Trip and Fall Accidents in Florida: When Can a Property Owner Be Liable?

You trip over broken pavement, a raised section of sidewalk, a damaged step, or an object left in a walkway and suffer an injury.

Because the accident happened on someone else’s property, does that automatically make the property owner responsible?

No.

A Florida trip-and-fall claim generally depends on more than where the accident happened. The condition must present a legally recognizable danger, the defendant must have responsibility for the area, and the evidence must connect that condition to the fall and injury.

Questions about notice, maintenance, property control, and whether the hazard was obvious can also affect liability.

That makes each trip-and-fall case highly dependent on its specific facts.

What Is a Trip and Fall Accident in Florida?

A trip and fall usually happens when a person’s foot strikes or catches on a physical defect, obstruction, or change in a walking surface.

Potential trip hazards can include:

• Raised or broken sidewalks
• Uneven flooring
• Holes or depressions
• Damaged stairs
• Missing utility or meter covers
• Objects left in walkways
• Defective ramps
• Damaged parking-lot surfaces

That is different from the classic slip-and-fall case involving a temporary substance such as water, food, grease, or another spill.

Florida Statute §768.0755 specifically applies to slips and falls involving transitory foreign substances in business establishments. Physical trip hazards are generally analyzed under broader Florida premises-liability principles rather than simply applying that spill statute to every case.

When Can a Property Owner Be Liable for a Trip and Fall?

Several questions can determine whether a Florida trip-and-fall claim has legal support.

Was There a Legally Dangerous Condition?

Not every crack, curb, raised surface, or uneven section of pavement is legally dangerous.

The condition must create an unreasonable risk under the circumstances.

Courts may consider its size, location, visibility, surrounding environment, and how people are expected to use the area.

Did the Defendant Own, Possess, or Control the Area?

Ownership is important, but it is not always the end of the question.

Florida courts have explained that premises duties can depend on possession, custody, and control rather than title ownership alone. More than one party may potentially have responsibilities when control is shared.

Did the Responsible Party Know or Should It Have Known About the Hazard?

Notice can also matter.

Depending on the circumstances, evidence may show that the responsible party actually knew about the condition or should reasonably have discovered it.

Did the Defendant Fail to Act Reasonably?

The issue may involve failure to repair a dangerous defect, maintain the area safely, or provide an appropriate warning when one was required.

Did the Condition Cause the Injury?

Finally, there must be a connection between the property defect, the fall, and the resulting injuries.

What Makes a Trip Hazard Legally Dangerous?

One of the most important points in Florida trip-and-fall law is that there is no simple rule saying every uneven walking surface creates liability.

In Jackson v. Florida Department of Transportation, a pedestrian tripped where one section of a public sidewalk was approximately three-quarters of an inch higher than the adjacent section.

Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal held that the minor misalignment was so open, obvious, ordinary, and innocuous under those circumstances that it did not constitute a legally dangerous condition.

That does not create a statewide “three-quarter-inch rule.”

A different height difference, location, walking surface, lighting condition, code requirement, or surrounding circumstance could produce a different analysis.

The better question is not simply:

How many inches was the defect?

It is:

Did this particular condition create an unreasonable danger under these circumstances?

Who Is Responsible If Someone Other Than the Owner Controlled the Property?

The titled property owner is not always the only party whose responsibilities need to be examined.

Depending on the property, control may rest with or be shared by:

• A commercial tenant
• Property manager
• Maintenance company
• Contractor
• Condominium or homeowners association
• Another party responsible for the area

In Hu v. Zen Massage Spa, Florida’s Fourth District emphasized that premises liability turns on possession and control, not simply legal ownership. The court found factual questions about how much control landlords retained over leased premises where an allegedly defective shower had been installed.

So an important question after a trip and fall is often:

Who actually had responsibility for inspecting, maintaining, or repairing the place where the accident happened?

What If the Property Owner or Employee Created the Trip Hazard?

When the defendant creates the condition, it may be easier to connect that party directly to the hazard.

A useful example is McWhorter v. Event Services America, decided in January 2026.

A security employee left a metal battery case in a walkway at Tropicana Field, and a visitor later tripped over it. The company did not dispute responsibility for maintaining the walkway or for its employee’s conduct.

That did not mean negligence was automatically established.

But it removed some of the mystery about how the condition appeared and focused the dispute on whether placing the box there created an unreasonably unsafe condition.

What If the Trip Hazard Was Open and Obvious?

This is where Florida trip-and-fall law becomes more nuanced.

A property owner or occupier generally owes business invitees two distinct duties:

1. A duty to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition.
2. A duty to warn about certain dangers the owner knows or should know about that the visitor cannot reasonably discover.

The Duty to Warn

If a dangerous condition is open and obvious, a defendant may have no duty to warn about it.

A warning is less useful when the danger is already readily apparent.

