Georgia Premises Liability Law: Statute, Standards & Key Cases

A woman trips over a raised section of concrete in a strip mall parking lot in Marietta and breaks her ankle. The raised slab has been a known hazard for over a year — the property management company received three written complaints from tenants and painted a yellow line near it, but never repaired the surface. The parking lot is poorly lit, and the painted warning is invisible after dark.

Georgia premises liability law gives this woman a claim against the property owner. But Georgia's modified comparative negligence rules — which bar recovery if the plaintiff is 50% or more at fault — and its status-based duty framework create specific requirements that determine whether the claim succeeds or fails.

Statute of Limitations

Two years from the date of the injury. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, all personal injury claims in Georgia — including premises liability — must be filed within two years.

Government claims: Claims against Georgia government entities (state, county, municipal) may require an ante-litem notice — a written notice of claim filed before the lawsuit. Deadlines and requirements vary by entity. Some municipalities require notice within six months.

Tolling exceptions: The statute may be tolled for minors (until age 18), for persons with mental disabilities, and when the defendant is absent from the state.

Legal Standard

Duty of Care by Visitor Status

Georgia uses a status-based duty framework under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1:

Invitees — persons on the property for a purpose connected to the owner's business or by express or implied invitation (customers, tenants, hotel guests, diners). Property owners owe invitees the highest duty: to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises safe, which includes:

• Inspecting the premises for latent (hidden) hazards
• Correcting or warning of known dangerous conditions
• Not creating dangerous conditions through negligent acts

Licensees — persons on the property with permission but not for the owner's business purpose (social guests). The duty is narrower: the owner must not willfully or wantonly injure licensees and must not create dangerous traps. The owner must also warn of known hazards that the licensee would not be likely to discover.

Trespassers — persons without permission. The owner owes no duty of care except to avoid willful or wanton injury.

The Knowledge Requirement

Georgia premises liability requires the plaintiff to prove the property owner had superior knowledge of the hazard. This is a critical element that distinguishes Georgia from some other states.

The plaintiff must prove:

1. The property owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition.
2. The plaintiff did not have equal knowledge of the hazard — the owner's knowledge was "superior" to the plaintiff's.

If the plaintiff and the property owner had equal knowledge of the hazard, the claim may fail. This is why the "open and obvious" defense is particularly strong in Georgia — if a hazard was visible and apparent, the owner can argue the plaintiff's knowledge equaled the owner's.

Constructive Knowledge

Constructive knowledge — that the owner should have known about the hazard — can be established by proving:

• The hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have discovered it
• The property had an inadequate inspection schedule
• Similar hazards had occurred previously and the owner had notice of the pattern

In retail slip-and-fall cases, evidence of how long a substance was on the floor is critical. Georgia courts look for temporal evidence — footprints tracked through a spill, the condition of the substance (dried, spread out), or witness testimony about when the substance appeared.

Modified Comparative Negligence

Georgia follows modified comparative negligence under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. If the plaintiff is 50% or more at fault, they recover nothing. If less than 50% at fault, their recovery is reduced by their percentage of fault.

Note that Georgia's threshold is 50%, not 51%. A plaintiff who is exactly 50% at fault is barred from recovery. This is stricter than states like Texas and Florida, where the bar is at 51%.

Georgia also allows apportionment of fault to non-parties — persons who may bear some responsibility for the injury but are not named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Key Georgia Cases

Robinson v. Kroger Co. (Ga. 1997)

The Georgia Supreme Court addressed the standards for summary judgment in premises liability cases. The court held that whether a hazard was "open and obvious" — and whether the plaintiff exercised ordinary care for their own safety — are generally questions of fact for the jury, not questions of law for the judge. This made it harder for property owners to win cases on summary judgment by arguing the hazard was obvious.

Alterman Foods v. Ligon (Ga. 1980)

The Georgia Supreme Court established the knowledge standard in retail slip-and-fall cases. The plaintiff slipped and fell while shopping in the defendant's store. The court held that an invitee must show that the owner or occupier had actual or constructive knowledge of the foreign substance on the floor, and that the invitee was without knowledge of the substance or was prevented from discovering it for reasons attributable to the defendant. Constructive knowledge can be shown by evidence that the substance had been on the floor long enough that it should have been discovered by reasonable inspection. This case remains the foundation of Georgia's slip-and-fall law.

