---
id: KB-LG-020
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/logistics/the-warehouse-storing-for-several-owners
idioma: en
categoria: sector-logistica
subcategoria: almacenamiento
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LG-016, KB-AL-021, KB-LG-027]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-021]
---

# The warehouse storing for several owners

_You hold goods that are not yours, for several clients at once. What protects you is knowing at all times what belongs to whom._

**Responde a:** logistics warehouse third party goods · what a logistics operator is liable for · stock control for several clients · documentation for goods on deposit

On your racking there are goods belonging to six different companies. None is yours and you answer for all of it while it sits there. It is a comfortable position commercially and an uncomfortable one documentarily: **the risk is not in what you do, it is in what you cannot show**.

## The four questions you will be asked

| Question | What answers it |
| --- | --- |
| What came in, when and from whom? | The intake record, with condition on arrival |
| Under what conditions was it stored? | The warehouse records for that period |
| What went out, when and on whose order? | The despatch record and who authorised it |
| **How do you know this belongs to that client?** | **Separation and identification — where it fails** |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Receiving without checking is accepting what arrived as it arrived.** It is the same loading-bay rule as in any sector, and here it weighs double because the goods are not yours: if they come in damaged or short and you sign without reservation, the damage moves inside your custody period. Recording condition on arrival —even one line and a photo— is the difference between holding goods and answering for what someone else broke.

## What to agree with each client

1. **Who may order a despatch and how that is verified** — This is where serious problems enter, not the stocktake.
2. **What is checked on receipt and what is recorded** — Quantity, condition, temperature where relevant, accompanying paperwork.
3. **What happens to goods arriving in poor condition** — Accept under reservation, reject or isolate. Decided beforehand.
4. **And what happens if a client stops paying or vanishes** — Awkward to agree and worse to resolve with nothing written.

> [!WARNING]
> Big trouble does not enter through the warehouse: **it enters through the despatch order**. A phone call, an email from a lookalike address, someone claiming to be from the client. The goods leave, and showing afterwards that the order looked legitimate is very hard with no procedure in place. Who may request a despatch, through which channel and how it is verified must be agreed in writing with each client — not decided by whoever is in the office that afternoon.

> [!NOTE]
> What duties a bailee assumes, what they answer for regarding others' goods and what documentation they must keep depends on the contract and on the rules applying to the activity and product type. **Your adviser settles that**; here we cover what in practice decides whether you can show you complied.

**Am I liable for my clients' goods?**

While in your custody, on the contract's terms. Hence the arrival condition.

**Can I release goods on a phone call?**

That is exactly where problems enter. Agree the procedure.

**What if a client vanishes?**

With nothing written, a long problem. Agree it at the outset.

## Ejemplos

**A damaged pallet comes in and the receipt is signed with nothing recorded.**

- Records condition on arrival, with a photo, and accepts under reservation

→ The damage does not move inside the custody period.

**Goods are released on a phone call from someone claiming to be the client.**

- Agrees in writing who may order despatches and how it is verified

→ Releases stop depending on the judgement of whoever answers the phone.

**A client claims product was short and there is no record of exactly what came in.**

- Logs intakes with quantity, condition and accompanying paperwork

→ The claim is settled with the record instead of two versions.

**Two owners share racking and goods get confused.**

- Records what occupies each location

→ Identity is preserved by location.

**An owner asks how much of theirs you hold.**

- Records movements in and out per owner

→ You answer with a figure.

**One owner's goods are despatched to another by mistake.**

- Checks the owner before every despatch

→ The error is avoided at the bay.