Occupier's Duty to Visitors

Occupiers and Premises

• An occupier is someone who has a sufficient degree of control over premises, and is under a duty to use reasonable care towards lawful visitors.
• It is not necessary for a person to have entire control over the premises to be considered an occupier; they may share control with others.
• Two or more people can be considered occupiers, and each is under a duty to use care towards lawful visitors.

Premises

• Premises refer to land and buildings, as well as temporary and mobile structures such as scaffolding and ladders.
• Examples of premises include rented properties, channels of water, fields, and railway lines.

Lawful Visitors

• There are three categories of lawful visitors:
  • Those with express permission to visit (e.g. invitees, guests)
  • Those with implied permission to visit (e.g. postmen, people using a shortcut)
  • Those with a lawful right to visit (e.g. police officers, firefighters, public utilities employees)

Express Permission

• Those who are expressly invited onto premises by some means (e.g. written invite, beckoning by the occupier)
• Occupiers can limit the extent of an express invite in terms of place, behaviour, or time.
• Examples of express permission include:
  • A person invited to a dinner party (but not deviating from the invitation)
  • A ship invited to use a channel of water (but not navigating in an irregular manner)

Implied Permission

• Those who lack express permission but whose presence is assumed to be unobjectionable to the occupier.
• Examples of implied permission include:
  • Postmen using the front entrance of a property
  • People using a shortcut across a field
• Implied permission can come into being if an occupier knows that their land is being used by trespassers, but does nothing to prevent their activities.

Lawful Right of Entry

• Those who maintain a right to enter land or property regardless of the occupier's wishes.
• Examples include:
  • Police officers with a warrant or chasing a fugitive
  • Firefighters attending a fire
  • Public utilities employees attending to read meters
  • Those who enter property in accordance with a valid contract

Occupiers' Duty of Care

• The duty of care owed by occupiers to categories of visitors is based on preventing injury to visitors, rather than ensuring that premises are objectively safe.
• The duty is based on the foreseeability of damage to a visitor, and the standard of care will depend on the nature of the risk and the age and awareness of the child involved.
• If land holds a concealed danger or something that might allure children, a duty of care will likely be held to exist.

Skilled Visitors

• Occupiers can assume that skilled visitors will have a greater awareness of risks and the relevant precautions that they should take.
• This increased competence will only apply to risks whose nature matches the skill of the visitor.

Independent Contractors

• Situations in which an occupier will be held liable for a harm caused by an independent contractor include:
  • Where it was unreasonable to entrust the work to an independent contractor in the first place.
  • Where the occupier failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the independent contractor was competent.
  • Where the occupier failed to take reasonable steps to check the work of an independent contractor.

Trespassers

• A trespasser is someone who goes on the land without invitation of any sort and whose presence is either unknown to the proprietor or, if known, is practically objected to.
• Examples of trespassers include:
  • A person who climbs up onto the roof of a school to fetch a ball.

This quiz covers the concept of an occupier's duty to visitors in a premises, including the degree of control required and shared responsibility.