The Duty to Maintain the Property Safely

But that does not always eliminate the separate duty to maintain the premises safely.

In McWhorter, the battery box was visible, so the appellate court agreed that the failure-to-warn theory could not proceed. But the court allowed the negligent-maintenance theory to continue because a jury could still consider whether leaving the box in a pedestrian walkway created an unsafe condition.

Similarly, in Sutley v. The Ocean Trillium Suites, an abrupt elevation change between a sidewalk and ramp was considered open and obvious, but that did not automatically eliminate the separate negligent-maintenance claim.

The key distinction is:

Visible does not always mean safe.

But the opposite is also important:

An obvious condition is not automatically legally dangerous.

Jackson shows that some ordinary surface irregularities may be too minor and commonplace to create liability at all.

Can a Building-Code Violation Help Prove Liability?

Potentially.

Building-code or accessibility requirements can sometimes provide important evidence about whether a walkway, step, ramp, or similar feature was constructed or maintained safely.

In Sutley, expert testimony that an abrupt elevation change violated an applicable building code helped create a factual issue over negligent maintenance.

But code evidence must actually apply to the property and defect involved.

That point was reinforced in PGA National Resort and Spa v. Ginsburg, decided September 9, 2026. The case involved a guest who tripped on a missing section of asphalt in a resort parking lot. Although the appellate court left the premises-liability claim itself intact for retrial, it found error in the handling of an outdated and unspecified Florida Building Code provision without first establishing its applicability.

So a building-code issue can strengthen a case, but it does not automatically establish liability.

What Evidence Can Strengthen a Florida Trip and Fall Claim?

Different evidence answers different questions.

Photos and Measurements

Photos can document the location, shape, depth, height, and visibility of the defect before it is repaired or changed.

Measurements can become particularly useful when the dispute involves an elevation difference, step, hole, ramp, or similar physical feature.

Maintenance and Repair Records

These may show prior complaints, planned repairs, recurring problems, or whether someone already knew about the condition.

Witnesses and Incident Reports

Witnesses may establish how the fall happened or how long a defect had existed.

An incident report can also document when the accident was reported and which employees or property representatives responded.

Surveillance Footage

Video may show the fall itself, pedestrian traffic, visibility of the condition, or whether an employee or contractor created the hazard.

Expert Evidence

Engineering or other expert evidence may become useful when issues involve slope, elevation, building codes, stair design, or accessibility standards.

The quality and timing of evidence matter. A photograph taken immediately after an accident can answer different questions from one taken months later after conditions may have changed.

What If the Accident Happened on Public or Government Property?

Falls involving public sidewalks, government buildings, streets, or other government-controlled property can involve additional legal requirements.

Florida law provides special procedures for tort claims against the state and its agencies or subdivisions, including written claim requirements and sovereign-immunity rules.

Because those requirements differ from an ordinary claim against a private property owner, identifying who controlled the location can become especially important.

How Can Cohen Injury Law Help After a Florida Trip and Fall?

At Cohen Injury Law, we investigate trip-and-fall claims by examining the property defect, who controlled the area, repair and maintenance records, photographs, surveillance, witnesses, and other available evidence.

Founding attorney Zach Cohen began his career representing insurance companies in personal injury cases, giving us insight into how insurers evaluate claims.

Our firm reports a $117,500 settlement in a Miami trip-and-fall case involving a broken metal water-meter cover and knee injury. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We offer free consultations from our Fort Lauderdale office. Call 954-246-3999.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Property Owner Liable for Every Uneven Sidewalk in Florida?

No. Some cracks, elevation changes, and surface irregularities may be considered ordinary rather than legally dangerous. Liability depends on the condition’s size, location, visibility, surrounding circumstances, and whether it created an unreasonable risk.

What If the Trip Hazard Was Open and Obvious?

An open-and-obvious condition can affect a property owner’s duty to warn. But it does not automatically eliminate a separate claim that the defendant failed to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition.

How Do You Prove a Property Owner Knew About a Dangerous Condition?

Evidence may include complaints, work orders, repair records, inspections, photographs, witness testimony, prior similar problems, or proof that the owner, employee, or another responsible party created the condition.

Can Someone Other Than the Property Owner Be Responsible for a Trip and Fall?

Yes. Liability can depend on possession and control. A tenant, property manager, contractor, association, or another entity responsible for maintaining the area may have duties depending on the facts.

Final Thoughts

A Florida property owner is not automatically liable simply because someone trips and gets hurt.

A strong trip-and-fall claim usually depends on evidence that a legally dangerous condition existed, the defendant was responsible for the area, the condition was known or reasonably should have been known, or was created by the defendant, and reasonable maintenance or warning was lacking.

The defect must also be connected to the accident and resulting injury.

Because conditions ranging from minor sidewalk irregularities to objects deliberately left in walkways can receive very different legal treatment, the specific facts and evidence matter.