Limitation Period Calculator under Saudi Law

What is the limitation period?

Article 295 of the Civil Transactions Law provides that a right does not lapse with time, but a claim is not heard against a denying party after ten years, except where a specific provision applies. The court does not apply this on its own motion; the debtor or an interested party must raise it (Art 306).

Periods under the Civil Transactions Law

• Ten years as the general period (Art 295).
• Five years for professional fees and recurring periodic rights such as rent (Art 296).
• One year for merchants’ claims against non-merchants, hotels and restaurants, and wages outside the Labor Law (Art 297).
• Three years from knowledge for tort and unjust-enrichment claims, capped at ten years (Arts 143 and 159).
• One year from discovering the ground to annul a voidable contract, capped at ten years from the contract (Art 79).

Periods run from the date the right falls due (Art 299) and are counted in the Hijri calendar (Art 2).

Labor, commercial and commercial-paper periods

• Labor claims: twelve months from the end of employment (Art 222, Labor Law).
• Commercial claims: five years from when the right arose (Art 24, Commercial Courts Law).
• Bills against the acceptor and notes against the maker: three years from maturity; holder’s recourse: one year (Arts 84 and 89).
• Cheque holder’s recourse: six months after the presentment period, which is one month for cheques drawn and payable in Saudi Arabia (Arts 103 and 116).

Board of Grievances

Administrative contract and compensation claims are not heard after ten years from when the right arose (Art 8, Law of Procedure before the Board of Grievances). Cancellation claims have short deadlines starting with a sixty-day grievance; use the grievance and cancellation-claim calculator.

Suspension and interruption

The period is suspended while an excuse prevents a claim, including good-faith negotiation (Art 300), and interrupted by the debtor’s acknowledgment or any judicial claim, even before a court without jurisdiction (Art 302). A new period then starts, ten years if a judgment was issued (Art 304). Parties cannot shorten or extend it by agreement (Art 305).

Older rights

The Civil Transactions Law does not apply to a limitation period that started running before it took effect (about 16 December 2023), so the calculator warns you if your start date is earlier.

Frequently asked questions

What is the limitation period in Saudi Arabia?

The general period under the Civil Transactions Law is ten years, with shorter specific periods: five years for commercial claims, twelve months for labor claims and three years from knowledge for tort claims.

Does the right itself lapse?

No. The right remains, but the claim is not heard against a denying party after the period, and the court does not apply this on its own motion (Arts 295 and 306).

How long for a cheque claim?

A holder’s recourse is not heard six months after the presentment period ends; presentment is one month for cheques drawn and payable in Saudi Arabia (Arts 103 and 116, Commercial Papers Law).

Does a demand letter interrupt the period?

Under the Civil Transactions Law, interruption requires the debtor’s acknowledgment, a judicial claim or another judicial step; good-faith negotiation suspends it. A demand letter alone should not be relied on.

Hijri or Gregorian?

Civil Transactions Law periods are Hijri (Art 2). Where the calendar is not specified, the calculator computes both and uses the earlier date.