Also known as: business invitees · business visitor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person invited to enter or remain on land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings with the possessor of the land. This status triggers the possessor's duty to exercise reasonable care to keep the premises safe for the visitor's protection.
Bernard Bass enters Bright Path Foods to buy groceries. While walking down an aisle, he slips on a puddle from a leaking freezer that store employees had not cleaned. Bernard's status as a business invitee means the store owes him a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, so his negligence claim proceeds on whether the store had notice of the hazard.
Bobby Brady arrives at an office building to deliver packages to a law firm tenant. He steps on a frayed carpet seam in the common corridor that the landlord had promised to repair. Because Bobby entered for a purpose connected with the tenant's business dealings, his presence qualifies as that of a business invitee protected by the landlord's repair obligation.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Brenda Booth enters an amphitheater through an unlocked gate during setup to sell snacks to attendees. She trips over stage debris left in a walkway. Her entry for commercial activity tied to the event organizers' operations places her in the position of a business invitee whose safety the possessor must consider.
Barbara Bennett, a dock worker invited by a seafood company, walks onto a leased pier to handle shipments. A repaired piling collapses beneath her. Her presence advances the tenant's business operations, establishing her as a business invitee to whom the landlord's nondelegable maintenance duty extends.
Bethany Boyd enters a leased office suite at the tenant's request to install software. She trips over loose cables left by a contractor the landlord hired. Her business purpose connected to the tenant's operations makes her a business invitee whose injury implicates the landlord's responsibility for the contractor's work.
Brooke Bryant leaves a retail tenant's store and steps onto a common-area escalator that reverses suddenly. Her presence stems from shopping at the tenant, linking her entry to business dealings with the shopping center owner. This status supports her claim that the landlord remains liable for the contractor's negligent repair.
A business invitee enters for a purpose connected with the possessor's business dealings and receives the highest duty of care. A licensee enters only with permission and receives a lesser duty limited mainly to warnings about known hidden dangers.
Yes. Actual or potential pecuniary benefit to the possessor is readily established when a person enters a retail space intending to buy or even just looking, satisfying the business-purpose element.
No. When a landlord contracts to maintain common areas or repair premises, that duty is nondelegable. The landlord remains liable to persons on the premises with the tenant's consent, including business invitees, for harm caused by the contractor's negligence.
…is not an invitee and who is privileged to enter or remain upon land by virtue of the possessor’s consent, and an invitee is a business visitor who is invited or permitted to enter or remain on the land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings between them. ( Oettinger v. Stewart , 24 Cal.2d 133, 136…