How Long Do You Have to Claim Damage on Your Sauna Delivery?

Key Takeaways

Visible damage has to be noted at the moment of delivery. There is no grace period for damage you can see.
Damage you can't see gives you seven days, Sundays and public holidays excepted, and it must be in writing (CMR Article 30(1)).
Missing that window doesn't delete your claim. It makes taking delivery prima facie evidence the sauna arrived as described on the consignment note.
Delay is the one true bar. No compensation is payable at all unless a written reservation reaches the carrier within 21 days (Article 30(3)).
The hard stop is one year from delivery, or three years where the carrier's conduct amounts to wilful misconduct (Article 32(1)).
The carrier's ceiling is 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short (Article 23(3), as amended by the 1978 Protocol).

You get one moment and seven days to protect a damage claim on a sauna delivery. We ship cube and barrel saunas out of KlaipÄ—da on trucks that cross borders, so these rules land on our desk too. By the end of this article you'll know what to write on the consignment note, and which deadline actually ends the claim.

how long do you have to claim damage on your sauna delivery?

You have until the moment of delivery for damage you can see, and seven days for damage you can't. Those are the reservation windows in Article 30 of the CMR Convention (Geneva, 19 May 1956, consolidated text accessed July 2026), and the seven days exclude Sundays and public holidays. Missing them doesn't delete your claim. It hands the carrier a presumption that the sauna arrived in the condition written on the note. The deadline that really ends the claim is Article 32: one year from the date of delivery.

So there are four clocks running at your ramp, not one. Most crews only know about the seven days, and that's the clock that matters least.

the seven-day rule is not the rule that ends your claim

You'll get the same line from a dozen freight blogs. Seven days to claim, or you lose. It's wrong in two directions, and both of them cost money.

Here's what Article 30(1) actually does. Take delivery without checking the goods with the carrier, and without giving a general indication of the loss or damage, and the fact of taking delivery becomes prima facie evidence that you received them in the condition described in the note.

Prima facie is not final. It's a starting position, and it can be rebutted.

But now you're the one arguing against a document your own receiver signed. The seven days don't end your right. They decide who has to prove what.

The second error runs the other way. Delay really is a bar. Article 30(3) says no compensation shall be payable for delay unless a reservation has been sent in writing to the carrier within twenty-one days from the time the goods were placed at the disposal of the consignee. Not a presumption. No compensation.

And the deadline nobody in the yard is thinking about is Article 32. One year to bring the action, running from the date of delivery for partial loss, damage or delay. Three years where the carrier's conduct amounts to wilful misconduct. The day the period starts isn't counted in it.

Now the part that decides most disputes. Your crew treats the CMR note as the driver's paperwork. It isn't. Under Article 9, where the carrier entered no reservations, the goods and their packaging are presumed to have been in apparent good condition when he took them over. That presumption was created at our loading bay. The only place you can answer it is at yours.

four kinds of loss, four different clocks

Run them separately. Visible damage means a cracked glass panel, a staved corner, a rubbed face of charred thermowood. Hidden damage means water under the wrap or a sheared bracket inside a crated cube. Delay and total loss each get their own form and their own trigger date.

Type	When the reservation is due	Form	Who proves what	Time limit for the action	Carrier's maximum liability
Visible loss or damage	Not later than the time of delivery (Art. 30(1))	Entry on the consignment note giving a general indication of the damage	With a reservation, the carrier must prove an Art. 17(2) exemption (Art. 18(1)). Without one, delivery is prima facie evidence the goods matched the note	1 year from the date of delivery, 3 years for wilful misconduct (Art. 32(1)(a))	8.33 units of account per kg of gross weight short, plus refund of carriage charges and duties (Art. 23(3)â€“(4), 25)
Hidden (non-apparent) damage	Within 7 days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted (Art. 30(1))	In writing. A signature on the note is not a reservation	As above. Without the written reservation, the same presumption applies	1 year from the date of delivery, 3 years for wilful misconduct (Art. 32(1)(a))	As above (Art. 23(3), 25)
Delay in delivery	Within 21 days from the time the goods were placed at the consignee's disposal (Art. 30(3))	In writing. No reservation, no compensation at all	The claimant must prove that damage resulted from the delay (Art. 23(5))	1 year from the date of delivery (Art. 32(1)(a))	Compensation not exceeding the carriage charges (Art. 23(5))
Total loss	Treat goods as lost 30 days after the agreed time limit, or 60 days from takeover if none was agreed (Art. 20(1))	Written claim to the carrier, which suspends the limitation period (Art. 32(2))	The carrier is liable under Art. 17(1) unless it proves an Art. 17(2) exemption	1 year from the 30th day after the agreed time limit, or the 60th day from takeover (Art. 32(1)(b))	8.33 units of account per kg of gross weight short, plus full refund of carriage charges and duties (Art. 23(3), 23(4))

