Also known as: artificial condition · artificial condition on land
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A man-made structure or feature on land that a possessor creates or maintains. The condition triggers limited duties to constant trespassers when it poses a risk of death or serious bodily harm, remains unlikely to be discovered, and the possessor fails to warn.
Anita Ali owns a vacant lot and installed an underground drainage vault covered by thin metal sheets. She repeatedly saw neighborhood children enter through a cut fence at that corner. One child stepped on a sheet, fell into the vault, and suffered serious injuries. The concealed vault satisfies the elements for liability to constant trespassers.
Arthur Abrams operates a plant with an unlit loading bay containing an uncovered sump pit filled with caustic liquid. Security logs show teenagers constantly cut through the bay. One evening a teenager falls into the pit and suffers severe burns. The hidden pit in the area of known constant intrusion supports liability for failure to warn.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Amelia Amari's construction crew left a deep elevator pit covered only by loose plywood sheets. Security logs documented local children entering nightly through a known gap to skateboard near the pit. One child fell through the displaced cover and suffered a fractured skull. The concealed artificial condition in the area of repeated child trespass supports liability.
Albert Allen maintains a fenced electrical substation with a concealed trench of high-voltage cables along a rear corridor. He knows children regularly squeeze through a bent fence panel to play there. One child falls into the trench and is seriously injured. The hidden artificial condition in the area of constant trespass triggers the same liability rules that apply to other artificial conditions.
The possessor must know or have reason to know of constant intrusion on a limited area. The condition must be artificial and created or maintained by the possessor. It must be likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. The possessor must have reason to believe trespassers will not discover it. The possessor must fail to exercise reasonable care to warn.
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No. Attractive nuisance applies when a condition lures children onto the land. The constant-trespasser rule applies independently when the possessor knows of repeated intrusions into a limited area containing a hidden deadly hazard, regardless of whether the condition itself attracted the trespassers.
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No. The duty is narrow and applies only to highly dangerous hidden conditions in areas of known constant trespass. Visible or minor artificial conditions ordinarily require no warning even to known trespassers.
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No. The rule requires constant or repeated intrusion into a specific limited area. Sporadic entries do not trigger the duty to warn about hidden hazards.
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…such as the defendant is subject to liability for bodily harm caused to a gratuitous licensee, such as the plaintiff, by any artificial condition on board the ship, only if both of the following conditions are present: (1) if the defendant knows of the unsafe condition and realizes that it involves an unreasonable risk to the…