What Is a Commercial Property Owner’s Liability for Injuries to Visitors?

Owners and managers of commercial property, such as retail stores and other businesses open to the public, have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe. However, in California, the duty of care is not universal. It varies based on the visitor’s reason to be on the premises. 

California law categorizes visitors into three types — invitees, licensees and trespassers — and imposes different levels of responsibility for the safety of these individuals. Here is a summary:

• Invitees — People who enter the property for a business purpose, such as customers in a retail store or patrons in a restaurant, are owed the highest duty of care. Owners and managers must regularly inspect their premises for potential hazards and promptly remedy any dangerous conditions. They must also warn invitees of any known dangers that are not immediately obvious. Failure to do so can result in the owner being held liable for any injuries sustained by invitees due to negligence.
• Licensees — These visitors who enter the property for their own purposes but with the owner’s permission. Examples are maintenance contractors, deliverers of goods and services and government and utility workers. Property owners and managers are required to warn licensees of any known dangerous conditions that the licensee is unlikely to discover on their own. However, the owner is not obligated to inspect the premises for hidden dangers or to repair known issues as rigorously as they would for invitees.
• Trespassers — The lowest duty of care is owed to individuals who enter the property without the owner’s permission. Owners and managers are only required to refrain from willfully or wantonly causing harm to trespassers. They do not have to ensure the property is safe for trespassers, but they cannot set traps or otherwise intentionally create hazards that could cause injury.

Under California’s comparative negligence law, an injured visitor’s own lack of ordinary care can impact their ability to recover damages. If a visitor is found to be partially at fault for their own injuries, their compensation is reduced by their percentage of fault. For example, if a visitor slips and falls on a wet floor in a store but is found to be 30 percent responsible for their accident because they ignored posted warnings, their total damages award would be reduced by that amount.

The comparative negligence rule ensures that the liability for an injury is apportioned fairly between the property owner and the injured party based on their respective degrees of fault. It is based on the principle that each party taking reasonable measures to mitigate their damages. An experienced premises liability lawyer plays a vital role not only in proving liability but also in preventing shifting of blame to the injured victim.

If you have been hurt in a slip and fall or other type of accident on commercial property in Santa Barbara or the surrounding area, call Pulverman & Pulverman, LLP at 805-962-0397 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.