An enterprise delivers and assembles furniture at a customer’s place. The assembly is included in an acceptance certificate. But the consumer refuses to sign the certificate without giving reasons for the refusal. Has the authorized person of the executive enterprise a right to sign this certificate unilaterally with a note: “The customer refused to sign the present acceptance certificate”?

When assembling furniture at a customer’s place the enterprise has to transport there different furniture parts and components; consequently, along with the acceptance certificate of assembly a bill of lading should be signed. A bill of lading is a document subject to strict accounting; it serves to account for the movement of commodities and materials if their transportation is connected with the use of motor transport; it also serves to settle transportation bills and account for the transportation work made (art. 1 of the Instruction on the filling of the bill of lading (TTH-1 form), passed by the decree of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus from 14.05.2001 #53). It serves as a basis for the writing off of commodities and materials and for the accounting at the executive enterprise.

In the event that the customer has signed the bill of lading for the delivered furniture but refuses to sign the acceptance certificate, we believe, the authorized person of the executive enterprise can indicate in the certificate that the customer has refused to sign it without giving reasons for the refusal; in this case the authorized person has a document which confirms that the material values have been passed to the consumer. We also recommend to get some other confirmations of the fact that the furniture has been assembled at the customer’s place (make a photograph of the assembled furniture, bring another representative of the executive enterprise or a third party who can prove the fact). Subsequently it will enable the enterprise to reject ungrounded claims and to lay damage at the customer if assembly and transportation services haven’t been timely paid for by him.

If the customer refuses to sign the bill of lading along with the acceptance certificate, the authorized person of the executive enterprise will have no confirmation of the fact that the material values have been passed to the customer. In this case the material values should not be left at the customer’s disposal; the furniture should be disassembled and returned to the warehouse. We also recommend to invite another representative of the executive enterprise or a third party and take formal note of the fact that the customer in their presence refused to accept the furniture and sign the acceptance certificate of assembly without giving reasons for the refusal. These documents will help to lay damage for the transportation and assembly at the customer.

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