Premises liability for transitory foreign substances in a business establishment

Common Elements summary — Section 768.0755 is the modern transitory-foreign-substance rule for business establishments. A claimant must prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action. Constructive knowledge may be proven by circumstantial evidence showing (a) the condition existed long enough that the business should have known about it in the exercise of ordinary care, or (b) the condition occurred with such regularity that it was foreseeable. For HOA and COA boards: whether your common areas qualify as a "business establishment" under 768.0755 is fact-specific. Mixed-use buildings with retail or commercial space generally do. Pure residential common areas often fall back to 768.0710 or the common-law premises rule. The protective effect of either statute depends on contemporaneous inspection evidence. Boards should not let counsel litigate this distinction on the fly. Keep inspection logs everywhere. Train staff to date and initial the log. Pool the cost of a basic inspection-log app across associations if needed — the marginal cost is trivial compared to one defended slip-and-fall.

Not legal advice. Click through to the official source for statutory text.