Texas Slip and Fall Law: The Rules That Decide a Claim
Whether you can claim at all depends on why you were on the property. Texas sorts entrants into three classes and owes each a different duty, and that classification is the first question in every premises case.
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Invitee, licensee, trespasser
An invitee enters for the mutual benefit of both parties, which covers every customer in every shop. A licensee enters with permission but for their own purposes, which covers most social guests. A trespasser enters without permission.
The duty owed differs sharply. To an invitee, the occupier must exercise reasonable care to protect against dangerous conditions it knew or should have known about, which includes a duty to inspect. To a licensee, the duty is narrower and generally requires actual knowledge. To a trespasser, the duty is only to avoid injuring them wilfully or through gross negligence.
Why classification is contested
It decides the case before the facts are reached. An occupier arguing that a claimant was a licensee rather than an invitee is arguing that constructive knowledge does not apply, which removes the route most claims run through.
Status can also change during a visit. A customer who enters a staff-only area may cease to be an invitee as to that area, which is a recurring argument in warehouse and back-of-house falls.
The elements an invitee has to prove
That a condition on the premises posed an unreasonable risk of harm. That the occupier knew or reasonably should have known of it. That it failed to exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk. And that the failure caused the injury.
Each is a separate hurdle. Cases are lost on the second far more often than on the first or the fourth.
Constructive knowledge is a question about time
Where the occupier did not actually know, the claimant must show the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it. There is no fixed period; it depends on the premises and the risk.
This is why inspection logs and camera footage decide these cases. A spill visible on footage for forty minutes in a store that claims hourly sweeps is a different case from one that occurred ninety seconds before the fall.
Two years, and the exceptions
Section 16.003 gives two years from the injury to file suit, and wrongful death runs two years from the date of death.
Where the property is owned or controlled by a governmental unit, a school, a city building, a public hospital, the Texas Tort Claims Act applies with formal written notice required within months and damages capped.
Comparative responsibility and the open and obvious rule
Recovery is reduced by the claimant's percentage of responsibility and barred above 50 percent. Distraction, footwear and inattention are the standard arguments.
Separately, Texas generally imposes no duty to warn of a condition that was open and obvious or actually known to the entrant. That is a limit on duty rather than an apportionment question, and it is narrower than insurers suggest.
Summary
| Status | Who it covers | Duty owed |
|---|---|---|
| Invitee | Customers, business visitors | Reasonable care against known or knowable dangers, including inspection |
| Licensee | Social guests, permitted visitors | Narrower, generally requires actual knowledge |
| Trespasser | Entrants without permission | Only to avoid wilful injury or gross negligence |
| Child trespasser | Attractive nuisance situations | Higher, in defined circumstances |
| Governmental premises | Public buildings and land | Tort Claims Act: notice in months, damages capped |
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Frequently asked questions
That a condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm, that the occupier knew or reasonably should have known of it, that it failed to exercise reasonable care, and that the failure caused your injury. Cases are most often lost on the knowledge element.
An invitee enters for the mutual benefit of both parties, such as a customer in a shop, and is owed reasonable care including a duty to inspect. A licensee enters with permission for their own purposes, such as a social guest, and is owed a narrower duty generally requiring actual knowledge.
Where the occupier did not actually know of a hazard, it is enough to show the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it. It is a question about time, which is why inspection logs and camera footage decide these cases.
Considerably. Where a governmental unit owns or controls the premises, the Texas Tort Claims Act applies, requiring formal written notice within months and capping damages.
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