Rule 1028.Preliminary Objections.
Adopted June 25, 1946 · Last amended June 28, 2016 · Last verified June 30, 2026
Full Text of Rule 1028
Plain-English Summary
This rule is Pennsylvania’s pre-answer challenge to a pleading, comparable in function to a federal motion to dismiss. Any party may file preliminary objections to any pleading, but only on the eight grounds the rule lists: lack of jurisdiction or improper venue, form, or service; failure to conform to law or scandalous matter; insufficient specificity; legal insufficiency (the demurrer); lack of capacity, nonjoinder, or misjoinder; a prior pending action or arbitration agreement; failure to exhaust a statutory remedy; and an adequate non-statutory remedy at law.
The demurrer tests the law, not the proof. On a demurrer the court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts and reasonable inferences and asks whether the law says with certainty that no recovery is possible.
The mechanics are strict. All preliminary objections are raised at one time and may be inconsistent; the responding party may amend the challenged pleading as of course within twenty days after service; the court decides the objections promptly, taking evidence by deposition or otherwise on a disputed fact; and if objections are overruled, the objecting party may plead over within twenty days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are preliminary objections in Pennsylvania?
A party’s pre-answer challenge to a pleading, limited to eight grounds such as improper jurisdiction, venue, or service, insufficient specificity, and a demurrer for legal insufficiency. They function like a federal motion to dismiss.
What is a demurrer?
A preliminary objection asserting the pleading is legally insufficient. The court accepts the well-pleaded facts as true and asks whether the law says with certainty that no recovery is possible.
Do all preliminary objections have to be filed together?
Yes. All preliminary objections must be raised at one time and may be inconsistent. The responding party may amend the pleading as of course within twenty days after service of the objections.
Official Note
Official Note: Of the three grounds available to challenge venue, only improper venue may be raised by preliminary objection as provided by Rule 1006(e). Forum non conveniens and inability to hold a fair and impartial trial are raised by petition as provided by Rule 1006(d)(1) and (2). See Rule of Appellate Procedure 311(b) for interlocutory appeals as of right from orders sustaining jurisdiction and venue.
Official Note: The defense of the bar of a statute of frauds or statute of limitations can be asserted only in a responsive pleading as new matter under Rule 1030.
Official Note: An agreement to arbitrate may be asserted by preliminary objection or by petition to compel arbitration pursuant to the Uniform Arbitration Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 7304, or the common law, 42 Pa.C.S. § 7342(a).
Official Note: Preliminary objections raising an issue under subdivision (a)(1), (5), (6), (7) or (8) cannot be determined from facts of record. In such a case, the preliminary objections must be endorsed with a notice to plead or no response will be required under Rule 1029(d). However, preliminary objections raising an issue under subdivision (a)(2), (3) or (4) may be determined from facts of record so that further evidence is not required. Rule 239.5 requires every court to promulgate Local Rule 1028(c) describing the local court procedure governing preliminary objections.
Amendment History
The provisions of this Rule 1028 adopted June 25, 1946, effective January 1, 1947; amended March 28, 1973, effective July 1, 1973; amended July 18, 1991, effective January 1, 1992, 21 Pa.B. 3400; amended October 24, 2003, effective 9 months after the date of the Order, 33 Pa.B. 5506; amended December 16, 2003, effective July 1, 2004, 34 Pa.B. 9; amended November 2, 2005, effective immediately, 35 Pa.B. 6318; amended June 28, 2016, effective August 1, 2016, 46 Pa.B. 3797. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (307556) and (366149).