United States · Illinois limitation periods

When does the ordinary Illinois four-year sale-of-goods contract period end?

For the ordinary four-year branch of Section 2-725(1), count from independently established accrual. Breach ordinarily starts the period even without knowledge. Warranty breach ordinarily accrues on tender of delivery, with a specific explicit-future-performance exception. This calculator does not apply an agreed shorter period, tolling or the six-month refiling branch.

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Period: Four calendar years from established accrual
Trigger: Established Section 2-725 accrual date
Rule: 810 ILCS 5/2-725

810 ILCS 5/2-725

Section 2-725(1)–(4), source Laws 1961, page 2101, corroborated by the current official Article 2 compilation. Reviewed.

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Established Section 2-725 accrual date

Use only the ordinary four-year branch with independently established accrual, no valid shorter original agreement, no tolling and no qualifying refiling alteration.

Entry rules and timing exceptions

4 years from Independently established accrual under Section 2-725(2), using breach or ordinary warranty tender; explicit future-performance warranty requires separate classification

810 ILCS 5/2-725(1) and (2)Binding

Rule notes

Use only the ordinary four-year sale-of-goods branch with independently established accrual and no valid original-agreement reduction, tolling or refiling alteration. Breach ordinarily accrues regardless of knowledge. Ordinary warranty breach accrues on tender of delivery. The future-performance exception requires an explicit warranty and discovery that must await performance, then uses when breach was or should have been discovered. This calculator does not establish those legal facts. Subsection (3) has a separate qualifying six-month refiling branch and excludes voluntary discontinuance and dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute. Subsection (4) preserves tolling and excludes causes accruing before the Act became effective. Count four calendar years and apply the final Illinois weekend and statutory-holiday rules. A component date does not certify claim timeliness. Sale-of-goods contracts are expressly carved out of Sections 13-205 and 13-206.

Calculation software, not legal advice. Check the current rule, orders and facts.

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Which accrual date and original contract period are established?

Confirm a covered sale-of-goods contract and that no valid original agreement reduces the four-year period.

Establish breach accrual under subsection (2). For ordinary warranty breach, establish tender of delivery rather than purchase, payment or later awareness.

Use this four-year component only when applicable tolling, historical applicability and a refiling branch do not alter it.

810 ILCS 5/2-725

How do I count the ordinary four-year component?

Confirm a covered sale-of-goods contract and that no valid original agreement reduces the four-year period.
Exclude the established accrual day and add four calendar years. Apply the governing final-day and statutory-holiday provisions. Do not substitute awareness for breach or ordinary warranty tender. The result is this scoped component, not a determination that an action is timely under every applicable provision.
Check the final weekend, statutory holiday and the proper court’s actual calendar.
Commence the action in the proper court and preserve the contract, original agreed period, established accrual evidence and accepted filing record.

Section 1.11 excludes a final Saturday, Sunday or statutory holiday and consecutive excluded days. Section 17(a) of the Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act includes Pulaski Day, Good Friday and the general election for members of the House of Representatives. Check proclamations, the proper court’s actual calendar and clerk access separately. The bundled Illinois calendar covers 2026 and 2027.

5 ILCS 70/1.11

What does an independently derived example show?

Fictitious example

Use only the ordinary four-year branch with independently established accrual, no valid shorter original agreement, no tolling and no qualifying refiling alteration. Fictitious established breach on August 2, 2023. The ordinary four-year branch applies, with no shorter agreement, tolling or refiling.

Example counting steps
Step	What is counted	Date
Established statutory event	Established Section 2-725 accrual date	August 2, 2023
Applicable statutory period	Four calendar years from established accrual	August 2, 2027

Example resultAugust 2, 2027

Fictitious facts. The event and statutory classification are independently established. The calculator does not determine accrual, legal disability, fraudulent concealment, effective agency service or an actual court extension.

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Which qualifications change this statutory calculation?

The original agreement may shorten but not extend: Subsection (1) allows an original agreed reduction to at least one year, but not an agreed extension. This fixed four-year calculator cannot compute an agreed shorter period.
Future-performance warranty accrual is narrow: Subsection (2) requires a warranty explicitly extending to future performance and discovery that must await that performance. Only that branch uses when the breach was or should have been discovered.
Qualifying refiling is a separate six-month branch: Subsection (3) requires an originally timely action terminated with another same-breach remedy available. It excepts voluntary discontinuance and dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute.
Tolling is preserved, not rejected: Subsection (4) preserves the law on tolling and excludes causes accruing before the Act took effect. The parties’ inability to extend under subsection (1) is not a declaration that no statutory relief exists.

810 ILCS 5/2-725

This calculation does not determine whether relief is available or whether the facts satisfy the statute.
A current statutory edition does not establish the law for every historical claim. Preserve the applicable edition and actual orders.

What must be completed and preserved?

Confirm a covered sale-of-goods contract and that no valid original agreement reduces the four-year period.
Establish breach accrual under subsection (2). For ordinary warranty breach, establish tender of delivery rather than purchase, payment or later awareness.
Use this four-year component only when applicable tolling, historical applicability and a refiling branch do not alter it.
Subsection (1) allows an original agreed reduction to at least one year, but not an agreed extension. This fixed four-year calculator cannot compute an agreed shorter period.
Subsection (2) requires a warranty explicitly extending to future performance and discovery that must await that performance. Only that branch uses when the breach was or should have been discovered.
Subsection (3) requires an originally timely action terminated with another same-breach remedy available. It excepts voluntary discontinuance and dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute.
Subsection (4) preserves the law on tolling and excludes causes accruing before the Act took effect. The parties’ inability to extend under subsection (1) is not a declaration that no statutory relief exists.
Commence the action in the proper court and preserve the contract, original agreed period, established accrual evidence and accepted filing record. File with the proper clerk in the required format. Rule 9 ordinarily requires civil electronic filing, subject to its exceptions and exemptions. Rule 9(f) ordinarily requires submission before midnight in the court time zone unless a statute, rule or actual order specifies a different time. A submission on a closed clerk day ordinarily receives the next open-day stamp. Preserve the actual electronic file mark, receipt and any filing-relief order. Filing and service are distinct acts.

Questions about 810 ILCS 5/2-725