diff --git a/docling/cli/main.py b/docling/cli/main.py
index 60a3c296..b35ce174 100644
--- a/docling/cli/main.py
+++ b/docling/cli/main.py
@@ -194,6 +194,13 @@ def convert(
             help="Show version information.",
         ),
     ] = None,
+    document_timeout: Annotated[
+        Optional[int],
+        typer.Option(
+            ...,
+            help="The timeout for processing each document, in seconds.",
+        ),
+    ] = None,
 ):
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 
@@ -238,6 +245,7 @@ def convert(
         do_ocr=ocr,
         ocr_options=ocr_options,
         do_table_structure=True,
+        document_timeout=document_timeout,
     )
     pipeline_options.table_structure_options.do_cell_matching = True  # do_cell_matching
     pipeline_options.table_structure_options.mode = table_mode
diff --git a/docling/datamodel/pipeline_options.py b/docling/datamodel/pipeline_options.py
index 2b9d228c..d341f510 100644
--- a/docling/datamodel/pipeline_options.py
+++ b/docling/datamodel/pipeline_options.py
@@ -82,3 +82,4 @@ class PdfPipelineOptions(PipelineOptions):
     generate_page_images: bool = False
     generate_picture_images: bool = False
     generate_table_images: bool = False
+    document_timeout: Optional[int] = None
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docling/pipeline/base_pipeline.py b/docling/pipeline/base_pipeline.py
index 5013ad58..6bd6b334 100644
--- a/docling/pipeline/base_pipeline.py
+++ b/docling/pipeline/base_pipeline.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def execute(self, in_doc: InputDocument, raises_on_error: bool) -> ConversionRes
             ):
                 # These steps are building and assembling the structure of the
                 # output DoclingDocument
-                conv_res = self._build_document(conv_res)
+                conv_res = self._build_document(conv_res, pdf_document_timeout=self.pipeline_options.document_timeout)
                 conv_res = self._assemble_document(conv_res)
                 # From this stage, all operations should rely only on conv_res.output
                 conv_res = self._enrich_document(conv_res)
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def execute(self, in_doc: InputDocument, raises_on_error: bool) -> ConversionRes
         return conv_res
 
     @abstractmethod
-    def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult) -> ConversionResult:
+    def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult, pdf_document_timeout=None) -> ConversionResult:
         pass
 
     def _assemble_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult) -> ConversionResult:
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def _apply_on_pages(
 
         yield from page_batch
 
-    def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult) -> ConversionResult:
+    def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult, pdf_document_timeout=None) -> ConversionResult:
 
         if not isinstance(conv_res.input._backend, PdfDocumentBackend):
             raise RuntimeError(
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult) -> ConversionResult:
             # conv_res.status = ConversionStatus.FAILURE
             # return conv_res
 
+        start_time = time.time()
         with TimeRecorder(conv_res, "doc_build", scope=ProfilingScope.DOCUMENT):
 
             for i in range(0, conv_res.input.page_count):
@@ -137,6 +138,13 @@ def _build_document(self, conv_res: ConversionResult) -> ConversionResult:
                     conv_res.pages, settings.perf.page_batch_size
                 ):
                     start_pb_time = time.time()
+                    elapsed_time = start_pb_time - start_time
+                    if pdf_document_timeout is not None and elapsed_time > pdf_document_timeout:
+                        _log.warning(
+                            f"Document processing time ({int(elapsed_time)} s) exceeded the specified timeout of {pdf_document_timeout} s"
+                        )
+                        conv_res.status = ConversionStatus.PARTIAL_SUCCESS
+                        break
 
                     # 1. Initialise the page resources
                     init_pages = map(