Texas Legal Glossary · Personal Injury

Premises Liability

Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated October 2026

Definition: Premises liability is the Texas doctrine that makes a property owner or occupier responsible for injuries caused by unsafe conditions on the land. The duty owed depends on whether the injured person was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser, and what the owner knew.

Also called: slip and fall, property owner liability

What premises liability means in Texas

Premises liability is a branch of negligence law for injuries caused by the condition of property rather than by someone’s active conduct. A wet grocery floor, a broken stair at an apartment complex, an unmarked drop-off in a parking lot, and inadequate lighting where an assault occurs are all premises claims. Texas courts treat it as its own cause of action with its own elements.

The owner’s duty depends on the injured person’s status. An invitee, meaning a customer or someone on the property for the owner’s business benefit, is owed reasonable care to make the premises safe or warn of conditions the owner knows or should know about. A licensee, such as a social guest, is owed a warning of dangers the owner actually knows about. A trespasser is owed only a duty not to injure willfully or through gross negligence.

How it works in practice

Most cases turn on knowledge. Under Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262 (Tex. 1992), an invitee must prove the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition, that it posed an unreasonable risk of harm, that the owner failed to use reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk, and that the failure proximately caused the injury. Constructive knowledge usually means the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner would have found it, which is why surveillance video and inspection logs matter. Corbin v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 648 S.W.2d 292 (Tex. 1983), held that a store’s own display method can create the unreasonable risk.

Statutes narrow some claims. Chapter 75 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code limits the duty owed to people using land for recreation, and Chapter 95 shields owners from most claims by contractors’ employees injured working on an improvement. Claims against cities and the state for premises defects run through the Texas Tort Claims Act, with its notice deadlines and caps.

Why it matters in your case

Premises cases are harder than car crashes because knowledge is contested and evidence disappears fast. Store video is often overwritten within days. A prompt preservation letter, witness names, and photographs of the hazard before it is cleaned up frequently decide the case. Your own share of fault is also in play under Chapter 33.

Example

Grace slips on a clear liquid in the produce aisle of a grocery store on Research Boulevard and fractures her wrist. Store video shows the spill sat for 40 minutes while employees walked past it twice. That footage establishes constructive knowledge under Keetch and supports her invitee claim.

This entry explains Texas law in general terms and is not legal advice for any specific situation. Statutes and case law change; the date above reflects the last review.