29/06/2018 – Jurisdiction British Columbia
Part 63 published on 01/09/2018
Court dismisses claim against Strata Corporation for harm allegedly due to the corporation’s breach of its obligations as occupier
The claimant was injured when he struck his head on a horizontal arm of a stationary sign post near the driveway entrance onto the townhouse strata property.
The strata corporation was acknowledged to be the occupier of the property (including the sign post); but the claim was dismissed because the claimant did not prove that the harm had resulted from any negligence on the part of the strata corporation. The Court said:
An occupier is not responsible for every injury that occurs on the premises. The OLA (Occupiers Liability Act) does not “create a presumption of negligence” against an occupier whenever a person is injured on the property. A claimant has the burden of proof, on a balance of probabilities, to show some act (or some failure to act) on the part of the occupier which caused the injury complained of before liability can be established. This is why the standard imposed on occupiers is one of reasonableness and not perfection.
…
On the totality of the evidence, there was nothing inherently dangerous about the location of the sign post and I find that the sign post was “there to be seen”. Therefore, I find that the Strata met its duties under section 3 of the OLA and at common law.
In summary, Mr. Paget had been walking quickly. He travelled off of the sidewalk onto the lawn to “cut the corner” to get to the driveway to his townhouse a little faster than if he remained on the sidewalk. Mr. Paget turned his head to his left in response to a male voice he heard yelling across the street. He did not stop. I find that Mr. Paget was not paying attention to where he was walking when he collided into the horizontal arm of the sign post. Accordingly, I find that the accident was caused solely by Mr. Paget’s inattention to his surroundings.
Paget v. Strata Plan LMS 1953 (BC Small Claims Court) June 29, 2018