Count the business days
Enter the last day of the fixed term. The calculator counts back 80 and 40 business days for the landlord’s notice, or 20 forward from a tenant’s notice, and skips weekends and the public holidays of 2026 and 2027.
Your notice window
Send the notice between and .
is 80 business days before ; is 40 business days before it (CPA s14(2)(c)).
Record the end date in KuduDoc and it emails you before the lease ends: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose. With several leases, follow every lease in the lease register.
Notice given on takes effect on at the earliest: 20 business days later (CPA s14(2)(b)).
That is before your fixed term ends on . Amounts due up to that date are still owed, and the landlord may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty (s14(3)).
Your fixed term ends on , on or before that date. At the end of the term you can end the lease without a cancellation penalty. Tell the landlord before the end date, or the lease continues month to month (s14(2)(b), s14(2)(d)).
This calculator counts business days in 2026 and 2027 only. For this date, count by hand: leave out the first day, count the last, and skip weekends and public holidays.
Check the dates against your own lease: its end date and any notice clause are the ones that count.
The dates you enter stay in your browser.
Worked example. A lease ends on Wednesday 30 June 2027. The landlord’s notice window opens on Wednesday 3 March 2027 (80 business days before) and closes on Tuesday 4 May 2027 (40 business days before). The count skips Human Rights Day (observed on Monday 22 March 2027), Good Friday (26 March), Family Day (29 March), Freedom Day (27 April) and Youth Day (16 June).
What does the CPA say about fixed-term leases?
Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 governs fixed-term consumer agreements, and a residential lease can be one. In the Act, the landlord is the ‘supplier’ and the tenant the ‘consumer’.
| Rule | What it means for a lease | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Notice before the end | Not more than 80 and not less than 40 business days before the end date, in writing or another recordable form. It states the end date, any material changes if the lease continues, and the tenant’s options. The CPA Regulations include a form for it (Annexure B). | CPA s14(2)(c); Regulations Annexure B |
| At the end date | The lease continues month to month, subject to any material changes the landlord gave notice of, unless the tenant ends it on the end date or agrees to a new fixed term. | s14(2)(d) |
| Tenant ends it at the end date | Without a penalty or charge, though amounts owed up to then are still due. | s14(2)(b)(i)(aa), s14(3)(a) |
| Tenant cancels early | On 20 business days’ notice in writing or another recorded form. Amounts owed up to cancellation are due, the landlord may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty, and must credit the tenant with any amount that remains the tenant’s. | s14(2)(b)(i)(bb), s14(3) |
| Landlord cancels for a breach | 20 business days after written notice of a material failure, unless the tenant fixes it in that time. | s14(2)(b)(ii) |
| Maximum term | 24 months from the tenant’s signature, unless a longer term is expressly agreed and the landlord can show a demonstrable financial benefit to the tenant. | CPA Regulations reg 5(1) |
The Regulations list what makes a penalty reasonable, including the amount still owed, the length of the notice and the chance of finding a new tenant, and a penalty may not be so large that it cancels out the right to cancel (reg 5(2)–(3)).
Writing to the tenant? On Professional and Business, start from a lease renewal letter template: the end date, what changes on renewal, and the tenant’s options.
Does the CPA apply to your lease?
- The CPA covers rentals made “in the ordinary course of business” (s1, “rental” and “service”). So it may apply where the landlord rents out property as a business.
- Section 14 does not apply when landlord and tenant are both juristic persons, for example two companies (s14(1)).
Whether a private owner letting one flat acts in the ordinary course of business is not settled. If it matters for your lease, get advice.
How are business days counted?
A business day is any day except a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday. The CPA counts from the day after the first event up to and including the day of the second, and skips weekends and public holidays in between (s2(6)).
When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday is a public holiday (Public Holidays Act s2(1)). A holiday on a Saturday does not move.
The calculator names a business day at each end of the window. Send the notice early in the window rather than on its last day.
Public holidays used in the count
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | |
| Human Rights DayOn a Saturday: no extra day | |
| Good Friday | |
| Family Day | |
| Freedom Day | |
| Workers’ Day | |
| Youth Day | |
| National Women’s Day | |
| Public holidayNational Women’s Day falls on a Sunday | |
| Heritage Day | |
| Day of Reconciliation | |
| Christmas Day | |
| Day of Goodwill |
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | |
| Human Rights Day | |
| Public holidayHuman Rights Day falls on a Sunday | |
| Good Friday | |
| Family Day | |
| Freedom Day | |
| Workers’ Day | |
| Youth Day | |
| National Women’s Day | |
| Heritage Day | |
| Day of Reconciliation | |
| Christmas Day | |
| Day of Goodwill | |
| Public holidayDay of Goodwill falls on a Sunday |
gov.za’s 2027 list leaves out Monday 27 December 2027. The Day of Goodwill falls on a Sunday that year, so s2(1) makes the Monday a public holiday, and the count skips it.
