Delivered at Place Unloaded and the seller's unloading duty

Delivery completes when the goods are off the vehicle

Until unloading has been performed the seller carries both the cost and the exposure, so damage during the lift falls on the seller rather than the buyer. That is the reverse of every other delivered arrangement. It also means the seller needs to know what equipment is available at the destination, whether the site imposes access or safety rules, and whether specialist lifting is required.

What it replaced and why the change was made

An earlier edition contained a rule limited to delivery at a terminal. It was widened so that the named place can be any location the parties choose, which reflects how often goods are delivered unloaded to a factory, a site or a warehouse rather than to a terminal. The practical consequence is that the term now covers a much broader range of destinations, and with it a much broader range of unloading conditions the seller has to assess.

Import formalities are still the buyer's

Like the delivered term without unloading, this rule leaves clearance, duty and import tax with the buyer. A seller therefore takes on the physical operation at the destination without taking on the customs position, which is a coherent split for a supplier that can arrange a crane but cannot act as importer in a foreign country.

Questions to settle before agreeing it

Who provides the lifting equipment and the crew, whether the site requires method statements or permits, what happens if the location cannot receive the goods on the day, and who bears standby costs. Answering these in the contract converts a term that reads simply into an operation that can be planned. Leaving them open puts a seller in the position of having promised to perform work at a place whose constraints it discovers on arrival.

Frequently asked questions

Is this rule limited to deliveries at a terminal?

Not in the current edition. The named place can be a terminal, a warehouse, a factory or a construction site, which is precisely the change made when the earlier terminal-specific rule was broadened. What matters is that the place is named with enough precision for the unloading to be planned.

Who bears damage during unloading?

The seller, because delivery is not complete until the goods have been unloaded. That is the defining feature of this rule and the main reason a seller should price it differently from a delivered term that stops at the vehicle.