Understanding Florida fire safety laws and unsafe premises

Premises liability law is a field of legal practice that focuses on the duties of landowners. Generally, landowners are expected to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to individuals coming onto their land. Without getting too lengthy in explanation, the amount of a landowner’s responsibility increases based on the relationships they have with the people using their property. For example, the landlord’s duty to prevent fire from burning burglars while breaking into a locked and unoccupied apartment building may be minimal. Alternatively, that landlord may owe a much higher duty of care to ensure that paying tenants in an apartment building have the adequate fire protection required by state regulations. Currently, Florida statutes require the installation of smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in multi-dwelling rental properties. Although Florida allows some variances, the state has imposed fire safety standards for just about any location. This includes nursing homes, schools, nightclubs, movie theaters, self-serve gasoline stations, restaurants and even labor camps. You can just about guarantee that anywhere people are allowed to enter a landowner’s property in exchange for a fee or to purchase goods there are also fire safety standards on the books that the landowner is obliged to observe. If a landowner’s unsafe premises caused you to become burned or otherwise injured you may be entitled to sue them for compensation. Although every Florida County is required to maintain certain minimum fire safety standards, some jurisdictions also have additional fire codes on their books. Whether your accident occurred in Jacksonville, Florida, or here in Miami, you should make sure that you are aware of all applicable fire safety rules and regulations. Your premises liability attorney can examine the particular facts of your case and pursue your lawsuit to the fullest extent of all available laws. Source: Statutes of the Florida State Legislature, “Chapter 633-Fire Prevention and Control” accessed Feb. 18, 2015]>