diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/n3editing/StartDateBeforeEndDate.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/n3editing/StartDateBeforeEndDate.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e21b190c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/edit/n3editing/StartDateBeforeEndDate.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.edit.n3editing;
+
+import java.util.Calendar;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+
+import com.hp.hpl.jena.rdf.model.Literal;
+
+public class StartDateBeforeEndDate implements N3Validator {
+	private String startFieldName;
+	private String endFieldName;
+	
+	public StartDateBeforeEndDate(String startFieldName, String endFieldName){
+		this.startFieldName = startFieldName;
+		this.endFieldName = endFieldName;
+	}
+	public Map<String, String> validate(EditConfiguration editConfig,
+			EditSubmission editSub) {
+		Map<String, Literal> existingLiterals = editConfig.getLiteralsInScope();
+		Literal existingStartDate = existingLiterals.get(startFieldName);
+		Literal existingEndDate = existingLiterals.get(endFieldName);
+
+		Map<String, Literal> literalsFromForm = editSub.getLiteralsFromForm();
+		Literal formStartDate = literalsFromForm.get(startFieldName);
+		Literal formEndDate = literalsFromForm.get(endFieldName);
+
+		Map<String, String> errors = new HashMap<String, String>();
+
+		if (formStartDate != null && formEndDate != null) {
+			errors.putAll(checkDateLiterals(formStartDate, formEndDate));
+		} else if (formStartDate != null && existingEndDate != null) {
+			errors.putAll(checkDateLiterals(formStartDate, existingEndDate));
+		} else if (existingStartDate != null && formEndDate != null) {
+			errors.putAll(checkDateLiterals(existingStartDate, formEndDate));
+		} else if (existingStartDate != null && existingEndDate != null) {
+			errors
+					.putAll(checkDateLiterals(existingStartDate,
+					        existingEndDate));
+		}
+
+		if (errors.size() != 0)
+			return errors;
+		else
+			return null;
+	}
+
+	private Map<String, String> checkDateLiterals(Literal startLit,
+			Literal endLit) {
+		Map<String, String> errors = new HashMap<String, String>();
+        Calendar startDate = getDateFromLiteral(startLit);
+        Calendar endDate = getDateFromLiteral(endLit);
+		try {
+		    if (startDate.compareTo(endDate) > 0) {
+                errors.put(startFieldName, "Start date must be before end date");
+                errors.put(endFieldName, "End date must be after start date");		        
+		    }
+		} catch (NullPointerException npe){ 
+		    log.error("Cannot compare date to null.");
+		    
+		} catch (IllegalArgumentException iae) {
+		    log.error("IllegalArgumentException");
+		}
+		return errors;
+	}
+	
+	private Calendar getDateFromLiteral(Literal dateLit) {
+	    
+	    String[] date = dateLit.getLexicalForm().split("-");
+	    int year = Integer.parseInt(date[0]);
+	    int day = date.length < 3 ? 1 : Integer.parseInt(date[2]);
+	    int month = date.length < 2 ? 0 : Integer.parseInt(date[1]);
+	    Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();
+	    c.set(year, month, day);
+	    return c;
+	}
+
+    private Log log = LogFactory.getLog(StartDateBeforeEndDate.class);
+}