Now the money. Article 23(3), as amended by the 1978 Protocol (adopted 5 July 1978, in force 28 December 1980, accessed July 2026), caps compensation at 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short. The unit of account is the IMF Special Drawing Right, converted at the date of judgment.

Take the gross weight off your own note. Run it at 1,000 kg for clean arithmetic. 1,000 Ã— 8.33 = 8,330 units of account. That's the ceiling for the whole load, before carriage charges and duties are added back. Whether it covers one sauna is a one-minute sum with your own weight and your own invoice.

Article 25 handles damage rather than loss. It pays the amount by which the goods have diminished in value, capped by reference to Article 23. Want a higher ceiling? Articles 24 and 26 let the sender declare a value or a special interest against an agreed surcharge. That's decided before loading, not after unloading.

So that's how long you have to claim damage on your sauna delivery. One moment, seven days, twenty-one days, one year.

what to run at the tailgate

Four checks. None takes longer than the driver's cigarette.

1. Read the consignment note before anyone touches the load. Article 6(1) lists what has to be on it, including the goods description, the number of packages and the gross weight. Blank gross weight box, no basis for the 8.33 calculation later.

2. Walk the four faces and the roof. Glass first, then the junctions where glass, timber and metal meet, then the timber faces where transit rub shows.

3. If you see anything, write it in the reservations box before the driver leaves. Copy this:

4. If you see nothing, you still have seven days. Set a calendar reminder for day seven, Sundays and public holidays excepted, and open the crate properly before it expires. If you find hidden damage, send this in writing:

Article 30(5) is on your side while you do it. The carrier and the consignee have to give each other every reasonable facility for making the requisite investigations and checks. Asking the driver to wait isn't a favour. It's in the convention, and it belongs in your supplier file next to the checks you run on the manufacturer before the first truck is loaded.

An electronic note changes none of this. The 2008 Additional Protocol on the electronic consignment note moves the medium, not the timetable, and the UN Treaty Collection listed 41 parties to it as of July 2026.

You don't need to memorise any article numbers. Print the two blocks of wording above and give them to whoever meets the truck. A defect written on the note while the driver is still there is a claim against the carrier. The same defect found in spring is a line in your warranty budget. It's your name on the sauna once the truck has gone.

What must be written on the CMR note when goods arrive damaged?

A general indication of the loss or damage, made not later than the time of delivery. Name the part, the panel and the position, add the date and time of unloading, and record that photographs were taken. Article 30(1) asks for a general indication, not a survey report.

Is the 7-day CMR period counted in working days?

No. Article 30(1) gives seven days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted. Saturdays count. Public holidays follow the law of the place involved, so two deliveries into two markets in the same week can produce two different deadlines. Treat day five as your working limit.

How much does a carrier pay per kilo under CMR?

Article 23(3), as amended by the 1978 Protocol, caps compensation at 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short. The unit of account is the IMF Special Drawing Right, converted at the date of judgment. Carriage charges and customs duties are refunded on top of that.

Does signing the CMR without a reservation end your claim?

No, it shifts the evidence. Under Article 30(1), taking delivery without reservations is prima facie evidence you received the goods in the condition described on the note. You can rebut it, but you'll be arguing against a document your own receiver signed. The claim itself ends one year after delivery.

Does CMR apply if the sauna is delivered inside one country?

No. Article 1(1) applies the convention to carriage by road for reward where the place of taking over and the place designated for delivery are in two different countries, at least one of them a Contracting country. A domestic leg runs on national law, with different deadlines.