Lau's Corp. v. Haskins (Ga. 1991)

The Georgia Supreme Court addressed a proprietor's duty to protect invitees from criminal acts by third parties. Sarah and Louis Haskins were robbed by two men in the parking lot of the China King Restaurant. The court established that a proprietor's duty to invitees includes exercising ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe, and that a duty to protect customers from crime arises when the possibility of criminal activity is reasonably foreseeable — placing the property owner on notice of potential danger. The court also articulated the standard for summary judgment in premises liability cases: the opposing party should be given the benefit of all reasonable doubt, and evidence should be construed most favorably toward the party opposing the motion.

What Property Owners Must Do

General Obligations Under Georgia Law

• Inspect the premises. Regular inspections are required to discover hazardous conditions. The frequency should be proportional to the foot traffic and the type of activity.
• Repair known hazards. Known dangerous conditions must be corrected within a reasonable time.
• Warn of hazards. Until a hazard is repaired, adequate warnings must be provided — signs, barriers, cones, or other conspicuous notices.
• Do not create hazards. Property owners are liable for dangerous conditions they create through their own negligent acts or omissions.
• Maintain records. Inspection logs, maintenance records, and incident reports serve as evidence that the owner exercised ordinary care.

Retail and Commercial Properties

• Regular floor inspections (Georgia courts have found inspection intervals of 15-30 minutes reasonable for high-traffic stores)
• Spill response protocols and clean-up procedures
• Adequate lighting in all customer-accessible areas
• Maintained walkways, parking lots, and stairways
• Compliance with Georgia building codes

Residential Landlords

Georgia landlords must:

• Maintain the premises in a habitable condition
• Repair conditions that affect health and safety within a reasonable time after notice
• Maintain common areas (hallways, stairways, parking lots, laundry rooms)
• Provide functioning lighting in common areas
• Address known security deficiencies (see our Georgia negligent security guide)

Government Properties

Georgia government entities are subject to the Georgia Tort Claims Act (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-1 et seq. for municipalities, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq. for the state). Sovereign immunity has been waived for certain claims, but caps and procedural requirements apply.

Available Damages

Successful Georgia premises liability claims may recover:

• Medical expenses — past and future
• Lost wages and earning capacity — past and future
• Pain and suffering — physical pain from the injury
• Emotional distress — anxiety, depression, PTSD
• Loss of consortium — spouse's claim for loss of companionship
• Wrongful death damages — if the injury was fatal, under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1, measured by the "full value of the life of the decedent" (see our Georgia wrongful death guide)
• Punitive damages — for willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, or oppression. Generally capped at $250,000, with exceptions for product liability and cases involving specific intent to cause harm.

Georgia does not impose statutory caps on compensatory damages in premises liability cases.

Practical Next Steps

If you were injured on someone else's property in Georgia:

Act within two years. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, the deadline is firm. For government properties, check whether an ante-litem notice is required and file it immediately.

Document the hazard. Photograph or video the condition before it is repaired. Include wide shots showing the surrounding area and close-ups of the specific hazard.

Report the incident. Notify the property owner or manager. Ask for a written incident report.

Gather witness information. Witnesses who saw the hazard, who know how long it existed, or who saw your fall are critical.

Seek medical treatment immediately. Georgia's comparative negligence rules give the defense ammunition if you delayed seeking treatment — they will argue your injuries were not serious.

Document your own actions. Because Georgia requires the plaintiff to show the owner had superior knowledge, be prepared to explain why you did not see or avoid the hazard. Lighting conditions, distractions, obstructed views, and the non-obvious nature of the hazard are all relevant.

Consult a Georgia premises liability attorney. The superior knowledge requirement and 50% comparative fault bar make these cases more technical than in some other states. An attorney can evaluate whether your claim survives Georgia's specific requirements.

Related Georgia Guides

• Georgia Negligent Security Law — when the hazard is inadequate security
• Georgia Wrongful Death Law — when a premises liability incident results in death

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Last updated: May 27, 2026. Consult a Georgia attorney for advice specific to your situation.