Property Maintenance Standards for Premises Safety Expert Article

This article discusses the standard of care for exterior property maintenance as it relates to premises liability disputes. Adequate maintenance should account for both preventive and unplanned measures; our experts can help you understand which property maintenance standards are relevant based on the details of your case.

Premises Safety through Property Maintenance

A properly designed and effectively run maintenance program can reduce the likelihood of premises injuries, including slip, trip, and fall incidents. Maintenance programs involving regularly scheduled inspection of stairs, walkways, and other exterior elements provide early notice of developing conditions that may negatively affect the safety of building occupants and passersby.

The Standard of Care for Exterior Maintenance

A maintenance program is necessary for numerous reasons, chief amongst them to ensure the safety of the building’s occupants and passersby. Many failures that cause incidents occur gradually over time and would be identified before the ultimate failure during the course of proper maintenance of a property.

There are several approaches a building owner or manager can take, including:

• Preventative maintenance - based on scheduled maintenance of elements on a regular basis. This program usually runs on a set schedule. By planning the program properly, elements can remain safely in use without failure. This type of maintenance is low-frequency, seasonal and in-depth.
• Unplanned maintenance - is the everyday work that is done more frequently to identify and remediate hazards. This type of maintenance is custodial in nature and identifies changing conditions. It breaks down into two basic categories:
  • Reactive - unplanned maintenance of a nuisance nature, requiring low levels of skill for correction. These problems are usually identified and reported by facilities users.
  • Emergency - unscheduled work that requires immediate action to remove problems to protect life and property.

Property Maintenance in Premises Liability Disputes

A comprehensive preventative maintenance plan can protect the property owner and manager from a variety of premises liability disputes, including slip, trip and fall incidents. It is important that premises inspections involve staff as well as management, as staff will often be aware of the day-to-day hazards that may be present.

Exterior elements, such as sidewalks, ramps, stairs, guardrails, handrails, parking lots, fences and gates must be regularly assessed in an organized and systematic way.

Relevant Codes and Standards

Many cases relate to falls sustained on uneven surfaces outside of buildings. The 2012 International Property Maintenance Code applies to all existing premises and constitutes minimum standards for exterior maintenance. It outlines the responsibility of owners, operators and occupants for the safe continued occupancy of existing premises. This code requires:

All sidewalks, walkways, stairs, driveways, parking spaces and similar areas shall be kept in a proper state of repair, and maintained free from hazardous conditions.

The code also addresses maintenance of decks, porches, balconies, handrails, guardrails, gates and ramps. Means Facility Maintenance Standards recommends inspection frequencies which are suited to identify these issues in a variety of materials. For instance, in a preventive maintenance program, the paving should be inspected semi-annually for deterioration such as frost heave, cracking, settlement and tree root growth.

To identify reactive maintenance needs, these areas should also be walked frequently to identify deterioration from water, impact or other more immediate means. Stairs, ramps, guardrails, handrails and other aspects of the egress system should be inspected monthly to ensure safe exiting and movement through the property.

Premises Safety Expert Witness Investigations

Whether you represent a plaintiff or a defendant in a premises liability claim, it is important to consider the relevant maintenance implications. The Architects and Premises Safety Experts at Robson Forensic can help you understand the codes and standards relevant to your case and the implications on your legal strategy.

The Premises Safety Experts at Robson Forensic investigate cases involving the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of residential, institutional, and commercial premises. We conduct site inspections, perform tests, and review applicable standards to learn facts and form opinions about how and why individuals were injured within the built environment.

For more information submit an inquiry or contact the author of this article.