Rule 34 — Producing Documents, Electronically Stored Information, and Tangible Things, or Entering onto Land, for Inspection and Other Purposes

Fed. R. Civ. P. 34

• Source: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
• Rule: 34
• TITLE V: DISCLOSURES AND DISCOVERY
• Citation: Fed. R. Civ. P. 34

Text

(a) IN GENERAL. A party may serve on any other party a request
within the scope of Rule 26(b):
(1) to produce and permit the requesting party or its rep-
resentative to inspect, copy, test, or sample the following
items in the responding party’s possession, custody, or con-
trol:
(A) any designated documents or electronically stored
information—including writings, drawings, graphs, charts,
photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or
data compilations—stored in any medium from which in-
formation can be obtained either directly or, if necessary,
after translation by the responding party into a reason-
ably usable form; or
(B) any designated tangible things; or
(2) to permit entry onto designated land or other property
possessed or controlled by the responding party, so that the
requesting party may inspect, measure, survey, photograph,
test, or sample the property or any designated object or oper-
ation on it.
(b) PROCEDURE.
(1) Contents of the Request. The request:
(A) must describe with reasonable particularity each
item or category of items to be inspected;
(B) must specify a reasonable time, place, and manner
for the inspection and for performing the related acts; and
(C) may specify the form or forms in which electroni-
cally stored information is to be produced.
(2) Responses and Objections.
(A) Time to Respond. The party to whom the request is di-
rected must respond in writing within 30 days after being
served or—if the request was delivered under Rule
26(d)(2)—within 30 days after the parties’ first Rule 26(f)
conference. A shorter or longer time may be stipulated to
under Rule 29 or be ordered by the court.
(B) Responding to Each Item. For each item or category,
the response must either state that inspection and related
activities will be permitted as requested or state with
specificity the grounds for objecting to the request, includ-
ing the reasons. The responding party may state that it
will produce copies of documents or of electronically
stored information instead of permitting inspection. The
production must then be completed no later than the time
for inspection specified in the request or another reason-
able time specified in the response.
(C) Objections. An objection must state whether any re-
sponsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that
objection. An objection to part of a request must specify
the part and permit inspection of the rest.
(D) Responding to a Request for Production of Electronically
Stored Information. The response may state an objection to

a requested form for producing electronically stored infor-
mation. If the responding party objects to a requested
form—or if no form was specified in the request—the party
must state the form or forms it intends to use.
(E) Producing the Documents or Electronically Stored Infor-
mation. Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the
court, these procedures apply to producing documents or
electronically stored information:
(i) A party must produce documents as they are kept
in the usual course of business or must organize and
label them to correspond to the categories in the re-
quest;
(ii) If a request does not specify a form for producing
electronically stored information, a party must
produce it in a form or forms in which it is ordinarily
maintained or in a reasonably usable form or forms;
and
(iii) A party need not produce the same electroni-
cally stored information in more than one form.
(c) NONPARTIES. As provided in Rule 45, a nonparty may be com-
pelled to produce documents and tangible things or to permit an
inspection.

Advisory Committee Notes

(As amended Dec. 27, 1946, eff. Mar. 19, 1948; Mar. 30, 1970, eff. July 1, 1970; Apr. 29, 1980, eff. Aug. 1, 1980; Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 30, 1991, eff. Dec. 1, 1991; Apr. 22, 1993, eff. Dec. 1, 1993; Apr. 12, 2006, eff. Dec. 1, 2006; Apr. 30, 2007, eff. Dec. 1, 2007; Apr. 29, 2015, eff. Dec. 1, 2015.)