What is premises liability?
Premises liability is the area of injury law that makes property owners and businesses responsible when an unsafe condition on their property hurts someone, such as a spill, a broken stair or poor security. A customer usually must show the owner knew or should have known about the danger and failed to fix it or warn.
Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (5)
Premises liability example: detergent in aisle 7
Example: a bottle of laundry detergent leaks in a grocery aisle in Austin. You slip, fall on your hip, and end up with an ER visit, imaging and six weeks of therapy. Bills and lost pay total $12,000.
The store's first answer is often that no employee knew about the spill. In Texas, though, actual or constructive knowledge is enough, so the question becomes whether the spill sat long enough that the store should have found it. Store video showing the leak 40 minutes before your fall, a trail of footprints through the puddle, or an employee walking past it can supply that. The claim also needs the condition to be unreasonably dangerous, a failure to use reasonable care, and injuries caused by that failure.
Does it matter why you were on the property?
| You were... | Duty owed (what we verified) |
|---|---|
| A customer in a Texas business | Must show the owner knew or should have known of an unreasonably dangerous condition and failed to use reasonable care. |
| A customer facing a crime risk in Texas | Ordinary care to protect against criminal acts when the owner knows or has reason to know of an unreasonable and foreseeable risk. |
| A visitor on Texas government property | Generally only the duty owed to a licensee, unless you paid to use it. |
| A trespasser in Arizona | No duty of care except to avoid intentional, wilful or wanton injury. |
Why does premises liability matter after a fall or attack?
Most of these claims turn on proof that disappears quickly: store video is often recorded over, spills get mopped, and broken lights get fixed. Ask the manager to file an incident report, take photos of the hazard and your shoes, get names of witnesses, and send a written request to keep the video. Without that, it can be hard to show how long a hazard was there, and the claim may lose much of its value.
Premises liability vs. ordinary negligence
Premises liability is a type of negligence claim with its own elements, focused on a condition of the property. If the injury came from someone's activity, like an employee driving a forklift into you, it is usually treated as ordinary negligence instead.
Questions
Do I have to prove the store knew about the spill?
In Texas, actual or constructive knowledge is enough, so showing the store should have known can work.
Can I claim if I was attacked in a parking lot?
Sometimes. Texas owners must use ordinary care against crime when the risk is unreasonable and foreseeable.
Does my own carelessness matter?
Yes. Looking at your phone or ignoring a warning sign can reduce your share under the state's fault rules.
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See if I’m owed moneySources (5)
- United Supermarkets, LLC v. McIntire (Tex. 2022), checked 2026-11-09. “the invitee plaintiff must show that (1) the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition at issue; (2) the condition was unreasonably dangerous; (3) the owner did not exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the unreasonable risk of harm”
- A.R.S. § 12-557, checked 2026-11-09. “does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser except to refrain from causing intentional, wilful or wanton injury”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.022(a), checked 2026-11-09. “if a claim arises from a premise defect, the governmental unit owes to the claimant only the duty that a private person owes to a licensee on private property, unless the claimant pays for the use of the premises.”
- United Supermarkets, LLC v. McIntire (Tex. 2022), checked 2026-11-09. “the owner’s failure to reduce or eliminate the unreasonable risk of harm proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries.”
- UDR Texas Properties, L.P. v. Petrie (Tex. 2017), checked 2026-11-09. “a duty to use ordinary care to protect invitees from criminal acts of third parties if he knows or has reason to know of an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to the invitee.”