What you must prove in a Texas slip-and-fall or premises liability claim

To win a Texas slip-and-fall claim as a customer or other invitee, you must prove four elements: the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition, the condition created an unreasonable risk of harm, the owner failed to take reasonable steps to make it safe, and that failure was a proximate cause of your injury (Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262 (Tex. 1992)). The element most cases turn on is knowledge, which usually means proof of how long the hazard was there. You have two years to sue under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, and you recover nothing if you are found more than 50% responsible under § 33.001.

Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

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First question: why you were on the property

In Texas, the duty a property owner owes you depends on your status when you were hurt. The Texas Supreme Court restated the categories in 2021 in Catholic Diocese of El Paso v. Porter.

Status	Who it covers	What the owner owes
Invitee	Someone who enters with the owner’s knowledge and for the mutual benefit of both, such as a shopper in a store	Reasonable care to protect against dangerous conditions the owner knew or reasonably should have known about
Licensee	Someone on the property merely by permission, without an economic benefit to the owner	Warn of or make reasonably safe a dangerous condition the owner actually knows about and the licensee does not; no willful, wanton or grossly negligent conduct (Sampson v. Univ. of Texas at Austin)
Trespasser	Someone on the land without the owner’s permission	Only a duty not to injure the person willfully, wantonly or through gross negligence (Boerjan v. Rodriguez, 436 S.W.3d 307 (Tex. 2014))

The practical gap is proof. A store customer is an invitee, so evidence that the owner should have known is enough. A social guest or other licensee needs evidence that the owner actually knew.

Premises claim or negligent activity?

If you were hurt by a condition of the property, such as a spill, a broken step or a torn mat, it is a premises claim. If you were hurt by something the owner was doing at that moment, it may be a negligent activity claim, which follows ordinary negligence rules.

The Texas Supreme Court describes negligent activity as “a malfeasance theory based on affirmative, contemporaneous conduct” and premises liability as “a nonfeasance theory based on the owner’s failure to take measures to make the property safe” (United Scaffolding, Inc. v. Levine, 537 S.W.3d 463 (Tex. 2017)). In Keetch, employees had sprayed plants earlier and the shopper slipped on the slick spot left behind. Recovery for negligent activity requires injury “by or as a contemporaneous result of the activity itself,” so hers was a premises case.

Levine said “slip/trip-and-fall cases have consistently been treated as premises defect causes of action,” and the court repeated that line in June 2026 in JMI Contractors, LLC v. Medellin. In Levine, the injured worker won a jury verdict on general negligence, and the Supreme Court rendered a take-nothing judgment because his claim was a premises claim and he had not secured the premises findings it required.

Element 1: the owner knew or should have known

Under Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reece, 81 S.W.3d 812 (Tex. 2002), you can meet the knowledge element by showing one of these:

the owner put the substance or hazard there;
the owner actually knew it was there; or
it is more likely than not that the condition existed long enough to give the owner a reasonable opportunity to discover it.

Keetch held that proof the store created the condition can support an inference of knowledge, but the jury still has to find that the store knew or should have known.

The third route is the Texas “time-notice rule.” The court said “there must be some proof of how long the hazard was there before liability can be imposed.” In Reece, a customer slipped in a clear puddle by a Wal-Mart snack bar. An employee had walked past shortly before, but nothing showed how long the liquid had been there, and the court ruled that she take nothing. An employee’s nearness to a hazard, without evidence of time, shows only that the store could have found it.

The court said a conspicuous condition, such as “a large puddle of dark liquid on a light floor,” may need less time, and an employee near a less conspicuous hazard “for a continuous and significant period of time” can also matter.

Elements 2 to 4: unreasonable risk, reasonable care and cause

Unreasonable risk. The jury decides whether the condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm. In Keetch the jury found that the slick spot did, and she still lost on knowledge.

Reasonable care. You must show the owner did not take reasonable steps to reduce or eliminate the risk. Proof on this point includes whether a warning sign or cone was out, how often the area was checked, and what cleanup or maintenance records show.

Proximate cause. The owner’s failure has to have caused your injury. Prompt medical records that tie your injury to the fall are the main proof.

Open and obvious hazards and the necessary-use exception

In Austin v. Kroger Texas, L.P., 465 S.W.3d 193 (Tex. 2015), the Texas Supreme Court held that “a landowner generally has no duty to warn of hazards that are open and obvious or known to the invitee.” In June 2026 it added that the open-and-obvious doctrine “remains alive and well today” (Medellin).

Austin left room for two exceptions. The first involves dangers created by crimes of third parties that the owner could foresee. The second, called the necessary-use exception, covers an invitee who “necessarily must use the unreasonably dangerous premises, and despite the invitee’s awareness and appreciation of the dangers, the invitee is incapable of taking precautions that will adequately reduce the risk.”

For a customer or tenant, the exception can matter when the only way in or out crosses the hazard. Medellin held that the exception does not reach independent contractors; that case involved a roofer who fell from a roof.

