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

Overview

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

In Hawaii, the statute of limitations (SOL) for many premises liability / slip-and-fall injury claims is 5 years under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 701-108(2)(d).

For slip-and-fall cases, people typically spend time building the negligence case (duty, breach, causation, and damages). But the practical problem that often decides whether a case can proceed is the deadline to file. Even a strong claim can be dismissed if it’s filed after the SOL expires.

DocketMath is designed to help you track deadlines. So the most useful starting point is the general/default SOL rule—especially where a more specific “claim-type” sub-rule hasn’t been identified for this scenario. In this Hawaii premises liability / slip-and-fall context, the general 5-year period is the baseline approach used below.

Limitation period

Hawaii’s general SOL period for these types of injury claims is 5 years, measured from the date the claim accrues (the triggering event/date).

What “5 years” means in practice

A 5-year SOL generally represents the maximum time you have to file a civil lawsuit after the claim accrues. If you file after the deadline, the other side can raise a time-bar argument (often through a motion to dismiss or similar procedural request).

What date does the clock start from?

SOL deadlines often turn on an “accrual” date. In slip-and-fall and other personal injury matters, that date may be tied to the incident and/or when the injury became sufficiently apparent for legal purposes. Because accrual can be fact-specific, two similar slip-and-fall situations can lead to different accrual dates.

That’s why DocketMath’s calculator workflow is centered on choosing the start date you believe best represents the accrual/trigger date for your situation (commonly the incident date, unless there’s a credible basis to use a different accrual date).

Quick deadline example (illustrative)

• Slip-and-fall occurs: June 15, 2020
• General SOL: 5 years
• Filing deadline (general): June 15, 2025 (subject to accrual and any tolling effects)

Use this as a timeline example—not a guarantee—because the actual accrual date and any tolling can shift the result.

Key exceptions

The general 5-year rule is the default, but SOL outcomes can change if an exception or a different accrual theory applies.

Where deadlines commonly change

Even when the baseline is “5 years,” timing can be affected by:

• Tolling events
  Certain circumstances can pause or extend the SOL clock. Examples often include issues like minority/age, incapacity, or other statutory tolling frameworks. Whether tolling applies depends on the claimant’s situation and the facts of the case.
• Accrual disputes
  Parties may disagree about when the claim accrued—such as whether symptoms were immediately obvious versus when the injury became discoverable or when the injury could reasonably be attributed to the incident.
• Multiple relevant dates
  Some cases involve multiple timing points (incident date, first symptoms, medical clarification, later worsening). The “right” trigger date can matter.

Pitfall to avoid: Don’t automatically assume the incident date controls in every slip-and-fall SOL calculation. If medical issues became apparent later, or if attribution/discoverability is disputed, the accrual analysis can be contested.

Claim-type-specific sub-rules (default-only here)

For the jurisdiction/data set used for this page, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found for premises liability / slip-and-fall beyond the general/default period. That means you should treat the 5-year general period as the rule to start with, not a narrower specialized deadline.

Statute citation

Hawaii Revised Statutes § 701-108(2)(d) provides the general SOL period of 5 years.

Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/hi/division-5-crimes-and-criminal-proceedings/hi-rev-st-sect-701-108/

How to read the statute for SOL purposes

When reviewing HRS § 701-108(2)(d), focus on two practical elements:

• Duration: the 5-year limitation period (for the general category described in the subsection)
• Trigger/accrual concept: how Hawaii applies the starting point conceptually through the structure and the way civil SOL accrual is treated

Even with the same 5-year length, the starting date can be the key dispute.

Use the calculator

Use DocketMath to compute a Hawaii SOL filing deadline using the general 5-year rule.

Calculator link: /tools/statute-of-limitations

Inputs you’ll typically provide

In the /tools/statute-of-limitations calculator, you’ll typically set:

• Jurisdiction: Hawaii (US-HI)
• SOL rule basis: General/default (because no premises-liability-specific sub-rule was identified for this scenario here)
• Start date (accrual/trigger date): the date you believe the claim accrued (commonly the incident date, unless you have a reason to use a different accrual date)
• SOL period: 5 years (from HRS § 701-108(2)(d))

Outputs you should expect

After you enter your start date, DocketMath will generally:

• calculate the end date of the 5-year window, and
• display the deadline to file under the general rule.

How changes in inputs affect outputs

• If you move the start date forward by 30 days, the calculated deadline generally shifts forward by about 30 days.
• If you enter a later accrual date (for example, a date tied to when the injury became reasonably discoverable/attributable), the deadline will generally extend accordingly.
• If tolling potentially applies, the final deadline may extend—but tolling is highly fact-dependent and usually requires careful, case-specific evaluation.

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