diff --git a/apps/api/src/lib/householdTimezone.ts b/apps/api/src/lib/householdTimezone.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2282ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/lib/householdTimezone.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/**
+ * householdTimezone — shared accessor for the stored household timezone (D-05).
+ *
+ * D-05: single accessor so reminderScheduler.ts and outboxWorker.ts cannot drift.
+ * D-06: fallback chain when household_timezone is unset:
+ *        stored value → process.env.TZ → Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
+ *
+ * Do NOT use Intl.supportedValuesOf for IANA validation — it omits 'UTC' (RESEARCH Pitfall 2).
+ * Use try/catch on Intl.DateTimeFormat construction instead.
+ */
+
+import { eq } from 'drizzle-orm';
+import type { MySql2Database } from 'drizzle-orm/mysql2';
+import type * as schema from '../db/schema.js';
+import { appConfig } from '../db/schema.js';
+
+/**
+ * Returns the stored household timezone from app_config, or falls back to:
+ *   1. process.env.TZ (if set and non-empty)
+ *   2. Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
+ *
+ * This is the D-05 single source of truth for the server-side all-day "9 AM local"
+ * reminder computation in reminderScheduler.ts and outboxWorker.ts.
+ */
+export async function getHouseholdTimezone(
+  db: MySql2Database<typeof schema>,
+): Promise<string> {
+  const [row] = await db
+    .select({ value: appConfig.value })
+    .from(appConfig)
+    .where(eq(appConfig.key, 'household_timezone'))
+    .limit(1);
+
+  return (
+    row?.value ??
+    process.env.TZ ??
+    Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns true if `tz` is a valid IANA timezone identifier recognized by the
+ * runtime's Intl implementation, false otherwise.
+ *
+ * Uses try/catch on Intl.DateTimeFormat construction — NOT Intl.supportedValuesOf,
+ * which omits 'UTC' in some environments (RESEARCH Pitfall 2).
+ */
+export function isValidIanaTimezone(tz: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    Intl.DateTimeFormat(undefined, { timeZone: tz });
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}