In short
Article 1281 of the Civil Code of 2020 settles who loses when the thing sold is destroyed, in three paragraphs. The first is the rule: the risk of destruction of the thing sold is not transferred to the buyer until the seller places it at the buyer’s disposal. Until that moment, the destruction falls on the seller. The second paragraph moves that moment when there is a shipment, but only under a precise condition: where, at the buyer’s request, the seller sends the thing sold to a place other than the place of performance, the risk passes to the buyer as soon as the seller hands the thing to the carrier or to another person to carry out the shipment. Both conditions — that the shipment be at the buyer’s request and that it go to a place other than the place of performance — are in the text. The third paragraph protects the buyer who gave instructions: if the buyer has given special instructions for the shipment, and the seller departs from them unjustifiably, the seller answers to the buyer for any foreseeable damage that is a consequence of the failure to observe the instructions received. What the article does not say, and neither does this guide: what exactly placing the thing at the buyer’s disposal is, who bears the risk if the shipment was not at the buyer’s request, or how much money that foreseeable damage is.
What is it?
It is Article 1281 of the Civil Code of 2020, closing the section on the object of the sale. It fixes the moment when the risk that the thing be destroyed stops being the seller’s and becomes the buyer’s.
Who can do it?
Buyers and sellers of a thing under the Puerto Rico Civil Code, especially where the thing was damaged or destroyed between the agreement and the delivery.
Requirements
- For the risk to remain the seller’s: that the seller has not yet placed the thing at the buyer’s disposal.Verified against the official source
- For the risk to pass with the shipment: that the shipment be at the buyer’s request and to a place other than the place of performance.Verified against the official source
- For the third paragraph’s liability: that the buyer gave special instructions for the shipment and that the seller departed from them unjustifiably.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The rule: risk stays with the seller
First paragraph of Article 1281: the risk of destruction of the thing sold is not transferred to the buyer until the seller places it at the buyer’s disposal. Before that, if the thing is destroyed, the risk was not the buyer’s.
Step 2: The transfer point is "placing at disposal"
It is not the signature, nor the payment: the article picks the moment the seller places the thing at the buyer’s disposal. The Code does not define that phrase in this article, and this guide does not supply one of its own.
Step 3: If you asked for it to be shipped
Second paragraph: where, at the buyer’s request, the seller sends the thing sold to a place other than the place of performance, the risk passes to the buyer as soon as the seller hands the thing to the carrier or to another person to carry out the shipment.
Step 4: The two conditions of that early transfer
The paragraph requires both: that the shipment be at the buyer’s request, and that it go to a place other than the place of performance. The article does not say what happens when either is missing, and this guide does not fill that in.
Step 5: Exactly when it passes, if there is a shipment
As soon as the seller hands the thing to the carrier or to another person to carry out the shipment. It is not on arrival, nor when the buyer receives it: it is on handing it over for shipment.
Step 6: If you gave instructions and they were not followed
Third paragraph: if the buyer has given special instructions for the shipment, and the seller departs from them unjustifiably, the seller answers to the buyer for any foreseeable damage that is a consequence of the failure to observe the instructions received. Two words do the work: "unjustifiably" and "foreseeable".
Step 7: This article does not speak of the carrier
Article 1281 allocates risk between buyer and seller. What the carrier may owe either of them does not come from here, and this guide does not assume it.
Where to do it
There is no counter: it is a risk-allocation rule between the parties. If disputed, the Court of First Instance decides. If the purchase was a consumer one, there are also Department of Consumer Affairs statutes and regulations on deliveries and refunds that we did not read for this guide and that run on their own terms.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If what arrived was defective but not destroyed, that is warranty and hidden defects, with its own guide. If the seller did place the thing at your disposal and you did not collect it, see the guide on creditor’s delay. If your purchase is a consumer one, DACO rules may give you more than this article says, and we did not read them here. The article does not define "placing at disposal", does not say who bears the risk when the shipment was not at the buyer’s request, and fixes no amount for the foreseeable damage. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing risk passes on signing or paying: the article ties it to placing the thing at the buyer’s disposal.
- Believing any shipment passes the risk to the buyer: the shipment must be at the buyer’s request.
- Forgetting the second condition: that the shipment go to a place other than the place of performance.
- Thinking risk passes when the parcel arrives: it passes on handing it to the carrier or another person for shipment.
- As the seller, departing from the buyer’s special instructions without justification.
- As the buyer, giving shipping instructions orally and then being unable to prove them.
- Claiming against the carrier with this article: here only buyer and seller share the risk.
- Assuming a consumer purchase is settled by this article alone, ignoring DACO’s rules.
Frequently asked questions
I bought something and it was destroyed before delivery. Who loses?
Under the first paragraph of Article 1281, the risk is not transferred to the buyer until the seller places the thing at their disposal. If that had not happened, the risk was not yours.
I asked for it to be shipped and it was damaged en route. Whose risk is it?
If the shipment was at your request and to a place other than the place of performance, the risk passed to you as soon as the seller handed the thing to the carrier or another person for shipment.
I gave shipping instructions and the seller did something else. Now what?
The third paragraph says that if the seller departs unjustifiably from the special instructions, they answer to the buyer for any foreseeable damage that is a consequence of that failure.
Can I claim against the carrier with this article?
Article 1281 allocates risk between buyer and seller; it says nothing about what the carrier may owe, and this guide does not add it.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 9, 2026
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