Big-box stores and apartment complexes: who controlled the spot

Premises duties fall on whoever owned or controlled the place where you fell. Inside a big-box store, that is usually the retailer. A parking lot or sidewalk may belong to the store, a landlord or a shopping center. Our Texas store slip and fall page covers Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Apartment falls turn on control. The Texas Supreme Court has said “a lessor generally has no duty to tenants or their invitees for dangerous conditions on the leased premises,” but “a lessor may be liable for injuries caused by a defect on a portion of premises that remain under the lessor’s control” (Johnson County Sheriff’s Posse, Inc. v. Endsley, 926 S.W.2d 284 (Tex. 1996)).

So a fall on a shared stairway, walkway, parking lot or pool deck that the complex maintains is analyzed differently from a fall inside your own unit. Your lease, repair requests and any written complaints about the hazard can show both control and knowledge.

Expect the owner to argue that you should have seen the hazard. Texas divides fault by percentage.

Rule	What it means	Source
51% bar	You recover nothing if your share of responsibility is greater than 50%	CPRC § 33.001
Reduction	At 50% or less, your damages are reduced by your percentage	CPRC § 33.012(a)
Deadline to sue	Two years after the day the cause of action accrues	CPRC § 16.003

Example: if your damages are $100,000 and the jury puts 20% of the fault on you, you recover $80,000. At 51%, you recover nothing.

Falls on government property

Under the Texas Tort Claims Act, a government body can be sued for an injury caused by a condition of its real property, but only where a private owner in the same position would also be liable (CPRC § 101.021).

Issue	Rule	Source
Duty	For a premise defect, only the duty owed to a licensee, unless you paid to use the premises. You generally must prove the agency actually knew of the hazard.	CPRC § 101.022(a)
Special defects	The government must still warn of special defects; the statute gives excavations and obstructions on roads as examples	§ 101.022(b)
Notice	Due no later than six months after the incident. It must reasonably describe your injury, when and where it happened, and what happened. May not be required if the unit already had actual notice of the injury.	CPRC § 101.101
City charters	May set shorter notice periods. Houston’s charter requires notice within 90 days.	§ 101.101(b); City of Houston Legal Department
Caps	$250,000 per person for the state and for cities; $100,000 per person for other local units	CPRC § 101.023

Give the notice in writing and keep proof of when you sent it.

Evidence that proves each element

Element	Evidence to get and keep
Knowledge and time	Surveillance video from the minutes or hours before the fall; photos showing the hazard’s age, such as footprints, cart tracks or dried edges; names of anyone who saw it earlier
Unreasonable risk	Photos of the hazard, the lighting and the surroundings; measurements of a broken step or raised edge
Reasonable care	Whether a warning sign was out; the incident report; inspection logs; earlier complaints or repair requests
Cause and damages	Same-day medical records; the shoes and clothes you wore, stored unwashed; bills and proof of missed work

Ask the manager in writing, right away, to keep the video. Talk to a lawyer before you give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer. More detail is in our guide to slip and fall evidence.

What this means for your case

Write down your deadlines today: two years to sue, and six months or less for notice if the property belongs to a government unit. Keep the evidence listed above and ask in writing that the video be preserved. Then have a lawyer check whether your claim is a premises claim or a negligent activity claim, since Levine shows that the wrong choice can erase a verdict.

For the basics on falls at stores, apartments, hotels and public property, see our Texas slip and fall lawyer page. For how fault shares work, see comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington. Beverly Law’s Texas-licensed attorneys handle premises liability claims across Texas.

Call (310) 552-6959 for a free consultation. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

Do I have to prove the store knew about the spill?

You must prove the store knew or reasonably should have known about it. If you rely on “should have known,” Texas requires some proof of how long the hazard was on the floor, under Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reece.

Can I sue my apartment complex after a fall on the stairs?

Possibly. A Texas landlord generally has no duty for conditions inside leased premises, but it can be liable for a defect in a part of the property that remains under its control, for negligent repairs, or for hiding a defect it knew about.

What if the hazard was easy to see?

Under Austin v. Kroger Texas, an owner generally has no duty to warn of open and obvious hazards. Exceptions exist for foreseeable criminal activity and for hazards you had to cross with no way to protect yourself.

Is a fall at a city building or public park different?

Yes. The government usually owes only the licensee duty, so you must prove it actually knew of the hazard, and notice is due within six months under CPRC 101.101, or sooner if a city charter says so. Houston requires notice within 90 days.

What is a negligent activity claim?

It is a claim that you were hurt by something the owner was doing at that moment, rather than by a condition of the property. Texas courts treat slip and trip falls as premises claims, and pleading the wrong theory can cost you the case.

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Texas slip and fall lawyer · Texas store slip and fall lawyer: Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s · What evidence do you need after a slip and fall? · Comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington · Slip and fall deadlines · Beverly Law in Texas

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Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Last reviewed: November 9, 2026.