In the image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, an operation time measuring section that measures elapsed time that elapses from the point of time when the image forming apparatus arrives at its operable state and a controller that stops operations of the image forming apparatus when the elapsed time measured by the operation time measuring section arrives at a prescribed time are provided, whereby, a life span of the image forming apparatus influenced by temporal changes can be judged precisely, independently of the hours of operation of the image forming apparatus, and operations can be stopped.