Saudi Arabia Landlord Maintenance Obligations

Under Saudi civil law, primarily governed by the Civil Transactions Law (Royal Decree No. M/191) which became effective on 16 December 2023 (1445 AH), and as explicitly detailed in the standardized Ejar contract (mandated by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 265), landlords have a fundamental legal responsibility to provide and maintain a property in a condition fit for its intended residential use.

Implied Warranty of Habitability

The principle of fairness in Islamic Sharia trade dictates that an asset leased out must be capable of fulfilling its purpose. For a residential property, this translates to an implied warranty of habitability. Under Article 563 of the Civil Transactions Law, the lessor is bound to maintain the leased property to keep it in a condition fit for the intended use and shall carry out all necessary repairs during the term of the lease in accordance with prevailing custom, unless otherwise agreed.

For a residential property, this means the landlord must ensure the property is:

• Structurally sound.
• Safe for habitation.
• Equipped with functioning essential utilities (water pipelines, electrical wiring, A/C units).

Landlord vs. Tenant Maintenance Responsibilities

The Ejar unified contract (Clause 9) draws a clear line between "Structural Maintenance" and "Consumable Maintenance."

The Landlord is Responsible for (Structural Maintenance):

• Major Structural Repairs: Fixing issues related to the building's foundation, load-bearing walls, and roof leaks.
• Core Systems: Complete failure of major electrical panels or main plumbing lines resulting from age or poor installation, not tenant abuse.
• Pre-Existing Appliance Failure: Major appliances (like built-in central A/C units or supplied refrigerators) that fail due to normal lifecycle span must be replaced or repaired by the landlord.
• Common Areas: In apartment complexes, the landlord is entirely responsible for maintaining hallways, elevators, exterior landscaping, and shared security systems.

The Tenant is Responsible for (Consumable Maintenance):

• Routine Servicing: Changing lightbulbs, cleaning A/C filters, minor plumbing unclogging, and everyday cleanliness.

• Tenant-Caused Damage: Repairing any damage to the property explicitly caused by the tenant's negligence or misuse (e.g., smashing a window, burning a cabinet, flushing inappropriate items down the toilet).
• Consumables: Paying their individual utility bills on time, unless the lease specifies utilities are included in the rent.

The Tenant's Remedies for Unmade Repairs

If a maintenance issue arises that renders the property partially or entirely uninhabitable (e.g., the primary A/C fails during summer in Riyadh, or a pipe bursts flooding a room), and the landlord fails to act:

1. Notification: The tenant must formally notify the landlord in writing (often through the Ejar platform or documented communication) detailing the needed repair.
2. Reasonable Timeframe: The landlord has a reasonable timeframe to initiate repairs.
3. Tenant Action: If the landlord ignores the request, the Civil Transactions Law provides the following statutory remedies:

• Urgent or Minor Repairs (Article 564/2): If repairs are urgent or customarily deemed minor, the tenant may, without obtaining court permission, perform the repairs and deduct their reasonable costs from the rent. The tenant must provide the landlord with an account of such repairs.
• General Necessary Repairs (Article 564/1): For non-urgent repairs, the tenant may obtain permission from the competent court to perform the maintenance themselves and recover the reasonable cost by deducting it from the rent.
• Contractual Remedies: The tenant may file a dispute through Ejar/REGA seeking early termination of the lease without financial penalty or seek intervention from the courts to compel the landlord to fix the issue or to lower the rent corresponding to the loss of use.

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