Explanation of Article 685
The article clarified another obligation of the beneficiary towards the owner; which is his obligation to exercise the care of an ordinary person in preserving the object of benefit. Two points can be derived from what the article established: The first point is that the beneficiary is required to exercise care, not to achieve the goal; accordingly, the latter part of the article decided that if the object of benefit perishes or is damaged without the beneficiary deviating in preserving the object of benefit from the limits of the ordinary behavior of a typical person, he shall not be responsible or liable for compensation; the fault here is not presumed on the beneficiary; rather, it is upon the owner to prove the beneficiary's deviation in preserving the object of benefit from the behavior of an ordinary person. The second point is that the standard of care required from the beneficiary is the care of an ordinary person; not the care of someone like him, whether he obtained the right of benefit for compensation or as a gift; so if his care is higher than that of an ordinary person, he is not obliged to exercise more care than that of an ordinary person, and if his care is less than that of an ordinary person, he is not allowed to lower his care in preserving the object of benefit below that of an ordinary person.
Related To
Article 685
A usufructuary shall exercise reasonable care in safekeeping the thing subject of the usufruct. If such thing is destroyed or damaged without any fault or negligence on the part of the usufructuary, he shall not be liable for compensation.