Article I: On Commodatum

572. Commodatum (pret a usage; bruikleening) is the gratuitous concession of some thing as regards use alone for a certain time (a. 1875-1878). It is said:

1. Concession of a thing as regards use alone: thus it is distinguished from deposit, in which of itself not even the use of the thing is conceded, and from mutuum, in which use and dominion are conceded at the same time. Hence only a non-fungible thing and one not consumable by first use can be given in commodatum; but not a thing consumable by first use or fungible as such, although this can be given in commodatum for a certain secondary end and use according to which it is not consumed, for example, for display, as a pledge, etc.; but then under this respect it is no longer consumable by first use;

2. Gratuitous, because if anything were demanded for the use, it would be letting;

3. For a certain time, because if it is conceded not for a determined time but at the will of the one conceding, it is called a precarium (precaire; leening tot wederopzeggen, of naar goeddunken).

573. Obligations arising from commodatum are determined by natural and civil law together:

A. In the lender for use they are: 1. Not to demand the thing back before the time explicitly or implicitly prefixed, unless an urgent necessity not foreseen supervenes;

2. To undergo extraordinary expenses necessary for the conservation of the thing, for example, for caring for a horse injured without fault of the borrower for use;

3. To reveal defects harmful to the other; otherwise, if he knew them, he is held concerning the damages which would arise from them for the borrower for use (C. C., a. 1888-1891).

B. In the borrower for use they are: 1. To guard the thing with that diligence which a good father of a family applies in his own things; and therefore not to use it except for the use conceded to him or to which the owner would consent; otherwise he would be held to repair damages;

2. To bear ordinary expenses necessary for the conservation of the thing, for example, to feed a horse;

3. At the established time and at his own expense, to restore the same thing in individual, safe and whole (C. C., a. 1880-87).

The rights and obligations of the lender for use pass to his heirs; likewise for the heirs of the borrower for use, unless the thing was conceded, because of a peculiar reason, only to the person of the deceased, in which case they cannot retain it (a. 1879). Destruction of the thing or detriments arising from a fortuitous event fall upon the lender, as being the owner of the thing, with the delay or fault of the borrower for use excluded (for example, prohibited use, or if he could have withdrawn the thing even by substituting his own, from a. 1882), or a special pact by which he had obligated himself to this. But if theological fault is lacking, he is not held to repair except after the sentence of a judge.