I have a tabbed navigation wizard, for which the first section needs to be validated before proceeding to the next tab. The validation should trigger when the user hits the "next" button. I am unable to get the validation to trigger though: <form id="target-group" novalidate="novalidate"> <div class="box"> <div class='box-header-main'><h2><img src="assets/img/list.png" /> Target Group Information</h2></div> <br /> <div class='box'> <div class='box-header-property'><h2><span data-bind="text:Name">New Target Group</span> | <i class='fa fa-file'></i></h2></div> <br /> <div class='row'> <div id='flight-wizard'> <div id='content' class='col-lg-12'> <div class='col-lg-12'> <div id='tabs'> <ul> <li id="targetgroup-info-tab"><a href='#tabs-1'><i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i>Target Group Info</a></li> <li id="zone-tab"><a href='#tabs-2'><i class="fa fa-map-marker"></i>Zones</a></li> </ul> <div id='tabs-1'> <div class='row'> <div class='col-xs-6'> <div class='form-group'> Name^* <input id="selectError0" name="name" class='form-control col-xs-12' data-bind="value: asdf" placeholder='Enter Name ...' /> </div> <form class='form-horizontal'> <div class='form-group'> Product(s)^* <div class='controls' id='products'> <select id='selectError3' class='form-control' data-bind="options:test, optionsText: 'Name', optionsValue : 'test', value: test, optionsCaption: 'Choose Product...'"></select> </div> </div> </form> </div> <!--RIGHT PANE--> <div class='col-xs-6'> <div class='form-group'> Platform^* <div class='controls'> <select id="selectError2" class='form-control' data-bind="options:test, optionsText: 'Name', optionsValue: 'test', value : test, optionsCaption: 'Choose Platform...'"></select> </div> </div> <form class='form-horizontal'> <div class='form-group'> AdTypes(s)^* <div class='controls' id='adtypes'> <select multiple="" id='adtypesselect' class='form-control' data-rel="chosen" data-bind="options:test, optionsText: 'Name', optionsValue : 'test', selectedOptions: test, optionsCaption: 'test...'"></select> </div> </div> </form> <button id="btn_cancel_large" class='btn btn-large btn-primary btn-round'><i class='fa fa-ban' /></i> Cancel</button> <button id="btn-next-large" class='btn btn-large btn-primary btn-round'>Next <i class='fa fa-arrow-circle-right'></i></button> </div> <!--end of right pane--> </div> </div> <div id='tabs-2'> <div class='row'> <div class='col-lg-12'> <div class='row'> <div class='col-lg-12'> <div id='zones_list' class='box-content'> <div id='add-new-targetgroupzone' class='add-new'><i class='fa fa-plus-circle'></i><a href='/#/inventory/targeting/' onclick="return false;">Add Zone</a></div> <table id="results" width="100%"> <thead> <tr> <th>Publisher</th> <th>Property</th> <th>Zone</th> <th>AdTypes</th> <th width='10%'>Quick&nbsp;Actions</th> </tr> </thead> </table> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <br /> <div class="btn_row"> <button id="btn_cancel_large2" class='btn btn-large btn-primary btn-round'><i class='fa fa-ban' /></i> Cancel</button> <button id="btn-submit-large" class='btn btn-large btn-primary btn-round'>Submit <i class='fa fa-arrow-circle-down'></i></button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </form> <form id="zones-form" style="display: none;" novalidate="novalidate" class="slideup-form"> <div class="box"> <div class="box-header-panel"> <h2>Add Target Group Zone</h2> <div class="box-icon" id="zones-form-close"> <i class="fa fa-arrow-circle-down"></i> </div> </div> <div class="box-content clearfix"> <div class="box-content"> <table id="zones-list" width="100%"> <thead> <tr> <th>Publisher</th> <th>Property</th> <th>Zone</th> <th>AdTypes</th> <th width='10%'>Quick&nbsp;Actions</th> </tr> </thead> </table> </div> </div> </div> </div> </form> jQuery: $("#target-group").validate({ rules: { name: { required: true } }, messages: { name: "Name required", } }); $('#btn-next-large').click(function () { if ($('#target-group').valid()) $tabs.tabs('select', $(this).attr("rel")); });