Any Atlanta business or property owner has certain obligations with regard to the safety of invitees and licensees.
An invitee, per O.C.G.A. 51-3-1, is someone who is on the premises for the mutual benefit of the person and the owner, typically a customer or vendor. Invitees, who are present by express or implied invitation by the owner for a lawful purpose, are owed the highest duty of care under Georgia law, with the owner or occupier of the land liable to invitees for failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises or approaches (and decks) in reasonably safe condition. The law doesn’t require that property owners ensure the safety of invitees, but they are required to use diligence in making the premises safe as an ordinarily prudent person would. This duty of care includes the responsibility to occasionally inspect the site for defects that could adversely impact invitees’ safety.
For licensees, the standard is a little different. O.C.G.A. 51-3-2 explains that licensees are persons who are on site for their own benefit, typically understood to be social guests and not for business reasons. Property owners are only liable for injuries if the owner or occupier of the site “willfully or wantonly allows a dangerous, static condition to cause the licensee injury.” Plaintiffs in these cases must prove that the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to fix it. There is no duty for licensees to regularly inspect a property for dangerous conditions, but deck collapses don’t usually occur because of something that happened overnight; they’re often the result of long-standing issues about which property owners likely should have known.
Property owners can be liable for deck collapse injuries to both invitees and licensees. They can also be responsible for failing to adequately warn guests of danger. One common defense in deck collapse cases involving licensees is that the licensee/plaintiff had equal or superior knowledge of a dangerous condition or defect. However, in cases where there is a code violation (as there often is in deck collapse cases), it’s the owner - not the visitor - who is considered to have had superior knowledge.
It should also be noted that hotels and landlords owe a duty of care to protect guests and tenants from foreseeable injuries that aren’t obvious. Hotel owners owe the highest duty of care to guests, as they are invitees. Landlords, per O.C.G.A. 44-7-14, can be liable for damages caused by faulty construction or failure to keep the site in good repair.
When a Georgia building failure occurs, the lawyers at Apolinsky & Associates, LLC, can help you pursue a case to get fair and just compensation by holding the property owner/occupier legally accountable.