Rule 33.Interrogatories to parties.

Last amended 2011 · Last verified July 3, 2026

In one sentenceRule 33 lets a party serve up to 50 written interrogatories on another party, who must answer under oath or object within a set time, with a shortcut of pointing to business records instead of writing out the answer.

Full Text of Rule 33

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c)

(a) Availability; procedures for use. – Any party may serve upon any other party written interrogatories to be answered by the party served or, if the party served is a public or private corporation or a partnership or association or governmental agency, by any officer or agent, who shall furnish such information as is available to the party. Interrogatories may, without leave of court, be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint upon that party.

A party may direct no more than 50 interrogatories, in one or more sets, to any other party, except upon leave granted by the Court for good cause shown or by agreement of the other party. Interrogatory parts and subparts shall be counted as separate interrogatories for purposes of this rule.

There shall be sufficient space following each interrogatory in which the respondent may state the response. The respondent shall: (1) state the response in the space provided, using additional pages if necessary; or (2) restate the interrogatory to be followed by the response.

Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and fully in writing under oath, unless it is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated in lieu of an answer. An objection to an interrogatory shall be made by stating the objection and the reason therefor either in the space following the interrogatory or following the restated interrogatory. The answers are to be signed by the person making them, and the objections signed by the attorney making them. The party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall serve a copy of the answers, and objections if any, within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories, except that a defendant may serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon the defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The party submitting the interrogatories may move for an order under Rule 37(a) with respect to any objection to or other failure to answer an interrogatory.

(b) Scope; use at trial. – Interrogatories may relate to any matters which can be inquired into under Rule 26(b), and the answers may be used to the extent permitted by the rules of evidence.

An interrogatory otherwise proper is not necessarily objectionable merely because an answer to the interrogatory involves an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact, but the court may order that such an interrogatory need not be answered until after designated discovery has been completed or until a pretrial conference or other later time.

(c) Option to produce business records. – Where the answer to an interrogatory may be derived or ascertained from the business records, including electronically stored information, of the party upon whom the interrogatory has been served or from an examination, audit or inspection of such business records, or from a compilation, abstract or summary based thereon, and the burden of deriving or ascertaining the answer is substantially the same for the party serving the interrogatory as for the party served, it is a sufficient answer to such interrogatory to specify the records from which the answer may be derived or ascertained and to afford to the party serving the interrogatory reasonable opportunity to examine, audit or inspect such records and to make copies, compilations, abstracts or summaries. A specification shall be in sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to locate and to identify, as readily as can the party served, the records from which the answer may be ascertained.

End

Amendment History

(1967, c. 954, s. 1; 1971, c. 1156, s. 4.5; 1975, c. 99; c. 762, s. 2; 1987, c. 73; c. 613, s. 1; 2011-199, s. 3(c).)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 33(a) lets a party serve written interrogatories on another party -- answered, for a corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency, by an appropriate officer or agent -- any time after commencement for the plaintiff, or with or after the summons and complaint for anyone else, without needing leave of court. A party may serve no more than 50 interrogatories total (parts and subparts each counting separately) absent leave for good cause or the other party's agreement. Each interrogatory needs enough space for a response, and the responding party may either answer in that space or restate the interrogatory before answering; answers must be separate, full, in writing, and under oath unless objected to, with the reasons for any objection stated in place of an answer. Answers are signed by the person who gave them, objections by the attorney who made them. Responses and objections are due within 30 days of service (45 days for a defendant served with the interrogatories along with the summons and complaint), a period the court can shorten or lengthen; a Rule 37(a) motion is available for objections or other failures to answer.

Rule 33(b) ties the scope of proper interrogatories to Rule 26(b) and lets answers be used at trial to the extent the rules of evidence allow; an interrogatory isn't automatically improper just because answering it calls for an opinion or a contention involving law applied to fact, though the court may put off requiring an answer until later in discovery, a pretrial conference, or some other point. Rule 33(c) lets a party answer by pointing to its business records -- including electronically stored information -- instead of writing out the answer, when deriving the answer from those records would be about equally burdensome for either side; the specification must be detailed enough that the requesting party can locate and identify the records as readily as the responding party could, and the responding party must allow reasonable examination, auditing, or copying of the records.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many interrogatories can one party serve on another?

No more than 50, counting each part and subpart of a multi-part interrogatory separately, unless the court allows more for good cause or the other party agrees.

How long does a party have to answer interrogatories?

30 days after service, or 45 days for a defendant served with the interrogatories along with the summons and complaint, though the court can shorten or extend that deadline.

Can a party answer an interrogatory by just handing over business records?

Yes, under Rule 33(c), when the answer can be derived from the records and doing so would be about equally burdensome for either side -- the response must specify the records in enough detail for the requesting party to find them.

Source & verification. The rule text and history citation are reproduced verbatim from the official North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 1A (N.C. R. Civ. P. 33). Enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly (S.L. 1967, c. 954, codified at N.C.G.S. § 1A-1). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 3, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: written interrogatoriesROGROGs50 interrogatory limitbusiness records optionanswering interrogatories under oathobjecting to interrogatoriesinterrogatory response deadlineinterrogatories to a corporation