South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
When property owners or managers fail to ensure structures adhere to local and state building codes, there is a high potential for injury. After all, building codes are in place to keep us safe.
Generally, when injury results from a hazard that violates applicable building code standards, a strong case for premises liability can be made. The code itself can help establish constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition. Still, there are sometimes exceptions to the rule, which is why it’s so important to have an attorney with experience on your side.
In some instances, older buildings are allowed to avoid expensive updates to bring a property up-to-date with current codes, a process called being “grandfathered in.” But this does not shield a property owner or manager in all instances, and it definitely doesn’t excuse failure to warn of a dangerous condition that is not obvious to tenants or guests. This is true even in cases where plaintiff may share some degree of fault.