Property damage act: what does it include, how is it drawn up, where is it submitted?

Any item can be damaged, spoiled, broken, smashed, that is, spoiled.
Damage to property can occur due to the negligence of homeowners, hotel guests, employees of enterprises, factories, and company employees. In some cases, when property is damaged, a corresponding document is drawn up - a damage report. Dear readers! To solve your specific problem, call the hotline or visit the website. It's free.
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When to draw up a property damage report

A damage report is needed when it is necessary to record damage to property - emergency incidents such as a tree falling on a car, a fire, or intentional harm caused by another citizen.
Why is such an act needed? It is used to confirm the fact of damage or destruction of any material objects, which gives the victim the right to demand monetary compensation from the culprit or to write off the damaged objects. Thus, such acts are always drawn up in case of floods in apartments, fires, accidents, improper operation of equipment and devices, damage to interior items in a hotel and other similar events, regardless of whether the damage to material assets is intentional or accidental.

Depending on the situation, various acts are drawn up. As a rule, the act is drawn up not by one person, but by a special commission. In some cases, the document is drawn up in free form, in others, approved samples are used. Next, we will consider in detail several of the most common types of acts and the rules for their preparation.

Compiled by whom?

Any owner whose property has been damaged can draw up an act of property damage. If we are talking about the organization’s property, an authorized person will be engaged in drawing up a document about damage to property.

Typically this is done by the following people:

• Company in-house lawyer;
• Secretary;
• Head of department;
• Accountant;
• Specially appointed responsible person.

It is important to note that when drawing up the act, other persons must be present to act as witnesses. This could be neighbors, if we are talking about damage to property in the apartment, or other company employees, if we are talking about damage to corporate property.

A special commission is formed, which must consist of at least three people. If we are talking about damage to high-tech equipment or devices, you should hire a third-party expert to more accurately diagnose the damage.

How to draw up a deed

Act on causing material damage (download sample)

This document does not have a general unified template approved at the legislative level, therefore it can be compiled in free form.

A sample act of damage to property usually has the following structure:

• date, time and place of drawing up the act;
• the composition of the commission that inspects the damaged property and draws up an act of damage;
• a list of damaged property, a detailed description of the nature and extent of damage;
• cause of damage (if possible to determine);
• an indication of the person through whose fault the described damage was caused to the property (if such a person has been identified);
• signatures with a transcript of all persons participating in the inspection of the damaged property.

Photographs of the damaged property can also be attached to such a report, which can later be used as evidence if the dispute has to be resolved in court.

It is not always possible to justify the amount to be compensated without the participation of a professional appraiser, therefore, perhaps, in addition to the damage report, a report on the assessment of such damage, drawn up by an expert, will also be drawn up.

It can also be difficult to determine the cause of damage (for example, the cause and exact location of the fire, etc.) - in this case, an expert opinion will again be required.

A sample property damage report can be downloaded from the link: Property Damage Report - sample.

Act on damage to property due to inadequate quality of utility services

Note! In the event of a flood or fire due to the fault of public utilities, the act is drawn up in a fixed form and must be drawn up by the public utilities themselves.

The basic requirements for the procedure for drawing up a report on damage to the property of a consumer of utility services due to inadequate quality of their provision at the federal level are regulated by Ch. XVI Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation “On the provision of public services...” dated 05/06/2011 No. 354. It is indicated that such an act (clause 152):

• compiled by the contractor (i.e., the company providing the relevant utility services) no later than 12 hours from the moment the consumer contacts the emergency dispatch service;
• signed by the contractor and the consumer or, if it is not possible to obtain the signature of the latter, by 2 disinterested persons;
• must contain a description of the damage caused and the circumstances under which such damage was caused.

The procedure for issuing an inspection report can also be established at the regional level (see Appendix 2 to the order dated March 12, 2001 of the City Order Department of the Moscow Government No. 55-48/1, Housing and Communal Services and Improvement Department of the Moscow Government No. 5-37/1 ).

Act on damage to the organization's property

Organizations, as a rule, have an act form approved by local documentation for recording a list of damage to property owned by the organization.

In addition, special unified forms can be used, for example:

• TORG-15 - act on damage, damage, scrap of inventory items, approved. Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 1998 No. 132;
• No. 9-G - act of damage to hotel property, approved. by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 13, 1993 No. 121, etc.

The fact of shortage of goods and materials or damage to property at the enterprise can be established by comparing the results of inventory and information from accounting registers (Clause 2, Article 11 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

Simply filling out an act of damage or destruction of property to assign financial responsibility to a specific person is not enough, since an appropriate official investigation must be carried out (Article 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), on the basis of which the guilty party is identified.

The Property Damage Act is also used in property insurance. The form of such an act can be viewed on the ConsultantPlus website. If you do not yet have access to the ConsultantPlus system, you can obtain it free of charge for 2 days.

Determining the amount of damage

In accordance with Article 246 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of damage is determined depending on the actual losses based on the market value of the property. This amount should not be lower than the residual value of the property according to accounting data.

