yes, against whoever loses, unless the losing side acted with substantial justification or a sanction would be unjust.
What happens if the party still won't comply after the court orders it?
The court may impose an issue, evidence, or terminating sanction, in addition to or instead of a further monetary sanction.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2009, c. 5 (A.B.5), § 22, eff. June 29, 2009.) WESTLAW © 2026 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 § 2031.320. Failure to permit inspection, copying, testing, or sampling; motion to compel..., CA CIV PRO § 2031.320
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
Also known as: motion to compel compliance with document demand californiaparty agreed to produce but didn't