Article 433 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
المادة 433 من نظام المعاملات المدنية · الفرع الثالث: التزامات المستأجر
During the lease term the tenant must maintain the leased property as custom requires, unless the parties agree otherwise.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يلتزم المستأجر خلال مدة الإيجار بصيانة المأجور وفقًا لما يقتضيه العرف؛ ما لم يتفق على خلاف ذلك.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 433 explained in plain English
This article answers a question that often comes up between lessors and tenants: who is responsible for maintaining the leased property?
The rule: the tenant must maintain the leased property during the lease term, but not every kind of maintenance, only as custom requires. Custom determines the kind of maintenance that tenants customarily bear for this type of property or thing.
Agreeing otherwise is allowed: this rule does not bind the parties if they agree on something else. The contract may say that all maintenance is on the lessor, or that a particular type of it is on the tenant. In that case the agreement applies.
The article does not give a list of maintenance work the tenant bears. It refers to custom, which varies with the nature and location of the property.
This article connects to Article 432, which prevents the tenant from making a change to the leased property without the lessor's permission unless repair requires it and it does no damage, and to Article 434, which prevents the tenant from stopping the lessor from carrying out repairs necessary to preserve the property if the lessor gave notice a reasonable time before starting.
The parties are therefore advised to state maintenance responsibilities expressly in the contract. In a dispute about what custom requires, it is advisable to consult a lawyer specializing in real estate or civil matters.
Practical example
Omar rented an apartment in Dammam, and the contract said nothing about maintenance. When the air conditioner filters needed regular cleaning, the parties turned to custom to decide who bears it. Had the contract stated that all maintenance work is on the owner, that agreement would have applied.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 433 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
Is maintenance the landlord's or the tenant's responsibility?
During the lease term the tenant must maintain the leased property as custom requires, unless the parties agree otherwise.
Can the parties agree that maintenance is on the landlord?
Yes. The text allows agreeing on something different from this rule, and what the parties agreed applies.
What decides which maintenance the tenant bears?
Custom, when there is no agreement. The article does not give a specific list of maintenance work.
More articles on Lease Contract
- Article 287
The article prevents set-off between a depositary's debt against the depositor and the deposit, or between a borrower's debt against the lender and the loaned item, except by agreement of the parties.
إذا كان للمودع لديه دينٌ على المودع أو كان للمستعير دين على المعير، فلا تقع المقاصة بين الدين والوديعة أو بين الدين والشيء المعار ولو كان الدين من نوع أي منهما
- Article 296
The article sets a period of 5 years after which a claim is not heard against a party who denies it, for the rights of the liberal professions and recurring periodic rights, with an exception of 10 years for the proceeds owed by a bad-faith possessor and endowment proceeds.
دون إخلال بالنصوص النظامية، لا تُسمع الدعوى على المنكر بانقضاء (خمس) سنوات في الحقوق الآتية: أ- حقوق أصحاب المهن الحرة، كالأطباء والمحامين والمهندسين عما أدوه م
- Article 407
The article defines a lease as a contract by which the lessor enables the lessee to benefit from a non-consumable thing for a specified period in return for rent.
الإيجار عقد يُمَكِّنُ بمقتضاه المؤجر المستأجر من الانتفاع مدةً معينةً بشيءٍ غير قابل للاستهلاك مقابل أجرةٍ.
- Article 408
The article allows the leased item to be a thing, a usufruct or a right, specified individually or by type, and also allows it to be an undivided share.
1- يصح أن يكون المأجور عينًا أو منفعةً أو حقًّا؛ سواء كان معيَّنًا بالذات أو بالنوع. 2- يصح أن يكون المأجور حصَّةً شائعة.
- Article 409
The article allows it to suffice to state sound bases for determining the rent, and allows the rent to be a specified sum together with a known percentage of the output or profit.
يصح أن يقتصر تقدير الأجرة على بيان أسسٍ صالحةٍ تتحدد بمقتضاها، ويصح أن تكون بمبلغٍ معيَّنٍ مع نسبةٍ معلومةٍ من الناتج أو من الربح.
- Article 410
The article allows a lease contract to require that the rent be paid in advance, deferred or paid in installments.
يصح اشتراط تعجيل الأجرة أو تأجيلها أو تقسيطها.
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.