Slip and fall is one corner of premises liability. Negligent security, pool injuries, balcony collapse, attractive nuisance — different statutes, different proofs.
Call 904-383-7448Reviewed by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Florida Bar No. 39104. Last updated .
Premises liability is the umbrella of negligence claims arising from conditions on real property. A property owner's duty depends on the visitor's status — business invitee, licensee, or trespasser — and on the particular hazard. Slip and fall on a transitory substance is governed by section 768.0755 and its notice requirement. Negligent security claims for third-party criminal acts are governed by section 768.0710. Swimming pool injuries pull in section 515.27 and barrier requirements. Each category has its own proofs.
What ties them together: the property owner had control over the condition, the condition created an unreasonable risk, and the owner failed to do what a reasonable owner would do.
Florida sorts entrants on land into three categories:
Business invitee. Someone on the premises for mutual benefit — a customer, delivery driver, contracted worker. Owed the highest duty: maintain the premises in reasonably safe condition, inspect for dangers, warn of latent hazards.
Licensee. Someone on the premises with permission for their own benefit — a social guest at a residence. Owed a duty to warn of concealed dangers known to the owner. No affirmative duty to inspect.
Trespasser. Someone on the premises without permission. Owed only the duty to refrain from willful or wanton harm. Modified for child trespassers under the attractive nuisance doctrine.
Status often becomes a contested issue. A friend who comes over to help with yard work may be a licensee or an invitee depending on the arrangement. A delivery driver who steps onto a residential porch is generally an invitee. The status determination drives the duty analysis and the case theory.
Transitory substances on a business floor are governed by section 768.0755. Constructive notice is the central evidentiary problem — see the longer treatment on the slip and fall page.
Trip-and-fall claims on permanent conditions (broken sidewalk, uneven flooring, missing handrail) run on traditional negligence principles. The plaintiff must show the condition existed, the owner knew or should have known of it, and the owner failed to remedy or warn. ADA accessibility standards and Florida Building Code provisions often supply the duty standard.
Stair and handrail cases turn on Code compliance. Missing handrail, non-uniform riser height, inadequate lighting, worn tread — each is a potential violation that supplies the duty standard and the breach.
The classic Florida negligent security case: a customer or tenant is assaulted, robbed, or shot at a property where the owner had reason to anticipate criminal activity and failed to take reasonable security measures. Apartment complexes, hotels, gas stations, parking garages, and shopping centers are common defendants.
The two-step analysis: was the criminal act foreseeable, and did the owner take reasonable measures in response. Foreseeability is typically proved through prior similar crime on the property or in the immediate area — Police Department call-history reports, sex offender registry data, prior incident reports. Reasonable measures depend on the level of risk: lighting, security cameras, perimeter fencing, courtesy patrols, gated access, security personnel. The greater the foreseeable risk, the more security the duty requires.
Section 768.0710 governs the burden of proof and explicitly permits the jury to consider the totality of the circumstances. The Florida Supreme Court's decisions in Holley v. Mt. Zion Terrace and the line of cases following set the framework.
Coverage is the practical complication. Many landlords carry CGL with assault-and-battery exclusions or sublimits that cap coverage at far less than the policy face. Reading the policy early sets realistic expectations.
Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, section 515.27, imposes physical-security requirements on residential pool owners: 48-inch barrier around the pool, self-closing and self-latching gates, or alarms on doors leading to the pool area. Violation supports negligence per se for child-drowning and child-injury cases.
For commercial pools (hotels, condominiums), additional state and local regulation applies. Florida Department of Health rules require certified pool operators, daily safety checks, and posted depth markers. Violations can establish negligence.
Drowning and near-drowning cases are emotionally heavy and frequently involve attractive nuisance for child plaintiffs. The defense typically focuses on parental supervision; the plaintiff focuses on the owner's breach of statutory safety requirements.
Older apartment buildings and condominiums occasionally produce balcony or stair collapses. The duty runs to invitees and licensees who were lawfully on the structure. Building inspection records, prior repair history, and structural-engineering analysis establish the breach.
Falling objects from construction sites, store shelves, or building exteriors create cases under both premises liability and general negligence. The Construction Manager At Risk and general contractor often share liability with the property owner.
Defective conditions — uneven sidewalks, missing railings, inadequate lighting in parking garages — produce ordinary premises cases when the owner knew or should have known of the condition. Photographs, prior complaints, and maintenance records build the notice case.
Florida recognizes the attractive nuisance doctrine, which modifies the low duty owed to child trespassers. When a property owner maintains a condition likely to attract children — most commonly unfenced pools, but also abandoned vehicles, construction sites, trampolines, and unsecured equipment — and the owner knows or should know children may encounter it, the owner owes a duty of reasonable care to prevent harm.
The factors track the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 339: the place was one where the owner knew or had reason to know children would trespass, the condition was one the owner knew or should have known posed an unreasonable risk of serious harm to children, the children because of their youth did not realize the risk, the utility to the owner of maintaining the condition was slight compared to the risk, and the owner failed to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the risk.
Identify all potentially responsible parties early. In a parking-lot assault at an apartment complex, the defendant pool may include the owner, the property manager, the security contractor, and the assailant. Each may carry separate coverage. Sort it out before pleading.
Send litigation hold letters within days. Surveillance footage, security guard logs, incident reports, prior crime statistics, and maintenance records all age out. Demand preservation in writing.
For negligent security cases, pull police call-history data for the immediate area going back three to five years. Use a public records request to the local PD. The data establishes foreseeability and often shows the owner had specific notice.
For pool cases, photograph the barrier compliance immediately. Photographs of inadequate fencing, broken latches, or open gates lock in the breach before the owner can remediate.
Read the policy. Many CGL policies have assault-and-battery exclusions, intentional-act exclusions, and other carve-outs that significantly affect coverage. Pre-suit demand letters should be calibrated to actual coverage.
Watch the two-year SOL. Section 95.11(4)(a) applies.
Negligence law applied to injuries on real property. Duty depends on visitor status and the type of hazard. Includes slip and fall, negligent security, pool injuries, defective conditions.
Liability for criminal acts of third parties when the act was foreseeable and the owner failed to take reasonable security measures. Section 768.0710 governs.
A doctrine that modifies the low duty to child trespassers when the property contains a condition likely to attract children. Common application: swimming pools.
CGL for businesses, homeowners insurance for residences, umbrella policies on top. Watch for assault-and-battery exclusions in security cases.
Two years for claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023, under section 95.11(4)(a).