Defective premises cases involve some of the same elements of a typical fall case. A defective premises case can involve a leaking roof that results in water accumulation and causes a person to fall or causes an interior ceiling to collapse and cause injury. To win that type of case, the victim would have to prove that the owner of the premises knew or should have known about the leak and had ample opportunity to correct the problem and failed to do so. The same burden applies to poor lighting in stairwells. A plaintiff that falls in a dark unlit stairwell has to prove that the owner knew or should have known about the light failure and failed or refused to correct it.