To determine actual losses caused by property damage, it is necessary:

• Establish the value of the property before the moment of damage. We are talking about the so-called residual value according to accounting data;
• Determine the market value of the property after the damage has occurred. This can be done on the basis of an independent expert assessment report;
• Calculate the amount of actual losses - the difference between the value of the property before and after the damage occurred.

When drawing up the act, it is advisable to include a professional appraiser on the commission. This is due to the fact that it is not always possible to justify the amount to be reimbursed. To avoid further disputes, it is advisable to attach to the document a document on the assessment of such damage, drawn up by an expert.

Where and for how long is the document stored?

An act of damage or damage to property is usually drawn up in several copies: one for the injured person, one for the causer of the damage (if he is involved in the preparation), and the third for the commission.

Since the act of damage to property is reflected in accounting, its storage period is set as for primary accounting documentation - 5 years (Part 1, Article 29 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ)

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So, an act of damage to property can be drawn up in free form with the obligatory indication of the list of damaged property, detailed characteristics of the damage, the date, time and place of drawing up such a document.
The act must be signed by the person whose property was damaged, and either by the person through whose fault the damage was caused, or by third parties who have no interest in resolving the issue. In addition, the document is signed by members of the commission that conducted the property survey. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Procedure for compensation for material damage

The legislation of the Russian Federation clearly defines the rules and procedure by which this procedure is carried out. In this case, both mutual agreement on this issue and a situation where one of the parties files a lawsuit is acceptable.

It is important to rely on the general rules related to jurisdiction:

1. The World Court considers cases the cost of which reaches 50 thousand rubles, but does not exceed this amount.
2. District courts are responsible for cases in which the cost is already more than fifty thousand rubles.

There are a number of steps you must take before submitting your claim for reimbursement. For example, you need evidence that damage was caused.

And that actions and consequences differ in cause and effect. This procedure is relevant for any situations where it is proven that the occurrence of negative consequences is associated with what an individual has done.

If one of the parties has the status of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity, then proof of the damage itself will be sufficient.

The next stage consists of filing a claim. Without it, consideration of the case in the future becomes impossible:

• Arbitration courts deal with corporate disputes involving entrepreneurs and legal entities.
• When the victim is an individual, the consideration of the case is transferred to courts with general jurisdiction.

Purpose of the form

The damage document is drawn up in order to:

• record the fact of harm: breakdown, damage to property;
• serve as a reason for writing off the damaged value or its subsequent repair;
• was evidence during the presentation of the claim against the culprit.

A precondition for drawing up an act is the receipt of a memo to the manager about the event of an accident, failure, equipment breakdown, etc. from a person authorized to do so. The culprit writes an explanatory note in which he indicates the reasons for what happened.

Expert opinion

Kuzmin Ivan Timofeevich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Member of the Bar Association.

The manager issues an order to appoint a commission to conduct an inspection, drawing up a report on the damage caused and considering issues about:

• identifying the culprit's involvement in the incident,
• approximate amount of damage caused,
• the possibility of further work with damaged property or its repair.

The commission consists of at least three people. The act indicates that there was damage.

Based on it, the head, collegial body of the organization or the court makes a decision on liability for causing harm and imposes punishment on the perpetrator. During the inspection, members of the commission may make comments and additions.

If there are disagreements among the members of the commission, you can keep a protocol or issue an act of internal investigation.

The protocol is more appropriate, since it shows how the investigation was conducted, what facts were examined and what issues were put to a vote.

It may be that the culprit cannot be found or identified. Then the act must indicate this.

Compensation for losses: general procedure

When relations are regulated by an agreement concluded between the parties, disputes are resolved in accordance with the text of this document. The Labor Code regulates the relationship between employer and employee.

Compensation for damages usually occurs after defects caused by certain actions are discovered. You can reimburse everything voluntarily. Through installments or a one-time payment.

Sometimes the employer himself becomes the culprit for the damage caused. Then it is he who is responsible for compensation. Additional interest may be charged if payment terms are missed.

Without statements of claim from victims, the court cannot make a decision regarding a particular case. Claims are sent independently by the preparers or using the services of the Russian Post. Losses must be compensated for a maximum period of up to three years. Time is counted from the moment the conditions occur that lead to negative consequences.

In fact, every organization has property of some value.

Such property is usually transferred to the employee to perform his job duties.

An expensive property is placed on the organization’s balance sheet.

It may be damaged during its use.

To certify the presence of such harm, an act of damage to the organization’s property is used.

In what cases is it necessary?

This is a fairly serious document that serves as the basis for further administrative actions after damage to property has been identified.

An act of causing damage to the property of an organization indicates the very fact of causing harm and serves as evidence in court to identify the culprit.

Whether the harm was intentional or caused by negligence is not important. The act must be drawn up.

A person who damages equipment, a vehicle or other thing of value to an organization bears varying degrees of liability.