Public holidays from gov.za and the Public Holidays Act, checked 24 September 2026.
What happens after the end date?
If the tenant neither ends the lease on the end date nor agrees to a new fixed term, CPA s14(2)(d) continues it month to month, subject to any material changes the landlord gave notice of.
The Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 has its own rule. A tenant who stays on with the landlord’s consent, without a new written lease, has a periodic lease on the same terms. Either side ends it with at least one month’s written notice (s5(5)).
“Written” notice can be an email. Under s12 of the ECT Act, a data message that stays accessible for later reference meets a requirement for writing, unless the parties agreed otherwise.
At the end of the tenancy come the outgoing inspection and the deposit refund: see the ingoing and outgoing inspections.
Keep the dates where you keep the lease
Keep the lease with its renewal, deposit receipt and inspection in one collection, so next year’s notice starts with this year’s file open.
Record the end date, and KuduDoc emails you before it: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose. Reminders go to you, not to the other party.
Agents: confirm the end date, then let the reminders come. With several leases, follow every lease in the lease register, each unit with its notice window, inspections and deposit dates.
Lease dates Confirmed
In this collection 3 files
Before 30 Jun 2027 Email
Who is reminded
Sign the renewal or the notice with ordinary electronic signatures under the ECT Act. The tenant signs from the link in their email, with a free KuduDoc account. Long leases of land stay on paper: a lease of land for more than 20 years is one of the four Schedule 2 transactions the ECT Act gives no validity to. See which documents you can sign electronically.
Seal the signed notice, and the other party can check the sealed file, free, without an account.
Leases are not the only dates a household or business watches: see other renewal dates.
Questions people ask
How many business days’ notice must a landlord give before a fixed-term lease ends?
Where the Consumer Protection Act applies, not more than 80 and not less than 40 business days before the end date (s14(2)(c)). The notice is in writing or another recordable form and sets out the end date, any material changes if the lease continues, and the tenant’s options.
What counts as a business day?
Any day except a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday. The CPA leaves out the day of the first event, counts the day of the second, and skips weekends and public holidays in between (s2(6)). When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday is a public holiday (Public Holidays Act s2(1)).
Can a tenant cancel a fixed-term lease early?
Yes, on 20 business days’ notice in writing or another recorded form (CPA s14(2)(b)). The tenant still owes amounts due up to the cancellation date, and the landlord may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty (s14(3)).
What happens if nothing is done when the lease ends?
Under the CPA the lease continues month to month, subject to any material changes the landlord gave notice of, unless the tenant ends it on the end date or agrees to a new fixed term (s14(2)(d)). The Rental Housing Act has a similar rule: a tenant who stays on with the landlord’s consent, without a new written lease, has a periodic lease that either side ends with at least one month’s written notice (s5(5)).
Does the CPA apply to every lease?
No. Section 14 does not apply when landlord and tenant are both juristic persons, such as two companies (s14(1)). The CPA covers rentals made in the ordinary course of business, so it may apply where the landlord rents out property as a business.
Can a fixed-term lease run for longer than 24 months?
Under the CPA Regulations, a fixed-term consumer agreement lasts at most 24 months from the date the tenant signs, unless a longer term is expressly agreed and the landlord can show a demonstrable financial benefit to the tenant (reg 5(1)).
Does the calculator send my dates anywhere?
No. The count runs in your browser. The dates you enter are not sent to KuduDoc and are not stored.
Sources
- Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008gov.zaSection 1 (“rental”, “service”), s2(6) (counting business days) and s14 (fixed-term agreements).
- Consumer Protection Act Regulations, 2011gov.zaRegulation 5 (the 24-month term and a reasonable penalty) and Annexure B (“Notice of expiry date: fixed term agreement”), Government Gazette 34180, 1 April 2011.
- Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994gov.zaSection 2(1): a Sunday holiday moves to the Monday; Schedule 1 lists the twelve days.
- Public holidays in South Africagov.zaThe 2026 and 2027 dates the calculator uses.
- Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999gov.zaSection 5(5): the periodic lease after the end date, and one month’s written notice.
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002gov.zaSection 12 (writing) and Schedule 2 (leases of land over 20 years).
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