California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI)

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1001. Basic Duty of Care

A person who [owns/leases/occupies/controls] property is negligent if he or she fails to use reasonable care to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition. A person who [owns/leases/occupies/ controls] property must use reasonable care to discover any unsafe conditions and to repair, replace, or give adequate warning of anything that could be reasonably expected to harm others.

In deciding whether [name of defendant] used reasonable care, you may consider, among other factors, the following:

(a) The location of the property;

(b) The likelihood that someone would come on to the property in the same manner as [name of plaintiff] did;

(c) The likelihood of harm;

(d) The probable seriousness of such harm;

(e) Whether [name of defendant] knew or should have known of the condition that created the risk of harm;

(f) The difficulty of protecting against the risk of such harm; [and]

(g) The extent of [name of defendant]’s control over the condition that created the risk of harm; [and]

(h) [Other relevant factor(s).]

New September 2003; Revised June 2010

Directions for Use

Not all of these factors will apply to every case. Select those that are appropriate to the facts of the case.

Under the doctrine of nondelegable duty, a property owner cannot escape liability for failure to maintain property in a safe condition by delegating the duty to an independent contractor. (Brown v. George Pepperdine Foundation (1943) 23 Cal.2d 256, 260 [143 P.2d 929].) For an instruction for use with regard to a landowner’s liability for the acts of an independent contractor, see CACI No. 3713, Nondelegable Duty.

Sources and Authority

  • “Broadly speaking, premises liability alleges a defendant property owner allowed a dangerous condition on its property or failed to take reasonable steps to secure its property against criminal acts by third parties.” (Delgado v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1403, 1406, fn. 1 [85 Cal.Rptr.2d 838], internal citation omitted.)
  • A landowner owes a duty to exercise reasonable care to maintain his or her property in such a manner as to avoid exposing others to an unreasonable risk of injury. (Alcaraz v. Vece (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1149, 1156 [60 Cal.Rptr.2d 448, 929 P.2d 1239]; Scott v. Chevron U.S.A. (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 510, 515 [6 Cal.Rptr.2d 810].) The failure to fulfill the duty is negligence. (Sprecher v. Adamson Companies (1981) 30 Cal.3d 358, 371—372 [178 Cal.Rptr. 783, 636 P.2d 1121].) The existence of a duty of care is an issue of law for the court. (Alcaraz, supra, 14 Cal.4th at p. 1162, fn. 4.)
  • “It is now well established that California law requires landowners to maintain land in their possession and control in a reasonably safe condition.” (Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666, 674 [25 Cal.Rptr.2d 137, 863 P.2d 207], internal citations omitted.)
  • “The proper test to be applied to the liability of the possessor of land . . . is whether in the management of his property he has acted as a reasonable man in view of the probability of injury to others …” (Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, 119 [70 Cal.Rptr. 97, 443 P.2d 561].)
  • A visitor’s status on the property—as a trespasser, a licensee, or an invitee—no longer establishes the extent of the owner’s duties to the visitor, although status may be relevant to the specific nature or scope of those duties or to the foreseeability that the visitor might be harmed. (Ann M., supra, 6 Cal.4th at pp. 674—675.)
  • “As stated in Beauchamp v. Los Gatos Golf Course (1969) 273 Cal.App.2d 20, 25 [77 Cal.Rptr. 914], ‘[t]he term “invitee” has not been abandoned, nor have “trespasser” and “licensee.” In the minds of the jury, whether a possessor of the premises has acted as a reasonable man toward a plaintiff, in view of the probability of injury to him, will tend to involve the circumstances under which he came upon defendant’s land; and the probability of exposure of plaintiff and others of his class to the risk of injury; as well as whether the condition itself presented an unreasonable risk of harm, in view of the foreseeable use of the property.’ Thus, the court concluded, and we agree, Rowland ‘does not generally abrogate the decisions declaring the substantive duties of the possessor of land to invitees nor those establishing the correlative rights and duties of invitees.’ (Id., at p. 27.)” (Williams v. Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc. (1986) 182 Cal.App.3d 479, 486—487 [227 Cal.Rptr. 465], overruled on other grounds in Soule v. GM Corp. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 548 [34 Cal.Rptr.2d 607, 882 P.2d 298].)
  • “The distinction between artificial and natural conditions [has been] rejected.” (Sprecher, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 371.)
  • “It must also be emphasized that the liability imposed is for negligence. The question is whether in the management of his property, the possessor of land has acted as a reasonable person under all the circumstances. The likelihood of injury to plaintiff, the probable seriousness of such injury, the burden of reducing or avoiding the risk, the location of the land, and the possessor’s degree of control over the risk-creating condition are among the factors to be considered by the trier of fact in evaluating the reasonableness of a defendant’s conduct.” (Sprecher, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 372.)
  • “A landowner’s duty of care to avoid exposing others to a risk of injury is not limited to injuries that occur on premises owned or controlled by the landowner. Rather, the duty of care encompasses a duty to avoid exposing persons to risks of injury that occur off-site if the landowner’s property is maintained in such a manner as to expose persons to an unreasonable risk of injury off-site.” (Barnes v. Black (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 1473, 1478—1479 [84 Cal.Rptr.2d 634], internal citations omitted.)
  • “The duty which a possessor of land owes to others to put and maintain it in reasonably safe condition is nondelegable. If an independent contractor, no matter how carefully selected, is employed to perform it, the possessor is answerable for harm caused by the negligent failure of his contractor to put or maintain the buildings and structures in reasonably safe condition, irrespective of whether the contractor’s negligence lies in his incompetence, carelessness, inattention or delay.” (Brown, supra, 23 Cal.2d at p. 260.)

Secondary Sources

6 Witkin, Summary of California Law (10th ed. 2005) Torts, § 1086

1 Levy et al., California Torts, Ch. 15, General Premises Liability, § 15.01 (Matthew Bender)

6 California Real Estate Law and Practice, Ch. 170, The Premises: Duties and Liabilities, §§ 170.01, 170.03, 170.20 (Matthew Bender)

11 California Real Estate Law and Practice, Ch. 381, Tort Liability of Property Owners, § 381.01 (Matthew Bender)

29 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 334, Landlord and Tenant: Claims for Damages, §§ 334.10, 334.50 (Matthew Bender)

36 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 421, Premises Liability, § 421.11 (Matthew Bender)

17 California Points and Authorities, Ch. 178, Premises Liability, § 178.20 et seq. (Matthew Bender)

1 California Civil Practice: Torts (Thomson West) § 16:3