When Is a Property Owner Liable for a Slip and Fall Accident?

Legally Reviewed by Dale R. Rose on September 30, 2026

A property owner in Texas may be held liable for a slip and fall accident when the owner knew, or should have known, about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn visitors. That single question, whether the owner had notice of the hazard, decides most of these claims. How much the owner was required to do about it depends on why you were on the property: as a customer, as a guest, or without permission.

At Dale R. Rose, PLLC, we help injured Texans understand their premises liability claims and pursue the compensation they may be owed. More than three decades of practicing law in Texas, and more than 165 first-chair jury trials across 54 counties, have shown us how slip and fall cases are often won or lost long before they reach a courtroom. For a broader look at premises claims and filing deadlines, see our guide on what premises liability is and when you can file a claim in Texas. This article focuses on the slip and fall questions that decide liability.

What Makes a Slip and Fall Hazard Dangerous Under Texas Law

Under Texas law, property owners and those who control a property must keep it reasonably safe for people who are lawfully present. This duty does not make an owner responsible for every fall. It means the owner must address hazards that pose an unreasonable risk of harm and that the owner knows about, or reasonably should have discovered, within a reasonable amount of time.

A dangerous condition in a slip and fall case can take many forms, including these:

• A wet or freshly mopped floor without a warning sign
• Uneven pavement, broken tile, or a damaged step
• Poor lighting in a stairwell or parking area
• Loose handrails or torn carpeting
• Cluttered walkways or spilled merchandise

These hazards can lead to serious injury for anyone, and older adults face particular risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in four adults age 65 and older falls each year. If you want a closer look at how these claims come together, our slip and fall page walks through the process in more depth.

How Visitor Status Changes an Owner’s Duty in a Slip and Fall

The duty a property owner owes depends on why the injured person was on the property. In a slip and fall case, visitor status often determines whether the owner had to inspect for hazards or only had to warn about hazards it already knew about.

Invitees: Customers and Business Visitors

Invitees enter for the mutual benefit of themselves and the owner, such as shoppers in a grocery store, diners in a restaurant, or tenants in the common areas of an apartment complex. Owners owe invitees the highest duty: to use reasonable care to inspect for hazards, and to make them safe or adequately warn about them. Most store and restaurant slip and fall claims involve invitees. Our article on when businesses may be liable for customer slip and fall injuries covers that setting in detail.

Licensees: Social Guests and Permitted Visitors

Licensees enter with the owner’s permission but for their own purposes, such as a guest at a private home or party. The owner does not have to inspect for unknown hazards. Instead, the owner must warn a licensee about, or make safe, a dangerous condition the owner actually knows about and the licensee does not. A homeowner who knows a back step is rotted and says nothing may be liable to a guest who falls through it.

Trespassers: No Permission to Be There

Trespassers enter without permission and are owed the least protection. Generally, an owner must only avoid injuring a trespasser willfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence. Most ordinary slip and fall hazards, like a spill or an uneven floor, will not support a claim by a trespasser.

Notice: The Question That Decides Most Slip and Fall Claims

For an invitee, the key issue is usually notice. Texas courts generally require the injured person to show the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard, and in slip and fall cases that knowledge is typically proven in one of three ways.

The Owner Created the Condition

If an employee mopped the floor, stacked merchandise in an aisle, or left a hose across a walkway, the business created the hazard and is treated as knowing about it. This is often the strongest way to prove notice.

The Owner Actually Knew About It

Actual knowledge can come from a prior customer complaint, an employee who saw the spill, an earlier incident report, or a work order to fix a broken step that never got done. Emails, maintenance requests, and employee testimony often reveal this.

The Hazard Existed Long Enough That the Owner Should Have Found It

This is constructive notice. The Texas Supreme Court’s time-notice rule, from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reece, requires some proof of how long the hazard was there before the fall. Evidence such as dirt or cart tracks in a spill, surveillance video, or a gap in the store’s cleaning logs can show that a reasonable inspection would have caught it. Without some proof of time, a claim can fail even when the fall itself is not disputed.

What You Must Prove to Hold an Owner Liable

To hold a property owner responsible to an invitee, an injured person generally must show a few key elements. A dangerous condition must have existed on the property. The owner must have known about the hazard, created it, or should have discovered it through a reasonable inspection. The condition must have posed an unreasonable risk of harm, and the owner must have failed to fix it or adequately warn visitors. Finally, the condition must have caused the fall and the resulting injuries.

Evidence supports each of these elements. Photographs of the hazard, incident reports, maintenance and sweep logs, and witness statements can all help establish what the owner knew and when. Our guide to recognizing a valid slip and fall case breaks these questions down further, and our article on the elements of a premises defect in a Texas slip and fall claim explains the legal standard.

Who Controls the Property Matters Too

The person responsible is not always the owner on the deed. Liability generally follows control of the area where the fall happened. A landlord may be responsible for common areas like stairways and parking lots, while a tenant business may be responsible for its own sales floor. A cleaning company, property manager, or contractor may also share responsibility if it created or controlled the hazard.

Property hazards sometimes overlap with other injury claims, such as a construction accident involving an unsafe job site. Identifying everyone who controlled the area is an early step in building the claim.

Falls on Government Property

Slip and fall claims against cities, counties, school districts, and state agencies follow different rules. Under section 101.022 of the Texas Tort Claims Act, a governmental unit generally owes only the duty a private owner owes to a licensee, unless the injured person paid to use the premises. That means you usually must show the government actually knew about the hazard.

Government claims also have a shorter notice deadline. Under section 101.101, a governmental unit is entitled to written notice within six months of the incident, and some city charters require notice sooner.

Defenses Property Owners May Raise

Property owners and their insurers frequently push back against slip and fall claims. An owner may argue the hazard was open and obvious, meaning a reasonably careful person would have noticed and avoided it, or that the injured person already knew about it. An owner may also argue the condition appeared too recently for a reasonable inspection to have caught it, which is why proof of time matters so much. Weather-related falls, such as rain tracked into an entryway, can raise their own disputes about what the owner reasonably had to do.

Texas also follows a modified comparative fault rule. An injured person’s compensation may be reduced by their percentage of fault, and they cannot recover if found more than 50 percent responsible. A clear record of the hazard and prompt medical documentation may make a meaningful difference against these defenses. Our list of evidence that supports a premises liability claim can help you know what to preserve.

How Long You Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim

Most Texas slip and fall lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of the fall under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003. Wrongful death claims generally must be filed within two years of the date of death. For government property, the six-month notice requirement applies first.

Even with two years to file, waiting is risky. Stores often overwrite surveillance video within days or weeks, and employees who saw the hazard may move on. Acting promptly helps preserve the evidence that proves notice.

Find Out What Your Fall May Be Worth With Dale R. Rose, PLLC

If you were hurt in a fall on someone else’s property, the details matter, from the condition that caused the fall to how long the owner knew about it. Dale R. Rose, PLLC has represented injured people, small businesses, corporations, and the State of Texas over more than three decades of practicing law. In the most serious cases, a fall can lead to a wrongful death claim, and we may be able to guide a family through that process as well.

We offer free consultations, with no attorney fees unless we recover compensation, and case costs are explained in a written agreement. Reach out through our contact form to discuss what happened and find out what steps may come next.

Frequently Asked Questions About Slip and Fall Liability in Texas