Premises Liability - Owner's vs. Visitor's Duty of Care...

Premises liability comes down to whether or not the owner took reasonable care to make sure people don’t get injured. In the end this is a very subjective thing that depends on very few predefined rules. This is true for liability in different premises whether it be commercial, private or public.


In virtually all situations there are at least two duties of care to consider. The main ones are the owner’s and the visitor’s. When it comes to premises liability the duty of care may also extend to the property manager, business owner or landlord.

When walking onto someone’s property you have an obligation to act in a manner that is safe for them as well as yourself. This means you have to be willing to keep yourself out of danger and do what any reasonable person would do to avoid dangers that are put in your way.

The owners of the property have a duty to keep their visitors safe by providing a well kept environment. They must, firstly, keep their building up to code. This refers to building codes which are amongst the few well defined laws that can be referred to at any time during a slip and fall injury lawsuit. Later we will examine more closely how not being up to code effects the premises liability.

The owner of a property must also keep their space clean and obstacle free to a degree that will meet anyone’s common expectations. This means they must clean up spilled liquids from the floor so no one slips and falls. They must also pick up fallen objects so no one trips.

Similarly, any damage to the floor or floor coverings can be dangerous to visitors and will therefore effect the premises liability.

With all of those things, however, there are exceptions to be made. The law recognizes that spills can only be cleaned up so fast. The same goes for clearing fallen objects or fixing broken flooring. When immediate cleanup is not possible the owners are expected to put up some kind of caution sign.

When walking on anyone’s property the visitor’s duty of care includes looking out for obstacles that have yet to be taken care of. When walking after a rain storm anyone should be on the lookout for wet surfaces. The same is true when walking around a pool, a kitchen, or anywhere else there may be spilled liquid. The visitor must also try to avoid slip and fall injuries by looking where they're walking and not running or moving around recklessly.

Because of this shared duty of care it is often the case that the premises liability and the visitor’s liability cancel each other out. The bottom line is that after these kind of slip and fall injuries the injured person can only seek damages if they weren’t negligent themselves. In most states though, if the premises liability was extensive then the negligent visitor could probably get partial damages.

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