Georgia Premises Liability: Slip and Fall & Owner Duties

Georgia premises liability turns on your status on the property. To an invitee (like a customer), an owner or occupier owes ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1). To a licensee, the duty is only to avoid willfully or wantonly injuring them (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-2). The two-year injury deadline and comparative-fault rule apply.

This is general information, not legal advice. Premises cases are fact-specific — talk to a Georgia attorney.

When you’re hurt on someone else’s property in Georgia, what the owner owed you depends on why you were there.

Invitees get the most protection

An invitee — someone on the property for the owner’s benefit, like a store customer — is owed the highest duty: the owner or occupier must use ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1). In a typical slip and fall, that usually means showing the owner had superior knowledge of a hazard (a spill, a broken step) that you couldn’t have avoided with ordinary care of your own.

Licensees get less

A licensee — someone on the property for their own convenience, with permission but not for the owner’s benefit — is owed only the duty not to willfully or wantonly injure them (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-2). That’s a much harder standard to meet.

Your own care still counts

Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) applies: if you weren’t watching where you were going, a court can reduce your recovery, and at 50% or more fault bar it. So both the owner’s knowledge of the hazard and your own conduct matter.

Deadline

The standard two-year deadline (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) applies. To get matched with a local Georgia premises-liability attorney, connect with a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

What does a Georgia store owe its customers?

An invitee — such as a store customer — is owed ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe (O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1). To recover for a slip and fall, you generally must show the owner had superior knowledge of a hazard you couldn't have avoided with ordinary care.

Is a property owner always liable if I fall?

No. Liability depends on your status (invitee vs. licensee), whether the owner knew or should have known of the hazard, and your own care. Georgia's comparative-fault rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) can reduce or bar recovery if you were partly at fault.

What's the deadline for a slip and fall claim in Georgia?

Generally two years from the date of injury (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).

Related guides

Georgia Car Accident Claims Georgia is an at-fault auto state: you pursue the driver who caused the crash and their insurer. A two-year deadline applies (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33), and modified comparative negligence bars recovery once you're 50% or more at fault (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). Georgia sets minimum liability limits (commonly 25/50/25) — confirm the current statute.

Georgia Commercial Truck Accident Claims A Georgia truck crash is still a Georgia negligence claim — same two-year deadline and 50% comparative-fault bar — but federal FMCSA rules layer on top, and there are often several defendants. Georgia's direct-action rule (suing the motor carrier's insurer directly) was narrowed by SB 426, effective July 1, 2024, and now applies only in limited situations — confirm the current statute.

Georgia Dog Bite Claims Georgia's dog-bite statute (O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7) makes an owner liable when a vicious or dangerous animal injures someone who didn't provoke it, through the owner's careless management or by letting the animal run loose. A violation of a local leash or at-heel ordinance can substitute for proving the animal's vicious propensity. The two-year deadline applies.

Georgia Medical Malpractice Claims A Georgia medical malpractice claim must usually be filed within two years of the injury, with an absolute five-year outer limit (statute of repose) under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71. The complaint must include an expert affidavit identifying at least one negligent act (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1). Georgia's cap on noneconomic damages was struck down as unconstitutional in Nestlehutt (2010).

Georgia Motorcycle Accident Claims A Georgia motorcycle crash is an at-fault negligence claim under the same rules as other vehicles — a two-year deadline (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) and the 50% comparative-fault bar (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). Georgia has a universal helmet law requiring all riders to wear approved headgear (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-315), and helmet use can become an issue in a claim.

Georgia Wrongful Death Claims Georgia's wrongful death law lets survivors recover the 'full value of the life' of the person who died — without deducting the decedent's own expenses (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1). The right to sue follows a statutory order: surviving spouse first, then children, then parents, then the estate. A two-year deadline generally applies.

Georgia Premises Liability & Slip and Fall