Statute of Limitations for Premises Liability / Slip and Fall in Arizona

Overview

Run this scenario in DocketMath using the Statute Of Limitations calculator.

In Arizona, the statute of limitations for a premises liability / slip-and-fall claim is generally 2 years under A.R.S. § 13-107(A).

That default period is a starting point for many injury-related timing questions. Because timing rules can be affected by the specific facts and legal arguments in your case, treat the 2-year rule below as the general/default baseline, not an automatic guarantee for every situation. DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator can help you model deadlines once you identify the key “start date” facts.

Limitation period

Arizona’s general limitation period for relevant actions is 2 years, stated in A.R.S. § 13-107(A). Practically, that usually means the clock begins to run after the event giving rise to the claim (for example, the slip-and-fall incident) and expires 2 years later, unless a recognized doctrine changes the deadline.

How the 2-year period is applied (what you’re really calculating)

When you use a limitations calculator, you’re typically determining:

• Incident date: the date of the slip-and-fall or other premises hazard event.
• Possible start date: the date the law treats as when the clock begins (often aligned with the incident date, but some fact patterns shift the analysis).
• Deadline date: the last date the claim must be filed/commenced under the applicable rule.

Because the “start date” can be the difference between timely and untimely, use DocketMath with the best-supported date you can document from your records.

A simple example (date math)

• Slip-and-fall occurred: March 1, 2024
• General SOL (default): 2 years
• Calculated deadline (default): March 1, 2026

If your “start date” changes—because the incident date is disputed, you’re evaluating discovery-type arguments, or you’re analyzing tolling/extension—your deadline may shift accordingly.

Checklist: inputs that commonly affect outputs

Use this checklist to decide what to enter into DocketMath:

Key exceptions

Arizona’s general SOL framework can be affected by doctrines that pause or extend time. For premises-injury timing, people most often run into these categories:

1) Tolling (time pauses under specific circumstances)

Certain legal events can pause the limitations clock. In general terms, tolling-type triggers may include:

• circumstances where the plaintiff is legally unable to bring suit during a period (often tied to disability concepts),
• pending proceedings that affect timing,
• legally required processes that can change when a deadline effectively runs.

Important: tolling is fact- and procedure-dependent. DocketMath can help you visualize how a pause/extension changes a deadline, but it can’t decide whether tolling is legally available in your situation.

2) Notice and procedural preconditions

Some premises-injury scenarios involve procedural prerequisites, such as notice steps (particularly in contexts involving certain entities or regulated claim processes). If a notice requirement applies, the “effective start date” and filing timing can become more complex than “incident date + 2 years.”

If your premises situation involves a government-owned/operated entity or another context with special procedures, you may need to account for separate notice timelines on top of the general SOL baseline.

3) Discovery-related arguments (fact-dependent)

Some legal systems allow arguments that the limitations period starts when the plaintiff discovered (or should have discovered) the injury or its cause. However, whether and how any discovery-related approach applies can be highly statute-specific and fact-specific.

For planning, it’s often safest to:

1. compute the default deadline using the incident date, then
2. adjust only if you have a strong, fact-based basis to support a different start date.

Statute citation

General statute of limitations period: 2 years

• A.R.S. § 13-107(A) (general limitation period referenced for this brief)
  Source: https://www.findlaw.com/state/arizona-law/arizona-criminal-statute-of-limitations-laws.html?utm_source=openai

This reference page uses the 2-year default baseline and does not identify a claim-type-specific sub-rule for premises liability / slip-and-fall. If special timing rules apply in a given scenario (for example, notice procedures or a particular tolling doctrine), they may overlay or modify the general baseline.

(Gentle disclaimer: This content is for information and planning only, not legal advice. Timing can depend on your exact facts, filings, and procedural posture.)

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator helps you generate a deadline date from key timeline inputs—especially useful when you’re working backward from a known filing goal or comparing alternatives based on different “start dates.”

Go to the tool

Start here: /tools/statute-of-limitations

What to enter in DocketMath (and how outputs change)

Use these inputs to model the default and any adjusted scenarios:

• Jurisdiction: US-AZ

  • Selecting Arizona ensures the calculator applies the 2-year default baseline.
• Start date (incident date): the slip-and-fall date you want to use

  • Changing this date shifts the calculated deadline by the same amount (e.g., moving from March 1 to March 15 moves the deadline accordingly).
• Tolling/adjustment (if you’re modeling an extension): only if you have a fact pattern that supports it

  • Adding tolling typically pushes the deadline later.

Output you should expect

The calculator output will generally include:

• Calculated deadline date (default 2-year SOL baseline)
• Breakdown of date math based on the start date(s) you entered
• (If available in the tool) an optional adjusted deadline if you model tolling/changes

Quick planning workflow (practical)

1. Compute the default deadline using the incident date.
2. Compare the deadline against real-world dates, like:

   • when evidence was gathered,
   • when injuries were diagnosed/documented,
   • when notice (if any) was sent or required.
3. If something supports tolling or a different start date, re-run the calculator with that adjustment to see how the deadline changes.

Related reading

• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Vermont — How to choose the right calculator
• Statute of limitations in Singapore: how to estimate the deadline — Full how-to guide with jurisdiction-specific rules
• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Connecticut — How to choose the right calculator